"The next "Dying to Stay Here" podcast will feature a panel discussing what we call our criminal justice system. The panel reflected on a recent election in California, where voters were asked, in plain language, whether they wanted to remove slavery from our constitution, where it's still allowed "as punishment for a crime," and voted to keep it. As we celebrate another Black History Month, I reflect on the disproportionate number of Black people behind bars."
"When I sat down with the panelists - Ray Goins, a man who spent most of his adult life in prison; Keeonna Harris, an author, mother and wife of an incarcerated man; Damon Silver, a public defender; Dan Okonkwo, a Santa Clara County prosecutor; and Sean Allen, and a former cop turned civil rights leader - I wasn't just moderating a panel."
A California vote asked whether to remove language allowing slavery "as punishment for a crime" from the constitution, and voters chose to keep it. Black incarceration and arrest rates remain disproportionately high, signaling that the system continues to claim the right to capture Black bodies, chain them and call it justice. Panelists included formerly incarcerated Ray Goins, Keeonna Harris (an author and wife of an incarcerated man), public defender Damon Silver, Santa Clara County prosecutor Dan Okonkwo, and civil rights leader Sean Allen. Personal histories and data framed the debate, emphasizing systemic outcomes rather than innate criminality and historical continuities from slavery to Black codes and Jim Crow.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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