CNBC to Tackle Incarceration at Annual Confab: Dec. 6-9, 2011
August 21, 2011 by Admin
Filed under Church, Leaders, Ministry Today, Ministry Updates, News
According to ABC, “The United States leads the industrialized world in incarceration. In fact, the U.S. rate of incarceration (762 per 100,000) is five to eight times that of other highly developed countries, according to The Sentencing Project, a criminal justice think tank.
[One] of the key factors for the record imprisonment rate [is]:
Race: Black males continue to be incarcerated at an extraordinary rate. Black males make up 35.4 percent of the jail and prison population — even though they make up less than 10 percent of the overall U.S population. Four percent of U.S. black males were in jail or prison last year, compared to 1.7 percent of Hispanic males and .7 percent of white males. In other words, black males were locked up at almost six times the rate of their white counterparts.â€
During the week of December 6-9, 2011, CNBC will convene its annual “Consultation†at the Marriott Hotel in Richmond, VA., to address a number of concerns that are plaguing the African American community. However, at the top of the agenda will be incarceration. In fact, there will be a series of speakers and panelists to address the issues, problems and suggested solutions.
On another note, CNBC has also slightly restructured itself to accommodate more independent congregations, explained President Jackie Burton. “Individual churches can now join us. They do not have to be apart of one of our nine black denominations, but can also be African Americans in historical or mainstream denominations.â€
For more information: thecnbc.org
Judson Press recently published Ministry with Prisoners & Families: The Way Forward which addresses the incarceration crisis in the African American community and how the church is called to respond. The book’s editors are W. Wilson Goode Sr., Charles E. Lewis Jr., and Harold Dean Trulear. They are joined by an impressive array of contributors to provide a practical and encouraging resource. Check it out!
My family has recently had our first encounter with this justice system. The statement innocent until proven guilty is not true. My son was guilty in the eyes of officers, DA, judges, from the day they came to our home and took my son away. No factual evidence, no crimminal history, his life interrupted at the age of 19. I was amazed at how some one can be convicted without factual evidence just an elaborate story by the prosecution. Evidence that could have proved his innocence such as hair fibers, finger print that did not match him, not tested because the arresting officers budget did not allow it. The print and caucaian hair had to match someone. It is a tradegy that our black young men and older men are incarcerated at higher rated that their white counterparts. I am searching for opportunity to help fight these atrosities through groups like the innocence project and others to bring about a change.