2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumThe Betrayal of #AfricanAmericansForHillary
by: Son of Africa
When the hashtag #AfricanAmericansForHillary surfaced on Twitter, I felt my rage bubble up and compel me to pen this piece in order to deal with this recurrent betrayal of the political class with the Black masses. What is mind-boggling to me is the seeming lack of basic political analysis on the part of those who support Hillary Clintons bid for presidency. Its important to note that some of the biggest early donors to Hillary Clintons campaigns were private prison corporations who are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses against Black people who are incarcerated. These private prison corporations were the beneficiaries of Bill Clintons tough-on-crime and Three-Strikes laws, and made billions in profit by making it their mission to push for laws that increase and worsen sentencing; policies that disproportionately affected Black and immigrant communities in this country. These are the same laws Hillary Clinton herself, as a first lady, supported and advocated for vigorously. The symbiotic relationship between these private prison corporations and the Clintons is apparent. Thus, it is abundantly obvious that private prison corporations are clear enemies of Black people. This is not a questionable fact because their very existence, and their business model, RELIES on the incarceration of Black and immigrant communities in this country. Therefore, we should be very clear that these private prison corporations are the ENEMIES of our people.
This begs to question then, if the enemies of our people were some of the EARLY funders and fundraisers for the Clinton campaign, what is the logic behind supporting a candidate funded by the enemies of our people? Why would our enemies bankroll someone who intends to do good for us and put THEM out of business? Obviously these corporations are not idiots who are throwing away their money in their quest to retire their profitable business of inhumanely warehousing Black people. Therefore, the call of #AfricanAmericansForHillary can only be understood for what it is, the political betrayal of the Black petit-bourgeois in its effort to court favors and a measly seat on the table with the enemies of our Black masses; a table inside a house that can only stand when Black people are subjugated, incarcerated, and getting killed every 28 hours. The fact that the Clinton campaign pledged to no longer receive funds from private prisons and donate the already donated money to charities, AFTER massive pressure from Black Lives Matter and immigrant rights activists, is of course a political move and typical trickery of American establishment politics. The Clintons have been in this game of bourgeois politics long enough to realize what they need to say and, do for the time being, in order to gain the support of the petit-bourgeois elements within our communities. The unfortunate part is that the petit-bourgeois elements among us have been making the same political blunder of trading Black liberation for the comfort and prestige of a seat at the table, a role if you will, at the white bourgeois politics of America.
http://afrikanblackcoalition.org/2015/11/03/the-betrayal-of-africanamericansforhillary/
Response to FreakinDJ (Original post)
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FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)but given the chance she has raked in $Millions from the Private Prison Industry
BTW: that is what the Op is about
Response to FreakinDJ (Reply #2)
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FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)As immigration and incarceration issues become central to the 2016 presidential campaign, lobbyists for two major prison companies are serving as top fundraisers for Hillary Clinton.
Corrections Corporation of America and the Geo Group could both see their fortunes turning if there are fewer people to lock up in the future....
Richard Sullivan, of the lobbying firm Capitol Counsel, is a bundler for the Clinton campaign, bringing in $44,859 in contributions in a few short months. Sullivan is also a registered lobbyist for the Geo Group, a company that operates a number of jails, including immigrant detention centers, for profit....
[F]ully five Clinton bundlers work for the lobbying and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private prison company in America, paid Akin Gump $240,000 in lobbying fees last year. The firm also serves as a law firm for the prison giant, representing the company in court.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/7/23/1405229/-Private-Prison-Corporations-Stand-With-Hillary-Clinton
Go ahead and alert if the truth hurts that much
Response to FreakinDJ (Reply #4)
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FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)onecaliberal
(32,882 posts)Response to onecaliberal (Reply #8)
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FreakinDJ This message was self-deleted by its author.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)She only stopped quite recently because it was too damaging to her campaign. She also has super-delegate endorsements by private prison lobbyists.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)I have visited many prisons as an activist for criminal justice reform, including prisons in the south, in Texas, in the midwest, and in the mountain states. I have been in the cells talking to people in solitary confinement. I have also received 12,000 letters from prisoners all across the country and managed a newsprint publication available to all of America's prisons. writing a column directly for prisoners.
Of course I have seen first hand the disproportionate caging of PoC. And I have seen what happens to them. I have read personal accounts of torture. Yes, torture. Despair. The breaking of AA families. The subjegation of millions of black men. This cannot be witnessed without feeling shame for this extension of the plantations of pre-emancipation. America's prisons are a giant economic maw fed by black and brown men.
I was a delegate in the board of directors of the American Correctional Association, representing the voice of prisoners. As such, I attended the annual convention. Thousands of vendors with their exhibits -- vendors who make money off those black and brown men. Vendors with household names. Frito-Lay, Mars, and so on. And vendors of torture devices -- straight jackets, all manner of restraints and weapons and more.
And with all that in mind, I say this: anyone who makes money off prisons and also is in a position to influence criminal justice policy is no better than a slave trader. No better than an overseer with a whip. No better than the cruelest massah.
If there's a hell, those who profit from this American shame will be there.
Sickening.