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J ULY 17, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 41
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
JUSTICE?
Murder,
Race,
Teens
How do I explain the
Trayvon Martin verdict
to my kids?
By David Muhammad
New America Media
UPHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
A
Abdul Kebbeh, 6, holds a sign at a rally at Seattle’s Westlake Park on Sunday, July 14, to protest the acquittal of
George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Over 500 people showed up at the rally and march. Find a
whole page of photos from Portland and Seattle marches online at www.theskanner.com
Post-Prison Issues for Ex-Offenders, Allies
Conference examines solutions and services needed in re-entry
The Staff
Of The Skanner News
P
eople who have been in
prison are less likely to
end up there again if they
can just find meaningful work
with a decent wage once they go
home. Yet survey results sug-
gest that up to three-quarters of
U.S. ex-offenders are still job-
less up to a year after their
release.
How can we ensure that more
ex-detainees get that chance to
start again in a new job? This
will be one of many topics
addressed at the 2013 Regional
Re-entry Conference, running
Tuesday, July 30, and Wednes-
day, July 31, on the campus of
University of Puget Sound.
The conference will be
opened by Dexter Gordon,
director of the Race and Peda-
gogy Initiative at University of
Puget Sound. It will include
panel discussions and more than
20 presentation sessions and
workshops, including: “Remov-
ing Barriers to Successful Com-
munity Re-entry,” “Federal
INDEX
News .....................2,3,6
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................4
A&E ..........................2,8
Bids/Classifieds............7
Grants and Other Resources for
Re-entry Programs,” “He who
opens a school door, closes a
prison—Victor Hugo,” and
“Corrections: A New Way to Do
Business.”
The conference is co-hosted
by the Community Partnership
for Transitional Services of
Pierce, King, and Snohomish
counties; New Connections, a
community service supporting
former inmates; and the Race
and Pedagogy Initiative of Uni-
versity of Puget Sound.
This year’s conference theme
is “Engaging Communities,
Bridging Connections.” The
programs are designed to initi-
ate and refine best practices for
supporting those in transition
and for helping them prepare for
productive and successful re-
entry to their communities.
The conference offers an
opportunity
for
service
providers, educators, faith-
based organizations, and com-
munity
organizations
to
network, share expertise, learn
about best practices, and foster
See RE-ENTRY on page 3
fter the verdicts were read, my eight
year old son had seen my anger and
asked “why did Zimmerman kill
Trayvon?” Thinking of all that I heard, read
and saw through the three weeks of trial, I
said to him “I don’t know for sure, but I
think because he is racist.”
The facts that are undisputed are that
George Zimmerman profiled, followed and
tracked down, shot and killed, 17-year old
Trayvon Martin. As the slew of texts, tweets
and Facebook messages streamed in from
fellow angry friends and colleagues, I sat
there furious, disappointed and frustrated.
The feeling was also strange. I’ve spent
most of my career trying to help people and
change systems so that there is less incar-
ceration. But here I was wanting nothing
more than for Zimmerman to be convicted
and locked up. Although I’ve spent several
years of my career as a law enforcement
official, the sole reason I got into govern-
ment was to reform the system that is bro-
ken. And now the country, and indeed the
world, is again seeing how broke America’s
criminal justice system really is. Even
though the prosecution was thoroughly out
lawyered by the defense, there appeared to
be more than enough evidence to convict. A
teenage boy was murdered and the shooter
was not held responsible.
This summer, I have been having my chil-
dren watch the ground breaking PBS “Eyes
on the Prize” series. The night before the
Zimmerman verdicts, we watched the last
episode which featured the story of Arthur
McDuffie. McDuffie was a military veteran
and successful black businessman who was
stopped by the Miami police, beaten and
kicked to death for no reason. Although
clear and convincing evidence was present-
ed to an all-white male jury of the murder of
McDuffie, including the testimony of other
officers at the scene, the three white officers
See VERDICT on page 3
Social Justice in Octavia Butler Project
Sparking imaginations and creating a model for supporting artists
Bruce Poinsette
Of The Skanner News
W
hen one thinks of science fiction,
images of spaceships, aliens and
zombies might come to mind.
However, Walidah Imarisha looks to her
enslaved ancestors as visionary science fic-
tion writers.
“They dreamed us up,” she says. “They
couldn’t imagine us. They couldn’t imagine
Black folks without chains and yet because
they could envision it they were able to
work to bend reality to create it—to create
us.”
Imarisha and her co-editor Adrienne
Maree Brown are partnering to publish
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories
from Social Justice Movements. The project
seeks to demonstrate how community
organizing and social justice work are a
form of science and speculative fiction.
“Science fiction has long been a space to
process the struggles of being human on this
planet, in dystopic settings, in utopic set-
tings,” says Brown. “It is our right and
responsibility to envision the next world
and write ourselves into it. We see this as
See BUTLER on page 3