Our adult religious education classes resume on Sunday (11 October 2015) at 9:15 AM with a book study / discussion group — The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color-Blindness by Michelle Alexander.
A brutal tangle of draconian sentencing laws, selective prosecutions, unbalanced jury selection, and a prison-for-profit system fueled by a drug war resulting in far more casualties than victories has resulted in what Michelle Alexander calls ” … a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to [the pre-Civil Rights-era system of segregation known as] Jim Crow.”
This book was the 2012-2013 UUA Common Read. The tide may finally be turning on this issue — the Caddo Parish District Attorney and Sheriff elections this fall are particularly focused on many related issues covered in this book.
Now seems like the right time to dig into this very comprehensive account of how we got here and how we go forward.
In this season of our church year, we focus on “the words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.”
We are mistaken if we think these women and men are only a part of our history. Like the prophets of the Hebrew Testament, prophets of every age speak truth to power and call out the injustices of the society around them. Michelle Alexander is a prophet of our time, as we are called to be.
Books are available from Amazon (use the All Souls website’s Amazon link so the church will get a percentage of the sale). Eleven paper copies are also available for purchase at the church.
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