Current Initiatives

Click here to visit the Solitary Watch website to find out what

is being done  in NYS and around the country to address this common practice of gross abuse and torture.

NOTE: As of 12-28-11, there have been 3 suicides in the Erie County Holding Center within the last 4 months and 9 suicides in NYS prisons

this year (2011).

prisons affects everybody.

The CDCR (California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation) has not honored the promises that were made to California prisoners who waged a Hunger Strike for 21 days in July 2011. (See CALIFORNIA PRISONER HUNGER STRIKE, July 2011, BELOW.) Risking their physical well-being and leaving themselves open to retaliation by the prisons' administration, these prisoners have vowed to resume the Hunger Strike on September 26. 

                              

September 21, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution, and Troy Davis was murdered by the state of Georgia at 11:08 p.m. Eastern Time.
Here are Troy's words relayed earlier today: "The struggle for justice doesn't end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me. I'm in good spirits and I'm prayerful and at peace. But I will not stop fighting until I've taken my last breath. Georgia is prepared to snuff out the life of an innocent man."

Dear PRP2 Folks: Your signatures, prayers, and phone calls on behalf of TROY DAVIS were NOT in vain. We simply must re-double our efforts in this struggle for JUSTICE.

A LUTA CONTINUA!

TROY'S FINAL LETTER TO HIS SUPPORTERS

To All:

I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can't even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.

So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis'. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can't wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,

"I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!"

Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We Will Win!

NYS Parole Reform Campaign

As a member of the NYS Prisoner Justice Network, we support the purpose and intent of the SAFE (Safe And Fair Evaluations) Parole Act. This act has now become a bill in both houses of the NYS Legislature.

We are working to change unjust and unfair parole policies.

Click on this image for up-to-date info on Parole Reform.

ATTICA IS ALL OF US!

             You are invited to Mass Incarceration: Its Impact on Community, an event that will be held at Bethesda World Harvest International Church in conjunction with University at Buffalo Law School on September 12, 2011 from 6:00 – 8:00pm.  Here we will be led by the following community leaders in a discussion on the impact of incarceration on families in our local Buffalo community: Rev. Eugene L. Pierce of WNY Outreach Ministries, Inc.; Pastor James Giles of Back-to-Basics Outreach Ministries, Inc.; Rev. Jeff E. Carter, of Ephesus Ministries; Rev. Alberto Lanzot of First United Methodist Church (Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida) and Br. Michael Oberst, Peaceprints Prison Ministries.  This event will be moderated by Dr. Henry Taylor, Director of the UB Center for Urban Studies and is being organized by Karima Amin, Executive Director of Prisoners are People Too, Inc.  Closing remarks will be given by the First Lady, Pastor Joyce Badger.  

             This event is being held in commemoration of the 40 Anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion and will take place as part of a three-day conference sponsored by the University at Buffalo Law School.  This conference is called “40 Years After the Attica Uprising: Looking Back, Moving Forward” and features several of the original key players of the uprising to speak, including former prisoners, negotiators, hostages, and attorneys all directly involved.  This historical perspective will be coupled with a dialogue on prison reform with influential policy makers, academics and organizations in order to reconsider new possibilities for improving the current situation of mass incarceration.  The conference will begin on September 11, 2011, at the Burchfield Penney Theater at Buffalo State College with a screening of Ghosts of Attica at 5:30.  The introduction and panels held on September 12, 2011 will begin at 8:30am and be held at the Allen Hall Amphitheater at UB South Campus.  The panels on September 13, 2011 will begin at 9:00am and be held at the Student Union Theater at UB North Campus.  Admission is free (with pre-registration) and open to the public.      

       Bethesda World Harvest International Church is officiated by Bishop Michael A. Badger,  Sr. and is located at 1365 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14209.  For more information on the 40 Years After the Attica Uprising: Looking Back, Moving Forward conference and registration, please visit: http://www.law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/attica40/ or call (716) 645-2012.  All events are free (registration required) and open to the public.  

 Friday, August 12, was a special day. Around the country, small groups of determined individuals participated in a National Day of Protest  Against Family Court Abuse. Here in Buffalo, NY, PRP2 member, Jackie X Bontzolakes led a day long action, from 8:30am – 4:30pm, at the Family Court building, 1 Niagara Plaza, which brought these alleged abuses to the forefront of the community’s attention. Participants shared stories of abuse that illustrated violations of constitutional rights and human rights by governmental entities as well as C.P.S. We are unfortunately living in an era in which the desire to keep a family together has been criminalized. Across the nation, people are standing up and speaking out against a court system that pits government against humanity everyday.  On August 12, protest rallies in California, Michigan, Illinois and Buffalo, NY reminded us  that, “Family is First!” Following the success of several rallies, Jackie will join with Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant and the group, "We Are Women Warriors," in hosting  an

event which will allow you to listen to and question two judges who are seeking judgeships in Family Court: Hon. Patricia Maxwell and Hon. Sharon Lo Vallo. For more information, contact Jackie X at 716-418-6217 or familysolutioncenter@yahoo.com. Jackie is also moving forward 

with an initiative known as the "Family Solution Center."She facilitates the "Pro Family Rally," bi-weekly, in front of the Family Court Building @ 1 Niagara Square.

CALIFORNIA PRISONER HUNGER STRIKE, July 2011

Just as we supported prisoners in GA, December 2010, who  stood up and spoke out against abuse, we stand with the prisoners in CAwho dare to challenge the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation). Prisoners at several CA facilities areparticipating in a hunger strike which started at Pelican Bay on July 1, 2011. One main thrust of this protest is against the cruel, tortuous, and inhumane confinement in the SHUs. The prison system here in New York State has one of the highest rates of solitary confinement in the country. Appoximately 3500 prisoners are in SHUs in New York. Some have been in solitary confinement for more than 10 years. To keep updated on the Hunger Strike and to find out how to support the Pelican Bay strikers, go tohttp://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Here in Buffalo, a team of us will be fasting during the California prisoners hunger strike.
Our board member, Charles "Chuck" Culhane, is coordinating this effort.

(Note: The Hunger Strike ended on July 20, 2011 but the need for outsider vigilance remains in order to ensure that the CDCR honors its promise to improve conditions.)

MILK NOT JAILS is a consumer campaign to mobilize NY residents to support the dairy industry and the long-term sustainability of the rural  economy.  It is a political campaign to advocate for criminal justice and agricultural policy reform that will bring about positive economic growth.  MILK NOT JAILS insists that bad criminal justice policy should not be the primary economic development plan for rural New York.

 

On May 3, 2011, 16 members of PRP2 attended Legislative Awareness Day in Albany, NY  hosted by the NYS Prisoner Justice Network.We spoke to our senators and assembly members about the prison issues that concern us most.

 

 

BaBa Thanks the Community, February 2010

Dear Family, Friends, Supporters, and Community: 

 

Thanks to your love, letters, prayers, advice, encouragement and continuing support,  I FINALLY MADE PAROLE after nearly 34 years of incarceration!  

 

I am happy and humbled by your willingness to embrace me with your care and concern. Some  of you have supported me for decades. I thank you for believing in my ability to transform  my life. 

 

Some of you have only heard or read about me, and yet you were willing to tell the Parole Board that I deserve a second chance at life on the outside. I thank you for believing in my ability to atone. 

Your letters and your phone calls tipped the scales, and soon I will be FREE to join you in your efforts to promote justice, fairness, and humane treatment for all. 

 

Special thanks goes to Karima Amin and the members of PRISONERS ARE PEOPLE TOO, THE CIRCLE OF SUPPORTERS FOR REFORMED OFFENDERS,  and FRIENDS OF BABA ENG. 

 

I love you all!