"This is a great nation. We're a good people and [to] overcome the challenges in front of us requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy — unity."
-- President Joe Biden, Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021
-- President Joe Biden, Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021
Work in Progress
Tan Weddings & Events, in operation for over 15 years, is a husband-and-wife, minority-owned business (Rick is Chinese, Filipino, Jennifer is English, Armenian, Croatian). We have thus far served over 1,500 couples of a diverse multi-ethnic background (African, Asian, European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Native American - people of all colors). We work with other small businesses that are equally diverse. We encourage richly cultural ceremonies and traditions. We proudly feature diversity in our social media feeds. We are guided by the core principles of cultural diversity and unity, embracing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). But this is not about giving ourselves a pat on the back; modeling diversity is not enough.
We need to be a beacon for change - first shining a light inward to acknowledge our collective shortcomings, then secondly, shining it outward to plot an action plan towards improvement. This page is a work-in-progress, as we are a work-in-progress. It is a living, growing document of our efforts to align our commitment to unity in word and in deed. It is to help bring awareness and education. Ultimately, if enough of us serve as beacons for change, then the voyage towards peace, equality, and unity will put all of us on a brighter course.
We need to be a beacon for change - first shining a light inward to acknowledge our collective shortcomings, then secondly, shining it outward to plot an action plan towards improvement. This page is a work-in-progress, as we are a work-in-progress. It is a living, growing document of our efforts to align our commitment to unity in word and in deed. It is to help bring awareness and education. Ultimately, if enough of us serve as beacons for change, then the voyage towards peace, equality, and unity will put all of us on a brighter course.
Beacons for Change
We all yearn for the most fundamental need of human beings - to love and be loved. We can claim it as a right of every one of us on earth. Sadly, some of us have chosen to violate that right - through actions that strip away an individual's self-worth, self-esteem, and self-identity.
In this staggeringly challenging time, we all hope to bring peace to our global communities where human rights violations are rampant, to speak out against tragedies as a result of the historical and ongoing legacy of racial injustice and gender-based violence in the United States, to dismantle broken systems and rebuild a more enlightened society, to make a difference. Making a difference means each of us can be a point of light, a beacon for change. Some do it on a personal level - from conversations with your children during dinner to rising up as a charismatic voice for the people. Others may choose to use their businesses as a forum to effect change. Giant, billion dollar corporations such as Amazon can do it on a massive scale, where their message can be heard by a multitude of people.
Can a small, minority-owned business such as ours make an impact? Absolutely!
When we got married 26 years ago, we felt blessed for the warmth and openness we received from our families - it was about love, no matter our different faiths or color of our skin. Since then, as owners of Tan Weddings & Events, we have been committed to serving “all faiths, all cultures, and all partnerships” - our humble way of making an impact. Through our service as officiants and planners of weddings, we are proponents of unity, equality, and diversity. We are in a position to bring people of all color and cultures together in a joyful experience to celebrate and uphold the most fundamental of human needs - to love and be loved.
To love and be loved. It is so simple, so Zen, so poetic even. For a wedding business, it seems crystal clear to us, and we believe if all 7.6 billion people on earth followed this Golden Rule, all our problems would be solved, truly. Unfortunately, we all have alienated ourselves from each other with layers of broken systems, biases, prejudices, injustice, mistrust, delusions of superiority, hate. With all that to cut through, a mantra of "love and be loved" seems awfully naive and idealistic. We want to challenge you and us to believe we can together break through those layers and heal.
Change takes time, learning and growing takes time. We, as a business and as indviduals, are continually, day to day, reflecting inward and evaluating our thoughts, words, and deeds, striving to become better people. If we all acknowledge that we have a lot of work to do, and that we have to do it with the core values of peace and unity, we can begin to heal.
Our Pledge to Unity is a starting point as a wedding business to be a beacon for change. We will continue to model equality and unity in our professional setting as well as foster these values in our personal lives. We will continue to revise our pledge and to implement a plan of action that is thoughtful. We hope for a world that fully, wholly, and joyfully celebrates our differences and sameness. Love and be loved - it’s our right.
In this staggeringly challenging time, we all hope to bring peace to our global communities where human rights violations are rampant, to speak out against tragedies as a result of the historical and ongoing legacy of racial injustice and gender-based violence in the United States, to dismantle broken systems and rebuild a more enlightened society, to make a difference. Making a difference means each of us can be a point of light, a beacon for change. Some do it on a personal level - from conversations with your children during dinner to rising up as a charismatic voice for the people. Others may choose to use their businesses as a forum to effect change. Giant, billion dollar corporations such as Amazon can do it on a massive scale, where their message can be heard by a multitude of people.
Can a small, minority-owned business such as ours make an impact? Absolutely!
When we got married 26 years ago, we felt blessed for the warmth and openness we received from our families - it was about love, no matter our different faiths or color of our skin. Since then, as owners of Tan Weddings & Events, we have been committed to serving “all faiths, all cultures, and all partnerships” - our humble way of making an impact. Through our service as officiants and planners of weddings, we are proponents of unity, equality, and diversity. We are in a position to bring people of all color and cultures together in a joyful experience to celebrate and uphold the most fundamental of human needs - to love and be loved.
To love and be loved. It is so simple, so Zen, so poetic even. For a wedding business, it seems crystal clear to us, and we believe if all 7.6 billion people on earth followed this Golden Rule, all our problems would be solved, truly. Unfortunately, we all have alienated ourselves from each other with layers of broken systems, biases, prejudices, injustice, mistrust, delusions of superiority, hate. With all that to cut through, a mantra of "love and be loved" seems awfully naive and idealistic. We want to challenge you and us to believe we can together break through those layers and heal.
Change takes time, learning and growing takes time. We, as a business and as indviduals, are continually, day to day, reflecting inward and evaluating our thoughts, words, and deeds, striving to become better people. If we all acknowledge that we have a lot of work to do, and that we have to do it with the core values of peace and unity, we can begin to heal.
Our Pledge to Unity is a starting point as a wedding business to be a beacon for change. We will continue to model equality and unity in our professional setting as well as foster these values in our personal lives. We will continue to revise our pledge and to implement a plan of action that is thoughtful. We hope for a world that fully, wholly, and joyfully celebrates our differences and sameness. Love and be loved - it’s our right.
"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
Pledge to Unity
In our ongoing commitment to uphold unity, equality, diversity, and peace, we pledge:
- To Engage in Learning | We listen to our clients and concerned citizens, engage in thoughtful dialog, and share educational and developmental platforms for staff, clients, vendors, and community, so we may support one another in raising our awareness and understanding about equality, justice, and inclusivity.
- To Cultivate a Safe Sanctuary | We cultivate a company culture that embraces people of all color, faiths, gender, partnerships, experiences, and capacities, where we foster a kind and caring environment that is safe, judgement-free, and protected, holding ourselves responsible for honoring all as unique individuals.
- To Advocate for Diversity | We embody our core principles of diversity and inclusion by actively collaborating with BIPOC-owned small businesses, embracing a clientele of all faiths, all cultures, and all partnerships, empowering our Inclusion Specialist to expand our knowledge, and allocating resources for promoting diversity.
- To Be Accountable | We are vigilant in analyzing our processes, examining our content, imagery, words, and actions to be aligned with our core principles. We are taking accountability for our business and calling ourselves out if we are not following our own commitment to be a beacon for change.
A Starting Point for Anti-Racist Awareness and Action
This is a list compiled by Joey Tan, Inclusion Specialist, TWE, and Elita McFadden, MA
HISTORY & CONTEXT of RACISM
Historical Foundations of Race | Article
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
“American society developed the notion of race early in its formation to justify its new economic system of capitalism, which depended on the institution of forced labor, especially the enslavement of African peoples. To more accurately understand how race and its counterpart, racism, are woven into the very fabric of American society, we must explore the history of how race, white privilege, and anti-blackness came to be.”
13th | Netflix/YouTube
Ava DuVernay
“Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.”
Being Antiracist | Article
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
“While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a wide-spread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives.”
How to be an Antiracist | Video
Ibram X. Kendi
“‘The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it,’ writes professor Ibram X. Kendi. That is the essence of antiracism: the action that must follow both emotional and intellectual awareness of racism. Kendi sits down with journalist Jemele Hill to explore what an antiracist society might look like, how we can play an active role in building it, and what being an antiracist in your own context might mean..”
OPPRESSION, INTROSPECTION, & APPLICATION
Racial Healing Handbook | Handout
Anneliese A. Singh
“In so many ways, to heal from racism, you must re-educate yourself and unlearn the processes of racism. This book can help guide you.” This handout from the book serves as a brief antiracism primer for both white and non-Black people of color.
So You Wanna Talk About Race | eBook: $10.99
Ijeoma Oluo
“...Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to ‘model minorities’ in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.”
The Book is Anti-Racist | eBook: $2.99
Tiffany Jewell
“Gain a deeper understanding of your anti-racist self as you progress through 20 chapters that spark introspection, reveal the origins of racism that we are still experiencing and give you the courage and power to undo it.”
Me and White Supremacy | eBook: $2.99
Layla F. Saad
“This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.”
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist, Multicultural Institution | PDF
Crossroads Ministry
A continuum that progressively highlights the institutional conditions correlated with leading anti-racist change.
Here’s what I’m doing to build anti-racism into my business | Blog Post
Krista Walsh
“I believe small businesses will play a big role in our slow clambering out of our racist systems. Part of that is because single-person businesses like mine have the ability to change their structure, their decisions, and their goals as quickly as a person can. So, as I work on unlearning racism in my personal life and interactions with the world, I want my business to transform alongside me.”
The Anti-racist Small Business Pledge | PDF
Rachel Rodgers
A five-point pledge to antiracism for small businesses.
Racial Justice at Work: What Can Businesses Do? | Virtual Panel
Fri, June 19, 2020, 9:30am - 10:30am PDT
Suffolk University
“What can and should businesses be doing to address racial injustice at this difficult time? What can be gained by acting swiftly, and what actions will have the most impact? What are the consequences of inaction by the business community? Join us and a panel of three Boston business leaders experienced in driving positive change around diversity and inclusion for this urgent discussion.”
Historical Foundations of Race | Article
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
“American society developed the notion of race early in its formation to justify its new economic system of capitalism, which depended on the institution of forced labor, especially the enslavement of African peoples. To more accurately understand how race and its counterpart, racism, are woven into the very fabric of American society, we must explore the history of how race, white privilege, and anti-blackness came to be.”
13th | Netflix/YouTube
Ava DuVernay
“Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.”
Being Antiracist | Article
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
“While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a wide-spread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives.”
How to be an Antiracist | Video
Ibram X. Kendi
“‘The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it,’ writes professor Ibram X. Kendi. That is the essence of antiracism: the action that must follow both emotional and intellectual awareness of racism. Kendi sits down with journalist Jemele Hill to explore what an antiracist society might look like, how we can play an active role in building it, and what being an antiracist in your own context might mean..”
OPPRESSION, INTROSPECTION, & APPLICATION
Racial Healing Handbook | Handout
Anneliese A. Singh
“In so many ways, to heal from racism, you must re-educate yourself and unlearn the processes of racism. This book can help guide you.” This handout from the book serves as a brief antiracism primer for both white and non-Black people of color.
So You Wanna Talk About Race | eBook: $10.99
Ijeoma Oluo
“...Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to ‘model minorities’ in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.”
The Book is Anti-Racist | eBook: $2.99
Tiffany Jewell
“Gain a deeper understanding of your anti-racist self as you progress through 20 chapters that spark introspection, reveal the origins of racism that we are still experiencing and give you the courage and power to undo it.”
Me and White Supremacy | eBook: $2.99
Layla F. Saad
“This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.”
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist, Multicultural Institution | PDF
Crossroads Ministry
A continuum that progressively highlights the institutional conditions correlated with leading anti-racist change.
Here’s what I’m doing to build anti-racism into my business | Blog Post
Krista Walsh
“I believe small businesses will play a big role in our slow clambering out of our racist systems. Part of that is because single-person businesses like mine have the ability to change their structure, their decisions, and their goals as quickly as a person can. So, as I work on unlearning racism in my personal life and interactions with the world, I want my business to transform alongside me.”
The Anti-racist Small Business Pledge | PDF
Rachel Rodgers
A five-point pledge to antiracism for small businesses.
Racial Justice at Work: What Can Businesses Do? | Virtual Panel
Fri, June 19, 2020, 9:30am - 10:30am PDT
Suffolk University
“What can and should businesses be doing to address racial injustice at this difficult time? What can be gained by acting swiftly, and what actions will have the most impact? What are the consequences of inaction by the business community? Join us and a panel of three Boston business leaders experienced in driving positive change around diversity and inclusion for this urgent discussion.”
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world."
-- Buddha
-- Buddha
Taking Stock
Crossroads Ministry created a table called Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Institution, see their pdf from the reading list above. We regarded it as a rubric of where we are and where we have to go to becoming an anti-racist, multicultural institution. TWE is on the continuum (highlighted in dark gray), and as a work-in-progress, we are learning and evolving. Where are you as a business? Where do you want to be?
Reform of the US Prison System
From TWE
Sharing here is to bring awareness to the related topic of mass incarceration in the United States, as addressed in Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. The Prison Policy Initiative takes an expansive look at the prison system, and shows in their research that there are interconnected fronts from which our country should address it towards criminal justice reform. Black Americans are impacted, as are their families, and certainly, to a much broader extent, all American citizens.
From the Prison Policy Initiative | Website
The non-profit, non-partisan Prison Policy Initiative produces cutting edge research to expose the broader harm of mass criminalization, and then sparks advocacy campaigns to create a more just society.
The Prison Policy Initiative’s research and advocacy is at the center of the national conversation about criminal justice reform and over-criminalization. Because essential national and state level data is often completely inaccessible, the Prison Policy Initiative’s insightful data analysis and powerful graphics help fill these gaps to bring in new supporters and help other movement leaders achieve their goals.
Sharing here is to bring awareness to the related topic of mass incarceration in the United States, as addressed in Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. The Prison Policy Initiative takes an expansive look at the prison system, and shows in their research that there are interconnected fronts from which our country should address it towards criminal justice reform. Black Americans are impacted, as are their families, and certainly, to a much broader extent, all American citizens.
From the Prison Policy Initiative | Website
The non-profit, non-partisan Prison Policy Initiative produces cutting edge research to expose the broader harm of mass criminalization, and then sparks advocacy campaigns to create a more just society.
The Prison Policy Initiative’s research and advocacy is at the center of the national conversation about criminal justice reform and over-criminalization. Because essential national and state level data is often completely inaccessible, the Prison Policy Initiative’s insightful data analysis and powerful graphics help fill these gaps to bring in new supporters and help other movement leaders achieve their goals.
Excerpt from an article titled "Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems".
Read the entire article here.
Specifically, [the Prison Policy Initiative] finds that:
Ultimately, our analysis confirms that people who are repeatedly arrested and jailed are arrested for lower-level offenses, have unmet medical and mental health needs, and are economically marginalized. Arrest and incarceration of these individuals neither enhances public safety nor addresses their underlying needs. Our findings underscore the need to redirect dollars wasted on repeatedly jailing people toward public services that prevent justice involvement in the first place: education, employment assistance, public health, medical and mental health services.
Recommendations
Frequently arresting, jailing and rejailing people who pose little public safety risk has immediate moral and fiscal costs. These costs are compounded as underlying medical, financial, educational, and mental health needs are exacerbated by arrest and detention. To break this cycle, policymakers at the state and local level should:
Redirect taxpayer dollars from jails to expand access to health services:
To help readers link to specific images in this report, we created these special urls:
People with multiple arrests are more likely to be poor, unemployed, and have less than a high school education https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow1/1
Black individuals are disproportionately likely to be jailed, and jailed repeatedly
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow1/2
People with multiple arrests have serious health needs
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#healthimage
“Frequent utilizers” of jails often face extreme economic disadvantages
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/1
People jailed most frequently are disproportionately Black
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/2
Rates of mental illness and substance use disorder are much higher among “frequent utilizers” of jails
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/3
“Frequent utilizers” of jails often suffer from chronic illnesses
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/4
Jail “frequent utilizers” often lack access to regular healthcare
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/5
To help readers link to specific report sections or paragraphs, we created these special urls:
By the numbers: At least 4.9 million individuals are arrested and booked per year
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#bythenumbers
People with multiple arrests disproportionately come from marginalized populations
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#multiplearrests1
People with multiple arrests have greater health needs
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#multiplearrests2
A closer look at the subset of “frequent utilizers” among those with multiple arrests
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#frequentutiliziers
Recommendations
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#recommendations
Read the entire article here.
Specifically, [the Prison Policy Initiative] finds that:
- Black Americans are overrepresented among people who were arrested in 2017. Despite making up only 13% of the general population, Black men and women account for 21% of people who were arrested just once and 28% of people arrested multiple times in 2017. This is partly reflective of persistent residential segregation and racial profiling, which subject Black individuals and communities to greater surveillance and increased likelihood of police stops and searches.
- Poverty is strongly correlated with multiple arrests. Nearly half (49%) of people with multiple arrests in the past year had individual incomes below $10,000 per year. In contrast, about a third (36%) of people arrested only once, and only one in five (21%) people who had no arrests, had incomes below $10,000.
- Low educational attainment increases the likelihood of arrest, especially multiple arrests. Two-thirds (66%) of people with multiple arrests had no more than a high school education, compared to half (51%) of those who were arrested once and a third (33%) of people who had no arrests in the past year.
- People with multiple arrests are 4 times more likely to be unemployed (15%) than those with no arrests in the past year (4%).
- Most people arrested multiple times don’t pose a serious public safety risk. The vast majority (88%) of people who were arrested and jailed multiple times had not been arrested for a serious violent offense in the past year.
Ultimately, our analysis confirms that people who are repeatedly arrested and jailed are arrested for lower-level offenses, have unmet medical and mental health needs, and are economically marginalized. Arrest and incarceration of these individuals neither enhances public safety nor addresses their underlying needs. Our findings underscore the need to redirect dollars wasted on repeatedly jailing people toward public services that prevent justice involvement in the first place: education, employment assistance, public health, medical and mental health services.
Recommendations
Frequently arresting, jailing and rejailing people who pose little public safety risk has immediate moral and fiscal costs. These costs are compounded as underlying medical, financial, educational, and mental health needs are exacerbated by arrest and detention. To break this cycle, policymakers at the state and local level should:
Redirect taxpayer dollars from jails to expand access to health services:
- Counties should resist jail expansion, close jails when possible, and instead invest in increasing health care capacity. Because of the limited number of psychiatric beds, which are often much further away than jails, law enforcement officers often find it easier to transport people with serious mental illness to jail. The Treatment Advocacy Center estimates it is 2.5 times quicker for law enforcement to transport someone to a jail compared to a medical facility. For example, there are 25 detention sites across Dallas County, Texas, but there are only 3 psychiatric diversion sites for law enforcement. For more on how counties reduce jail populations and invest in community health, see our report Does our county really need a bigger jail? A guide for avoiding unnecessary jail expansion.
- Invest in community-based mental health care and treatment for substance use disorders, which can prevent criminal justice involvement in the first place. Research has demonstrated that access to treatment can reduce both violent and financially motivated crimes in a community. Moreover, investing in such treatment is estimated to yield a $12 return for every $1 spent, as it reduces future crime, costly incarceration, and lowers health care expenses.
- Counties should also provide evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder treatment in jails, including medication-assisted treatment, and connect people with medical care and health insurance upon release to ensure their treatment is not disrupted.
- Expand job training and placement services, educational opportunities, and financial assistance for low-income individuals.
- Expand social services for people with unstable housing, focusing on “Housing First.” This approach acknowledges that stable homes are often necessary before people can address unemployment, illness, substance use disorder, and other problems. “Housing First” reforms, along with expanded social services, would help to disrupt the revolving door of release and reincarceration. Research has found that supportive housing may even pay for itself by reducing people’s use of other public services, such as emergency medical care.
- Police should issue citations in lieu of arrests, which allow defendants to wait for their court date at home without having to go to jail or post money bail. And local governments should to be sure to link defendants to pretrial services to ensure they make their court date.
- States should reclassify criminal offenses and turn misdemeanor charges that don’t threaten public safety into non-jailable infractions.
- States and counties should create pre-arrest diversion programs so people with mental illness and substance use disorders can avoid arrest altogether and be diverted directly to appropriate treatment and services. For example, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a pre-arrest diversion program designed for people for people that engage criminal activity due to unmet behavioral health needs or poverty. Under LEAD, law enforcement diverts peoples who would otherwise be arrested to case managers who respond to the immediate crisis and provide long term intensive case management, including substance use disorder treatment and housing.
- When people with substance use disorders and/or mental illnesses are arrested, states should make treatment-based diversion programs and other harm reduction strategies the default instead of jail. States should ensure their diversion and harm reduction programs are fully funded.
- Collect and analyze data in order to identify frequent utilizers and to design interventions. Since frequent utilizers interact with not just the criminal justice system, but also healthcare and homeless services, it is important to integrate data across agencies. This data is crucial to understanding local frequent utilizer populations and designing effective, evidence-based interventions. Interventions should also address racial and ethnic disparities in the frequent utilizer population.
To help readers link to specific images in this report, we created these special urls:
People with multiple arrests are more likely to be poor, unemployed, and have less than a high school education https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow1/1
Black individuals are disproportionately likely to be jailed, and jailed repeatedly
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow1/2
People with multiple arrests have serious health needs
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#healthimage
“Frequent utilizers” of jails often face extreme economic disadvantages
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/1
People jailed most frequently are disproportionately Black
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/2
Rates of mental illness and substance use disorder are much higher among “frequent utilizers” of jails
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/3
“Frequent utilizers” of jails often suffer from chronic illnesses
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/4
Jail “frequent utilizers” often lack access to regular healthcare
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#slideshows/slideshow2/5
To help readers link to specific report sections or paragraphs, we created these special urls:
By the numbers: At least 4.9 million individuals are arrested and booked per year
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#bythenumbers
People with multiple arrests disproportionately come from marginalized populations
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#multiplearrests1
People with multiple arrests have greater health needs
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#multiplearrests2
A closer look at the subset of “frequent utilizers” among those with multiple arrests
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#frequentutiliziers
Recommendations
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html#recommendations
Martin Luther King, Jr's words continue to inspire us. For leaders fighting for social justice, those words fuel action. Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and exectuvie director of a Native-led non-profit group, gleaned from Dr. King that racial injustice is perpetrated through "false origin myths" of our nation, and inaccurate portrayals of people of color.
Echo Hawk says, "To create a just world, all people of every race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender expression, and age, must stand together and tell truthful stories about our past and hopeful stories about our future." Read this article by Nicole Chavez, for CNN, on how Martin Luther King inspires many with his words. And their words inspire others, and inspire action towards that better future. |
The Hill We Climb | Amanda Gorman | January 20, 2021
At Inauguration Day 2021, a historical one in many ways, one of the voices we all heard was from a 22 year old named Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate. She is the youngest poet to take the stage at a presidential inauguration. Her words were moving, made even more so by her presence, her vitality, her authenticity.
If you can believe in a future that is filled with light, light from inside all of us, then you will understand where Amanda Gorman was speaking from, and we can all join her, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to really unite this country in the spirit of love and light. Here is a transcript of her poem, The Hill We Climb: |
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it