3rd Annual Tunnel of Oppression this Week!

In cooperation with UAB, Amnesty International, and the Peace Over Prejudice Campaign, your are cordially invited to attend a very unique annual event at MSU called

"The Tunnel of Oppression"

This is a theatrical look into the real-life experiences of oppression in their many forms.

It will be held on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 in MSU Union Ballroom at three different showing times (6:00pm, 7:00pm and 8pm).

During this event, audience members witness a series of short student-written and performed monologues and skits addressing the many different forms of oppression and discrimination that exist in our society. Some of the critical issues we address this year include Sexism, Homophobia, Body Image, Genocide, Socio-Economic Inequality, and more. 
 

Contact Zain Shamoon @ shamoon1@msu.edu if you have any questions or concerns


Ending the discrimination and hate that exists in our world today is a duty for each and every one of us. In order to better understand the oppressed, we must hear their stories, and feel their experiences for ourselves.

Come. See. Hear. Feel.

Injustice in the Criminal Justice System

(Note, to see pictures in better detail since they get cut off in the post, click on them)

This picture is not pretty. What does the criminal justice system look like in America today?

The first figure the incarceration rate.




Now, how does the United States compare with other countries? We have 5% of the global population and have 25% of the world's prison population.
( data from UN Human Development Report 2007/2008)





Much of this is due to our own War on Drugs and all the tough on crime rhetoric that has been sold to the public with Nixon, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W Bush. Clinton offered a 3 strikes law to prove just how tough on crime he was to his Republican opponents back in 1994.

How many arrests are there for marijuana every year? From NORML.


I think this is part of the reason why 14 states have decided to stand up and enact some sort of medical marijuana legislation, while 11 states have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. Also, it is a reason why there is a ballot proposal in California to legalize marijuana come this November and possible ballot measures in Oregon and Nevada (for 2012) to do the same.

By the way, Obama has decided to increase spending for the drug war despite noting in 2004 that the war on drugs is an "utter failure".


Finally, how does race factor into the criminal justice system? I think that these are some interesting quotes.

(1999) "Our research shows that blacks comprise 62.7 percent and whites 36.7 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison, even though federal surveys and other data detailed in this report show clearly that this racial disparity bears scant relation to racial differences in drug offending. There are, for example, five times more white drug users than black. Relative to population, black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate that is 13.4 times greater than that of white men. In large part because of the extraordinary racial disparities in incarceration for drug offenses, blacks are incarcerated for all offenses at 8.2 times the rate of whites. One in every 20 black men over the age of 18 in the United States is in state or federal prison, compared to one in 180 white men."

Source:

Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000).

"In 1986, before mandatory minimums for crack offenses became effective, the average federal drug offense sentence for blacks was 11% higher than for whites. Four years later following the implementation of harsher drug sentencing laws, the average federal drug offense sentence was 49% higher for blacks."

Source:

Meierhoefer, B. S., The General Effect of Mandatory Minimum Prison Terms: A Longitudinal Study of Federal Sentences Imposed (Washington DC: Federal Judicial Center, 1992), p. 20.

Due to harsh new sentencing guidelines, such as 'three-strikes, you're out,' "a disproportionate number of young Black and Hispanic men are likely to be imprisoned for life under scenarios in which they are guilty of little more than a history of untreated addiction and several prior drug-related offenses... States will absorb the staggering cost of not only constructing additional prisons to accommodate increasing numbers of prisoners who will never be released but also warehousing them into old age."

Source:

Craig Haney, Ph.D., and Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., "The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy: Twenty-five Years After the Stanford Prison Experiment," American Psychologist, Vol. 53, No. 7 (July 1998), p. 718.


With regards to the war on drugs, I would say that it's one of those things that is becoming more and more unpopular and the public really doesn't care much about it, but it makes so much money for the DEA, police, prosecutors, prison system, military, drug cartels, banks (to launder money), and prescription drug companies that don't want people to have a cheap and effective alternative (medical marijuana) to their drugs being sold to the public, (like Oxycontin), that the War on Drugs will not being going away anytime soon.

Perhaps a bottom up approach needs to be done to reform the criminal justice system, starting at the local, then state, then federal level. Because Americans deserve a much better criminal justice system.

Announcing the 2nd Annual Peace Art Contest!

The Peace over Prejudice Campaign (PoP) is excited to announce the launching of its

2nd Annual Peace Art Contest!

DEADLINE: MONDAY, APRIL 5th

Create an artistic piece fitting one of 3 themes:

1) the process of peace-building in our daily lives

Some possible ideas for this may include not only depictions of promoting peace in everyday life, but also promoting values such as justice/compassion/forgiveness, etc. We hope to see entries that illustrate how the abstract ideas of peace and justice can be concretely implemented. We also believe it is important to emphasize that peace-building is an ongoing, continual process.

2) art to propel activism and overcome apathy

People say that a picture can be worth a thousand words, or a song can start a movement. Show us any artistic depiction you think is powerful and compelling enough to help overcome apathy and promote greater awareness of and concern for any social justice issue(s).

3) peace and pop culture

What are some examples or ways in which values like peace, social consciousness and pluralism can/are promoted through pop culture? Can pop culture hinder efforts to overcome apathy? If so, how can this be overcome?

All Creative Mediums Accepted:
(drawing* painting* photography* dance* comedy* spoken word* music* animation* film* web* sculpture* fashion* and more!)

Prizes:

1st Place- $100
2nd place- $50
3rd place- $25
4th place- $25

*plus, all contestants will have the chance to have their work in a gallery display!


For more information about Peace over Prejudice, and to see images of some of last year's submissions, please visit www.popmsu.com and contact popmsu@gmail.com with your submissions or any questions.

Note: Submissions will become the property of Peace over Prejudice upon being received.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your work!

Groups emailed about the art contest

Hi everyone,

I have emailed the following groups about our art contest:

MSU Women's Council
Center for Inquiry
MRULE
Black Student Alliance
RING (Respecting Individuals on Neutral Grounds)


Curtis

social justice quotes

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ~Mother Teresa


Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Poverty is the mother of crime. ~Marcus Aurelius
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama
Abraham Lincoln:
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
Albert Schweitzer:
The fundamental rights of [humanity] are, first: the right of habitation; second, the right to move freely; third, the right to the soil and subsoil, and to the use of it; fourth, the right of freedom of labor and of exchange; fifth, the right to justice; sixth, the right to live within a natural national organization; and seventh, the right to education.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.
Baruch Spinoza:
Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice.
Charles Dickens:
Charity begins at home and justice begins next door.
Elie Wiesel:
This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Census 2010!

hey all,

i contacted someone who works for the Census Detroit Regional Office and he asked me to pass along the information italicized below.

why should people who care about social justice support Census efforts, especially in under-served communities? it can make a really huge difference in determining how much federal money local cities and areas receive over the next decade, which can translate into improving schools, roads, parks, safety, and just a better quality of life.

in the city of east lansing alone, for every individual who fills out their Census form the city government receives $1400 of Federal funding per year over the next tend years (i.e. $14,000!)

please help get the word out!

"There are things that you and your organization can do immediately to contribute to the Census effort.

If you and your organization are a part of Facebook, be sure to become fans of the 2010 Census and the

Check out the 2010 Census website and the Detroit Regional Census Office and recommend that your Facebook friends become fans as well.

Check out the census website (http://www.census.gov) for information and updates on the 2010 Census and information on Census on Campus.

Remind friends and classmates that the Census is coming up fast. Census forms will be mailed out March 15, 2010 and Census Day is April 1, 2010."

Favorite Quotations

A few of my favorite peace and justice quotations:

Peace, to have meaning for many who have only known suffering in both peace and war, must be translated into bread or rice, shelter, health and education, as well as freedom and human dignity.
-- Ralph Johnson Bunche (1904-1971)

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
-- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

There was never a good war or a bad peace.
-- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Peace may sound simple - one beautiful word - but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.
-- Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999)

Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.
-- Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

If you want peace, work for justice.
-- Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)

"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night" - Tony Campolo

“Men of authority and influence may promote good morals. Let them in their several stations encourage virtue . . . let them favor and take part in any plans which may be formed for the advancement of morality”- William Wilberforce

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together"- Desmond Tutu

"Men are beginning to realize that they are not individuals but persons in society, that man alone is weak and adrift, that he must seek strength in common action"-Dorothy Day

Words of Peace & Social Justice

Want some food for thought (or peace)? If yes, then read on, friends! :)

* The first quote is my favorite, because it speaks of the deep bond that humans have to one another.


If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ~Mother Teresa

We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn't it time that we should take risks to secure peace? ~J. Ramsay MacDonald

Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. ~Robert Ingersoll

The time is always right to do what is right. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Leadership is action, not position. ~Donald H. McGannon

*Did you like these quotes? Heard them before? Disagree with something? Do tell!

a few nice quotes

"It is one of the ironies of the American system that the closer we get to matters of life and death--that is, to questions of war and peace--the less does democracy function."
--Howard Zinn Disobedience and Democracy pg 62

"It is very hard, in the comfortable environment of middle-class America, to discard the notion that everything will be better if we don't have the disturbance of civil disobedience, if we confine ourselves to voting, writing letters to our Congressmen, speaking our minds politely. But those outside are not so comfortable. Most people in the world are hungry, have no decent place to sleep, no doctor when they are sick; and some are fleeing from attacking airplanes. Somehow, we must transcend our own tight, air-conditioned chambers and begin to feel their plight, their needs. It may become evident that, despite our wealth, we can have no real peace until they do. We might then join them in battering at the complacency of those who guard a false "order," with that healthy commotion that has always attended the growth of justice."
--Howard Zinn Disobedience and Democracy pg 123-124

"I wish my countrymen to consider, that whatever the human law may be, neither an individual nor a nation can ever commit the least act of injustice against the obscurest individual without having to pay the penalty for it. A government which deliberately enacts injustice, and persists in it, will at length even become the laughing-stock of the world...The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lovers of law and order who observe the law when the government breaks it...I would remind my countrymen that they are to be men first, and Americans only at a late and convenient hour. No matter how valuable law may be to protect your property, even to keep soul and body together, if it do not keep you and humanity together." Henry Thoreau Slavery in Massachusetts


"Surely no rational or realistic person will discount the possibility that the United States might suddenly resort to nuclear weapons. Those who retain the instinct for survival, not to speak of a minimal concern for their fellow man, will seek ways to act before rather than after the event." Noam Chomsky

How the wealthy can be disadvantaged as well as priveleged

People who are quite economically privileged can become disadvantaged in many other ways, through the personal enslavement of money and the shame from the negative consequences of money.

Compared to the wealthy, the working and middle classes are disadvantaged in the sense that in order to survive and live a happy life, we are dependent on the economy when it comes to jobs, housing, food, and healthcare. These are things can create much stress and anxiety throughout the lives of the working and middle class. For the wealthy though, this is not necessarily a big issue of stress.

I often wonder how it must feel to be someone who has millions of dollars or who is making $500K a year or more. Is it common to feel guilt or shame of being privileged over others? What are common stresses and anxieties to deal with when owning millions of dollars?

This video shows the negative consequences of what it is like to win the lottery. This man with all of this privilege of sudden money has had his life ruined by it. Although he has the privilege of receiving $314 million, he has become incredibly disadvantaged by his money by his actions with it. I actually feel empathy toward him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oddx7UXUnwk

This goes to show that often times people with a lot of money can become enslaved by it, just like a drug or alcohol addict can be enslaved by their substances that they are abusing. I believe that the cases are very similar.

If people abuse drugs to try to obtain a rush of serotonin and dopamine (the brain chemicals that causes pleasure and happiness), what happens is that in the absence of the drug, serotonin and dopamine are lacking in the brain and one can feel stressed, anxious, depressed, etc. They then must use more and more of the drug to try to get the same effects, and medicate their problems, to the point of an obsession. Often, an addict is also hanging out with the wrong social crowd to encourage such use.

Similarly, if people use wealth and power to try to obtain that rush of serotonin and dopamine for happiness and pleasure, in the absence of that wealth and power, one can feel stressed, anxious, and depressed as well. Often times, having $1 billion is not enough to satisfy one's need. More is necessary. And the social crowd of other rich people can encourage that accumulation of privilege and power. Therefore, having this obsession with wealth can be a personal disadvantage as well as a privilege.

Perhaps if we think of people who exploit and oppress others as enslaved by money and power, in the same way that a drug addict is enslaved by heroin, cocaine, alcohol, or meth, it is easier to feel empathy towards that person.

Documentaries

Here is a list of documentaries which I believe promote social justice or illustrate injustice. I'll list the documentary, a brief discription and a link for the documentary trailers or imdb description.


Stories from the Quilt. This is a documentary which focuses on individuals who died from the AIDS virus and who were remembered in the AIDS memorial quilt.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097099/

Lake of Fire. This documentary portrays the issue of abortion, and all the ugly controversy that surrounds both opponents and supporters of abortion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b6h0lsiQcw

Why we fight. This portrays the growth of the United States military industrial complex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcuStxJHv4c

An Inconvenient Truth. A documentary about global warming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnjx6KETmi4

The Union. The Business Behind Getting High. This documentary is about the War on Drugs, marijuana prohibition, and medical marijuana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zI7G6KvkhQ

Quotations

Here are some quotes that I think promote social justice.

Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Albert Einstein: "I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force." (The World As I See It)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice." (Letter to three students (October 1967) as translated in Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record (1970))

Some inspirational social justice quotes

First, here is, i think, my all-time favorite social justice quote. it gives me a lot of incentive not only to be active on justice issues that relate directly to me, but also really encourages me to be a good ally for other people's causes too because, at the end of the day, i think there can be a lot more peace and justice in the world if we build coalitions and help each other out:

" Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." – MLK

Second, here is one that is significantly for me individually as a Muslim. I happen to derive a lot of inspiration for social justice from my religion, and this is one Islamic saying from the Prophet Muhammed that helps inspire me.

The Prophet Muhammed said, "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." The brotherhood referenced is that of humanity.

Finally, a few more:

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary."- George Orwell

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I am a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." - Malcolm X

Thoughts?

Welcome to the Blog for Peace over Prejudice (PoP) at Michigan State University!

The Peace over Prejudice Campaign (also known as PoP) was established on the campus of Michigan State University in Fall 2007 as a unique coalition of diverse student groups who were all committed to

promoting the inclusion and acceptance of people from all walks of life.

Current Mission:

Pop is a coalition of students and organizations who work to create a campus community which does not merely accept the various peoples it is comprised of, but rather empowers its members to positive shape the spaces in which they live, creating a broader environment that is

inclusive of its full diversity and meets the needs of all its members.

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This blog has been created to give a forum for members of this unique group to express any ideas they have or come across (including articles, videos, pictures, etc.) which somehow relate to our mission of promoting peace over prejudice in our daily lives.

Some related topics that have come up in our conversations include:

• examining both the privileges and disadvantages that we as individuals have due to a variety of factors (ethnic identity, gender, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, etc.)
• discussing ways in which the arts can be used to promote social consciousness and activism
• figuring out how to implement lofty ideals (for peace, harmony, social justice, love, etc.) by putting them into practice
• and much more!...

Please share your thoughts! :)

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Peace over Prejudice (PoP) Campaign

www.popmsu.com

popmsu@gmail.com