1 in every 137 Americans is behind bars.
No More Prisons is a book, a CD, and most of all an American movement.
the movement
Some facts about the United States prison system:
Violent crime rates more or less flat in the
Eighties before starting a precipitous drop in
1993, and
property crime has fallen steadily since the early
Seventies. Since
1980, the
prison population has
quadrupled. All of this is largely due to the good intentioned but ill-executed “
War on Drugs” started by the 40th
President of the United States,
Ronald Reagan, in the early
1980’s. In fact, these days,
marijuana crime outnumbers violent crime.
No More Prisons has become a cause taken up by many politically aware people in the United States. The disproportionate number of blacks and Hispanics in prison has been a motive for many people, especially prominent leaders in these groups. Whether this stays a valid issue, or it becomes an impotent “Free Kevin!” type of thing remains to been seen.
About the “No More Prisons” Graffiti
the cd
”It’s not that I’m anti / it’s just that I can’t lie”
- Akbar
No More Prisons is a hip-hop compilation album released by Raptivism Records March 14, 2000 to benefit the Prison Moratorium Project. Described as ”Where progressive hip-hop meets progressive politics,” the album is not something heard very often in rap music today, combining intelligence, talent, and knowledge of an issue.
- Infomercial (Meet the Press) - DJ Shame (Vinyl Reanimators)
- Where Ya At - B.K.N.Y.
- Dedicated - Sister Asia feat. Steele & Top Dog
- Criminal - Danny Hoch
- Evolution - Vinia Mojica w/additional vocals by The Last Emperor
- Outa Site - Apani B-Fly Emcee feat. L.I.F.E.
- No More Prisons - Hurricane G feat. Rishi
- Murda Box - Hedrush, dead prez & People’s Army
- Voices - Daddy-O
- M.O.V.E. - Rubberoom
- Drug Warz - The Coup
- Lunchbreak - Helixx C. Armaggedon & Pri the Honey Dark
- Inspiration - Prof. Cornel West
- The Plan - The Reepz
- Behind Enemy Lines - dead prez
- More Prisons - Kool DJ EQ feat. The Last Poets
- Battle Cry - Akbar
- Siege - El Battalion
- Hold the Key - Scientifik El-D, God Wize, L Da Headtoucha, K-Slaughta
- Rich Get Rich - Chubb Rock, Lil’ Dap, Edo G., Paw Duke
- Too Much - Grandmaster Caz
- Let Us Go - Lyric & Mike Ladd
- Underground Railroad - Yazeed
Executive Producers: Vincent Merry & Rishi Nath
Executive Production Assistant: Ashok Kamal
Creative Direction and Design: Francois Leandre
Additional Design and Layout: Karma (Trevor Gendron)
More info: http://www.raptivisim.com
the book
No More Prisons is a book written by
American author William Upski Wimsatt between
1995 and
1998. It deals not only with the issue of prison reform, but “Urban life,
homeschooling,
hip-hop leadership,
the cool rich kids movement,
a hitchhiker’s guide to community organizing, and
why philanthropy is the greatest art form of the 21st century.” A sequel to
Wimsatt’s first
book,
Bomb the Suburbs. In
No More Prisons,
Wimsatt is a much more
focused writer, making this
book more informative, if a little less entertaining, than
Bomb the Suburbs. The
book benefits the
Active Element Foundation.
I think the majority of Everythingians would get a lot out of reading this book, whether they have an interest is prison reform or not. This book has been known to inspire and mindfuck or two.
No More Prisons, ISBN: 1-887128-42-5
No More Prisons (Book with CD), ISBN: 1-887128-43-3
More info: http://www.nomoreprisons.net, http://www.softskull.com
sources (further reading)
- The Book. Buy the Book.
- National Affairs: Invisible Nation, Rolling Stone 855 December 7, 2000
- Prison Activist Resource Center: http://www.prisonactivist.org/
- California Prison Focus: http://www.prisons.org
- Prison Legal News: http://www.prisonlegalnews.org/