With today being the fifty-third anniversary of Martin Luther King's historical speech, the email I received earlier from BraveNewFilms.org was rather timely...
So, killing two birds with one stone (not literally, obviously...) I decided to share it (in a slightly edited version) on here.
Enjoy!
Loup Dargent
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| Image via BraveNewFilms.org |
Dear Loup,
Fifty-three years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech to 250,000 people.
What happen to this dream, has America delivered its promise of a just society for all?
We criminalize poverty and mental health; we impose excessive barriers to reentry for the formerly incarcerated; we allow private companies to profit from bail, probation and prisons, we confiscate property with civil asset forfeiture; and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Fifty-three years later this is not MLK’s dream and it is not our dream either.
In commemoration we have re-released ‘I Have a Dream’ Belongs to us, Too.’ Please take a second to share this Facebook video with your friends. Remind them what happen fifty-three years ago and why this speech is still important today. Your one share will help reach millions.
Last week the Justice Department announced they plan to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of private prisons to house federal inmates. This is great news, our work on private prison profiteers CCA and the GEO Group has worked to shape and influence public opinion. But, there is still so much work to be done if we want to continue our dream of a just society for all.
The Justice Department has failed to include privately operated immigration detention facilities in their plans. For these facilities that hold some 34,000 immigrants detained under the custody of the federal government, it is business as usual.1
Thanks for your support.
Jim Miller, Executive Director
Brave New Films
1. Lazare, S. (2016, August 22). "There's a Monster Loophole in the Feds' Move to Stop Working With Private Prisons." From alternet.org
The Brave New Films Video