Keidi Obi Awadu

Prisons Keidi Obi Awadu

I intend that this book on the pandemic of incarceration in America be of tremendous value to policy strategists, community organizers, coalitions against imprisonment, as well as those who've been locked up, are youth at risk or families of prisoners. I wish to impact anyone conscious of the fact that high rates of imprisonment are harmful to all people's future. Somewhere, within this text, all of these groups should find enlightenment through the data as it is represented within this report. Despite dire warnings and gloomy forecasts, widespread imprisonment for Blacks and other underserved populations in America will not only persist but worsen. This trend persists despite decades of reduction in the incidences of criminal behavior. I have come to view the jailing of large numbers of reproductive-age youth from specific ethnic groups as a tactic toward lowering the childbirth rate within the targeted community. What I propose in the book is that we begin to look at the momentum to incarcerate large numbers of a population as a form of birth control -- eugenics. Until black leadership, as well as those who lead other ethnic groups, begin to view this wholesale jailing as social engineering, I fear that they will continue to promote ineffective proposals and political reactions. Even worse, some will advocate for policies that are ultimately contrary to the best interests of their communities. Barring radical changes, we will suffer continued loss because so much human resource has been shackled, locked down, and shunted away to the fringe of society -- this due to America's obsession with jails. This process must be interrupted so that Blacks can reclaim a sense of dignity. Thus we commence raising the status of our community. We intend to enjoy all of the respect and privileges due to free people within a prospering nation.