Eastern Michigan University will be hosting an educational forum in honor of Martin Luther King day on Monday. The event will be open to the public and will address the mass incarceration of African Americans, prison reform, and the proposed privatization of prisons in Michigan.
The Public Action Committee for Justice, an ad hoc committee of Washtenaw County black democrats, will host the forum.
Eastern Michigan University will be holding an educational forum in honor of Martin Luther King day on Monday.
"If you look at the book called the New Jim Crow, one thing pointed out is that African Americans are being incarcerated at a rate absolutely disproportionate to any other group when it comes to anything related to drugs," said Lefiest Galimore, the facilitator of the committee.
Monday's discussion also will touch on prison reform, for which Galimore cites the example of the brawl following the Oct. 12 Huron-Pioneer high school football game.
"The only people being punished are three African American males, who are still in high school, and facing felony charges," said Galimore. "Two white male coaches started it, but the people facing incarceration are three African American males."
Galimore says the forum also will discuss the proposed privatization of prisons in Michigan and what that would mean to the state. Galimore believes that privatization does not work.
The forum runs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the EMU Student Center at 900 Oakwood St. on the EMU campus.
Galimore says there are a number of groups addressing similar issues across the state, and they are trying to pull together for a much larger statewide event.