On Saturday, January 23rd, more than 150 North Philadelphia community leaders and families with loved ones in prison met at the Philadelphia Recovery Community Center to discuss the services urgently needed to support those returning from imprisonment. And the group was serious about getting to work. Emcee Rev. Dr. McNear, Kingdom Care Reentry Network, was greeted with a chorus of responses to his calls for this not to be just another meeting with no action plan: “Yes, we can!” and “Yes, I will!”

This was the first in a series of Neighborhood Speak Outs organized by a new Philadelphia criminal justice coalition, the Support Center for Prison Advocacy.  The Support Center for Prison Advocacy was founded in July 2008 by the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the Kingdom Care Reentry Network, and Philadelphia FIGHT, working in collaboration with CHAMP’s Project UNSHACKLE.

When someone goes to prison, the whole community is affected.  And community struggles do not stop when loved ones come home.  Once released, people will face difficulties accessing the services and mentoring they need to move forward and make new lives.  The Support Center for Prison Advocacy was founded on the belief that to address this prison reentry crisis, we all need to come together to build safer and more vibrant communities.
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Alan Perez first said what was to become the theme of Project UNSHACKLE’s first Community Forum in New York.  And it was almost an afterthought.  Alan is the Volunteer Coordinator for Gay Men’s Health Crisis’ Action Center.  On our presenter check-in call, he was explaining what he wanted to cover during his talk at the forum.  Pausing for a moment to find the right words to describe the Action Center’s work, Alan offered, “You know… We’re trying to turn thought into action.”  Those words caught the essence of our work on that call as they framed the efforts at the forum Wednesday, December 10th. 

There’s an often-quoted statistic from the Bureau of Justice that two-thirds of people will be rearrested within three years of their release from prison.

In a packed room on the LGBT Center’s third floor, forum presenters, Alan, Waheedah Shabazz-el, Stacey Thompson, and John Bell painted a vivid picture of what happens to the other one-third.  They all came to their work around HIV and imprisonment through stints in the New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore jail/prison systems.  And they all have now set their hands to changing the very systems they once found inescapable.  That’s how they have stayed home.  And that’s precisely the message they are trying to pass on to the members of their communities: Reach out.  Get involved.  Turn thought into action.

With the New Year nearly upon us, it’s this message that is guiding me in thinking about Project UNSHACKLE’s work in 2009.   read more »

I want to thank CHAMP and all of our Prevention Justice Mobilization Allies for giving me the distinguished honor as the Mistress of Ceremonies of one of the most meaningful events I have ever participated in. We all became a part of history as we formed the Prevention Justice Puzzle outling to the CDC, our health officials and elected officials what a comprehensive HIV prevention plan should look like. I am including the speech I gave at the Rally that outlines the direct correlation of wide spread incarceration and the high incidence of HIV infections in poor communities and communities of color.

Waheedah Shabazz-El,

CHAMP, Community Organizer/Trainer

ACT-UP Philadelphia, Organizer/Spokesperson  read more »

Showing the “missing pieces” of HIV prevention puzzle in the United States, more than three hundred people poured into the downtown Atlanta streets for the PJM Unity Rally and March in Atlanta, GA, on Tuesday, December 4th, where the National HIV Prevention Conference (NHPC) ended on Wednesday. People from across different communities marched to demonstrate unity for a comprehensive HIV prevention in the US, not to be divided by community or issue.

In order to draw conference attendees from the hotel to the opening rally two blocks away at Hardy Ivy Park, a group of carolers sang an HIV prevention song to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Other PJM folks were in the lobby, decorating marchers with the PJM sash—a white satin cloth with the red PJM Unity logo. Helping to sash people in the hotel was Miss Rhode Island 2007 Ashley Bickford, who was attending the conference as someone interested in HIV/AIDS issues.

The spirited marchers burst from the Hyatt onto Peachtree Street, blowing whistles and chanting, and made their way to Hardy Ivy Park to meet the crowd already assembled. The March MC Waheedah Shabbazz-el took the bullhorn and hyped the crowd to a frenzy, reminding the crowd, “HIV is more than a disease, It’s positive proof of injustice!” The marchers grabbed signs and flashlights from organizers and marshals, and the rally was in full swing.  read more »

As we slid our tired bodies into the miniva/taxi to go to the airport, CHAMP staffers Lei, Cameron, and I (Kenyon) were met with yet another challenge. We were riding with two other people whom we did not know, but were headed to the same destination.

I say in the passenger seat, while Lei and Cameron were in the middle and back row respectively. Both were sitting next to the well scrubbed and "professionally" dressed people who had, by account of their conversation, attended the same conference we did. But what message did they get?

The two began to talk about their work. (Just to describe, they were a white man and a black woman. Both presumably straight). Without cause of provocation, they launched into their work. The woman spoke the most, while the dude offered assuring "Yes, and Uh-huh, and Something's gotta be done!" every so often. She started talking about youth in juvenile detention facilities--boy/teens. She said she has been talking to ministers about getting on board with the issue of HIV education and being more frank about sex and sexuality.

I think, OK cool.  read more »

For those of you who can not join us here in Atlanta today for the Unity Rally, I wanted to share our custom Christmas Carol that you can hum to the tune of "the 12 Days of Christmas" right around 5 pm EST and it will be like you are there!  read more »