http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Samaia/WWL%20060613.mp3
Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness has been an unlikely and controversial best seller.
In it, Alexander makes the case that the prison system we have long filled with a disproportionate number of young black men is not just a byproduct of policy decisions, but an intentional effort to undo the civil rights movement.
The book was was just honored with the 2013 Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize, an award given for writing for social justice. As part of their event celebrating the award, Where We Live Host John Dankosky was asked to moderate a panel with Alexander, the Rev. Michael Williams from Hartford, Mike Lawlor, who oversees Criminal Justice Policy for the Malloy administration, and Victoria Steele a former inmate, who’s advocating on behalf of others inside and outside the criminal justice system.
We had a pretty provocative discussion at Immanuel Congregation church in front of a live audience, and you can be a part of it.