What is Juneteenth to the incarcerated Black person? | Rattling the Bars

Welcome to this edition of Rattling The Bars, I'm Mansa Musa. When we hear "June 19th" or "Juneteenth", we are given the impression that we should be celebrating the end of slavery in one town, one part of Texas. What is being celebrated is, in essence, people remained in slavery well after they were freed. This is the case when it comes to mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex.

The 13th Amendment legalized slavery, and with slavery comes abolition. The tagline being offered by Californians United for a Responsible Budget or CURB is, we're calling on California to close 10 prisons in five years. Here to talk about this is is Amber-Rose Howard, Executive Director of CURB. Welcome, Amber. Thank you so much for having me on. It's such an honor to speak with you today. As you

seen, I opened up with, this going to be our June 19th, all things considered. As I said earlier, I outlined that we are celebrating something that, for most people and most activists, realize that it's a misrepresentation of a reality. That the people that was told June 19th that "you are free" was really just being held up for more labor until they didn't had no choice but

to tell them. Because eventually, somebody will come down there and say, "Oh, y'all got to go." Here, I want you to talk about, first of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, and about CURB. Okay. Sure, sure. Thanks again for having me on. Folks, my name is Amber-Rose Howard, you can call me Amber-Rose. Executive Director here at CURB, Californians United for a Responsible Budget. We

are a coalition of over 80 member organizations across the state of California. We have a three-point mission. Which is, to reduce the number of people incarcerated in California. That includes prisons, jails, and immigrant prisons. To reduce the number of institutions like that, that exist. Then, to get the state to redirect that spending, all the money they've been spending on prisons and jails, and put it into

the community, because that's where we know safety really is. If we have what we need, then the people will be safe. That's our mission. I got into this work because I am formally incarcerated. I was convicted of a serious violent felony when I was 18 years old. It just really propelled me into a life to think about how do we tear down the prison-industrial complex? Realizing

that it is an extension of slavery, realizing that it is racially charged, realizing that it does target Black people. I said, "You know what? This is the new fight. This is where the fight has been handed off from our elders and ancestors." So, this is where I am. Okay. Amber-Rose, talk about CURB got what they call The People's Plan. Mm-hmm. All right. First, let's talk about

The People's plan, and then roll that over into some of the recent developments, and implementation of The People's Plan. Absolutely. Okay. CURB got together, we were filed in 2003. Really, the opportunity for CURB, for folks that got together to found the organization, there was an opportunity to close a prison down here in Southern California, but it fell through. Folks said, "Well, how do we build from

there?" Well, this is 20 years ago in 2003, when folks were building up to closing prisons. Not until 2019 did the Governor say, finally, "We're going to start to close some prisons in California." That is strictly because of the advocacy of people. Let's never think that any state governor is going to say, "Let's do the right thing, and free people and close prisons," on their own.

That's full people power. The thing is, they kept looking to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with a small "rehabilitation", right? Mm-hmm. They kept looking to the CDCR department for a plan on how to select prisons, which ones to close, how is that going to happen, what it's going to look like? And, meeting after meeting at the budget committee hearings and all that, at the

Capitol, they never came up with a plan. So, we got together in our coalition and said, "You know what? Let's give them The People's Plan." That's right. Because, we know that they're not going to include our voices. That's right. They're not people who are directly impacted by this prison system. That's right. So, it's up to us to hand them the plan, because they don't know what

they're doing. So, we got together and created The People's Plan for Prison Closure, which really just outlines, look, in order for us to keep closing prisons, we have to reduce the number of people inside. That's right. So, we're giving suggestions on, "Pass these laws, pass those laws, in order to reduce that population. This is how you do it safely to make sure that people have resources

when they come out." Once we do that, we can start to shut down prisons. That leads back up to 2019 when the Governor finally announced some prison closures. Now, again, they didn't have a plan for it. So, even after our People's Plan for Prison Closure, we had to produce another document to say, "Look, this is the roadmap. If you all are a little bit confused by

this lengthy report-" That's right. "... produced, here goes something that can be real straightforward for you, right? We can really lay it down for you, to say there's a few phases to this." One phase is selecting prisons for closure. Now, we have centered the voices of not only folks who are formerly incarcerated and on the outside, like myself, but we sent you the voices of people

who are currently incarcerated state prisons. That's right. We sent to all 35 prisons and said, "We got almost 3,000 responses back." So, the folks were saying, "These are the criteria that you should consider when you're closing prisons," which look like... Outside of how much it's going to cost to rebuild the prison or the operations of the prison. The state thinks about the money part. Right? That's

right. said, "No, we need to consider, how far is it from your loved ones?" That's right. "How far do they have us sitting away from people who are going to support us in the community?" That's right. Those should be closed. Thinking about how many homicides and suicides happen in these prisons. That's right. What is the violence looking like in these prisons? That's right. We should consider

those. And then, what is the climate and environmental justice looking like around these prisons? Mm-hmm. Because in California, we have the brush fires happening every single summer- Yep. When it gets too hot. We have two prisons right now, up in the Central Valley, that are about to be flooded. So, the people inside said, "These are the extra things that you all should be thinking." Yeah, that's

right. In order to close a prison. So, we offered that. The second phase is to say, "Prison population reduction." Again, passing policies that would attack all of those harmful policies that came out really, in the 90s, between the 70s and the 90s, in retaliation to the Black Liberation Movement. That's what it. That's right. That's right. Come on, come on. For real. That's what it was. So,

laws that will criminalize more people, because they realized, "Black folks are standing up, we don't like this.". Yeah. "How do we get rid of them?" So, we said, "Well, let's reverse those policies." That's how we're looking at it. We have reversed many of them, which continues to bring down the population. The third part we say is, "We need a just transition to support, impact the communities."

Now, the state is real focused on, what do these neighborhoods, these towns where prisons exist, how do we keep their economy going-" Right, right. "... after a prison is closed?" Many of these towns are fighting back to say, "No, we need this economy. Don't close our prison." Yeah. for me, you all sound like slave owners. That's what they are. Come on, talk, tell the truth. That's

what they are. Yeah, yeah. Slave owners. Plantation. You all been from the slave economy. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's right. That's right. So, we're like, "No, you don't need a slave economy. There are plenty of other ways to produce-" Come on. "... for this town." Right. in it, rather than this form of slavery. So, we talk about what are the economic opportunities that the

state can provide, that can be pulled from federal funds, in order to keep a town going without a prison. You know what? Let me hold you up right there. Yeah. The reason why I want to hold you up right there, because in the conversation of abolition, that's the one thing that you hear. We know that these towns, if you take these prisons out, that tumbleweed will

follow. As soon as the last prisoner's there, a tumbleweed's going to replace. But the humanity, and that's why I wanted to stop you right there, because- Yep. ... I want people to understand that CURB is not inhumane in terms of what they want to get done. This is a humane call. This is not a vengeance call. This is not a, "We're going to pull out and

leave your ass in there, the way you-" Right. "And let you feel what we felt." No, we're saying that the responsibility... and then reimagining the abolition, reimagining prisons going, we're reimagining a holistic society, and this is a part of it. Go ahead, continue. That's right. Exactly. You're totally right in saying that. I appreciate you bringing that in, because people think, oh, we just want to get

our people out, move on, whatever. No, we're talking about changing the entire structure of society here. We're saying that, listen, we need our people free. We need our people living outside of prisons. We need resources in the community. And, we know that people who work for the Department of Corrections, and corrections officers, they have one of the highest suicide rates in the state of California. Come

on. That's right. That's right. Yeah. They're doing a bit. They're doing a bit. It's unhealthy for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's just a disruptive system for everybody. Right. Folks who work for that system are, "What am I going to do for a job?" Wouldn't you like a job that doesn't cause you the type of stress that you get from being a

slave owner? Really? Yeah. Yeah, come on. The overseer? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Wouldn't you want something different for yourself, for your family, prolong your life? So, this is actually revisioning that can really benefit everybody. Going forward, didn't you all just come up with a victory in terms of the budget- Yes. Or the divestment? I want to echo that point, because this is our conversation

of Juneteenth. We're saying that we're coming. We're not looking for somebody to come and tell us that we're free. Right. We're saying that we are free, and then now we're saying that not only are we free, but that we're going to dismantle the 13th Amendment by taking away the profit margin that keeps the 13th Amendment alive. Right. Once that profit margin is gone, the 13th amendment

will be gone in and of itself. Go ahead and talk about your recent initiative that you all took. Absolutely. We took the people to the Capitol. We got together folks from across the state and said, "Let's go up here and have conversations with people in person." We do online advocacy a lot where folks can send in letters, make phone calls, but we went to the Capitol

to advocate. California had this idea that they would spend $360 million to rebuild San Quentin State Prison. Which is What? Yes. Which is the oldest prison in the state. What? We said, "No." That's right. "This is ridiculous.". Yeah. You can't rebuild a structure and say, "Oh, we're going to rehabilitate you all if we do more construction on this prison." That has nothing to do with it.

When the people are inside, the people get their minds free together with themselves in community. It has nothing to do with this system of imprisonment. It has nothing to do with the physical prison. That's right. So, we went to advocate to say, "No. We have to fight back." We can say that the people power helped push them in the right direction. The State, the Assembly, and

the Senate told the Governor, "We reject this proposal. We don't need-" That's right. "... 360 million more dollars on San Quentin." That is a victory. Of course, there's a long way to go there. Also, I guess, another victory, I'd say, is that the people pushed the Governor to announce more prison closures. Right. So, as of now, there were already two closures. One happened, one is in

the process. The Governor announced an additional two closures, and a bunch of yard closures at different prisons. Hey, come on. What we're looking forward to is another five closures happening by 2027. Right. We know that it's possible, because even the state's own Legislative Analyst's Office, which is nonpartisan, they said, "Listen, we have 20,000 empty prison beds in the state of California. You all have to close

more prisons." So, we're getting even the state's analysis to say this is the right direction to move. So, we do really feel like the people's power is pushing toward that. You know what? I tweeted something a couple of years back about Juneteenth, and I was thinking about James Baldwin when he said, "What is the 4th of July to the slave?" Right? That's right. Come on. Along

that line. So, I said, "Well, what is Juneteenth to the incarcerated Black person?" Come on. It's just. Yeah. What is it? Yeah. What is Juneteenth to me if I'm sitting in a prison cell? Yeah, yeah, that's right. If I'm in chains, if I'm behind bars, it doesn't have any significance. So, I say to everyone who wants to celebrate Juneteenth, to everyone who wants to go out

and party, and eat your food and celebrate, that's cute. We like that, but- Yeah, we don't have no problem with people celebrating. I have a problem with a little plate. Yeah. But I do implore people to think about the fact that we have thousands- 2.5 million people in prison. Exactly. 2.5 million people in prison. 2.5 million people locked up because of the 13th Amendment. It's reimagination,

that's what we're doing. The whole thing about this conversation we're having today is saying, our reimagination, this is the implementation of our reimagination. Right. It's not a stretch of the imagination. It's happening. My director sent me this quote saying that we live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. Yeah. But then, so did the divine right of the king. See, at one time it was a saying

that on the British Empire, the sun never set on the British Empire, because of how massive it was. That's how much they had colonialized territory. Now, the sun, like right now, probably set right on... the power they got right now... probably is one outhouse. That's how much power they got, because of people coming together and getting their liberation. That's right. And people coming together and imagining

another life. So, I want to push forward on this issue about reimagination going forward. Going forward. Because, you outlined some critical things that you all implemented, but going forward, okay, we get to 2027, and we got what we want. Okay. What we going to do with our people when they come out? What you all plan to get out, because we don't want them to, say, take

one incident, and then make that one incident become the reason why they should revisit the plantations. So, what do we have in place for our people when they come out? Because, we know we're going to need help. Absolutely. I think that that's the importance of the work that we're doing around the budget. Is because in California, for example, we spent $18.5 billion a year- Come on.

... on incarceral structure. Yeah. So we're saying, well, with prisons closing and populations reducing, people going back to the community, let's get these millions of dollars that. Come on. Come on. And put them into the community. We're talking about permanent, and safe, and secure housing. That's right. We're talking about resources in the community where people can have mental healthcare, physical healthcare, emotional wellness. That's right. Where

the youth can have places to go to express their creativity, and further their education. That's right. we need that money to be spent on. The state is taking steps to do that, but we know that it's going to take a lot more work from the people's to get- That's right. ... here. We know that infrastructure in the community is what's going to keep us safe. Come

on. That's right. If people wasn't in crisis, then they wouldn't be harming each other. That's right. If we all we need, there's no space for harm. So, that's what we're pushing the state to do. Let's reinvest those funds into the community, so that returning citizens and returning people can experience life, and thrive in it. Because, we do have those resources. We've just been spending them the

wrong way. You know what? I'm thinking, as you're talking, because I remember somewhere along the line in history... and you can correct me if my rendition of history is incorrect... but I remember somewhere along the line in history, when they freed us, they said they're going to give us 40 acres and a mule. 1.5 billion is a whole lot of acres and a whole lot of

mules to be given the population of California. More importantly, to your point, you create jobs. A friend of mine would tell me, say, "When a person have a job and have an income, they feel good about themselves. They got a life." When you're taking the monies that you are putting into maintaining the prison-industrial complex, the military-industrial complex of the California system, prison system as we know

it, then all you doing is taking it and furthering the narrative about the 13th Amendment and legalized slavery. Yep. But now, because of CURB, we can see the reimagination taking shape in the form that you outlined. Talk a little bit more about going forward, what you all going to be doing. Absolutely. Going forward, we plan to continue to engage the state, the Governor's administration, and the

budget committee's really where they make the decisions about public safety. We have pretty good relationships there now, but we have to continue to push them to spread that money out. There's a few roadblocks, the people have to apply for the funds that have been released and have been redirected. We're trying to fight those barriers, to say it should be a lot easier for people to apply

for this. Yeah. That's right, that's right. That's right. for organizations, all these strict guidelines aren't going to help us. Right. We'd just be able to funnel the money to the communities a lot faster. So, that's what we're going to be working toward. Also, you know what? If they do agree to close five more prisons by '27, that means that the state will have closed eight prisons

within less than a 10-year span. Come on. That's- That's phenomenal. Yeah. That's phenomenal. Yeah. That's phenomenal. That's phenomenal. That's right. Right here. Hey, that's a June 16th. Yeah. That's a June 16th when 2027 get here. Every time they close a prison, we're like, "Yeah!" We... Fireworks. That's right. Yeah. Look, marching around with whatever flag we want. Hail to the King, a whole bunch of other stuff.

Exactly. It's a reason to celebrate, but it's also something that pushes us to say, "Wow, if we can go from 35 prisons and cut that down by eight, then what's that? 27 left? Then, I think we can do 10 more-" Yeah. "In the next eight years." You know what I'm saying? Then, we can do 10 more after that. You know what this does, in terms of

the effect? Because I did 48 years before I got out, and when changes was coming in, in terms of us knowing we was getting ready to get out, this is what it does. See, it changes the mentality of the people that's locked up. Yeah. It changes the mentality of the people that's on the plantation. Yeah. Because now, see, it's a difference. Between me never getting out,

or me being in an environment where it's fight or flight, where you put me in the system and say, "Oh you a gang member. So, therefore" Versus saying, "Oh, there's this group, CURB. This infrastructure in California, they just closed five. They're coming down the road, they're getting ready to close these." It's different when you hear that resonating through the population, saying, "Man look, if I'm alive,

I can get out." Yeah. So, "Oh, I'm going to stay alive to get out." Yeah. But more importantly, I'm going to create an environment where everybody think like that, "Oh, we getting ready to get out of prison. Why are we at each other's throats?" Yeah. "Why are we battling over turf war in a prison when we got a reality before us to say, 'I'm going to

be able to get out there and raise my kids.'" Absolutely. "I'll be out there to hug my mother." Yeah, yeah. "I'm going to be out there to hug my wife. I'm going to be out there networking with my sister." You all really, when this whole impact, the impact of this, what you all doing, is really resonating in prison. Because, you even outlined it, when you said

that your strategy, you all went inside. Yeah. "Tell us what need to be. Tell us how this looked inside." Yeah. And worked your way outside- Yeah. To develop a policy and a perspective. More importantly, I never heard... you ain't said this word out your mouth, which I was proud of. You never said "reform". Because we're not trying to reform a plantation. Mm-mm. We don't need no

reform. Yeah. We're not reforming a dang thing. We out here, we want to tear it down. That's right. And show the world what we really can build up. Absolutely. Yeah. We thank you for coming on. Tell how can we get in touch with you, and tell our audience what they can do to get in touch with you all. Absolutely. And support your effort. Absolutely. You all

can look us up at curbprisonspending.org. If you want to reach me directly, you can reach me at amberrose@curbprisonspending.org. There you have it, Amber-Rose. Thank you so much for having me. Yes. Uh-huh. You know what? We saying this here, you rattled the bars today. Yeah. George Jackson said that they will hear the rumbling of our feet. We know for right now that George Jackson is proud of

the members of CURB. Because, we know that when you all had took the initiative to say, "You're not putting one more penny into that, decadent-ass San Quentin," when you all made that statement and stepped forward, that went a long ways in terms of the future of the men, and more importantly the women, that's in prison system. So we ask you, our audience, to review this information,

to review CURB, to look at what they're doing, and reimagine a society without a prison. Yep. Reimagine a society where $1.9 billion is being invested in schools, hospitals, grocery stores- And infrastructure, or playground where your children can play. Reimagine that the monies that's being put into the prison-industrial complex- Yeah. The military-industrial complex, is being put back inside society and being reinvested. And, the reinvestment would yield

this, the reinvestment will yield a quality life for people. Not only the people that's getting out, but the people that's left behind. Them communities where the prisons were, you can have a quality life. You can reimagine having an industry, and living in a town where you don't have to wake up and think about whether or not your loved one would come out of prison- Yeah. ...

alive, because of the brutal conditions that they work under. We thank you, and we continue to ask you to continue to support Rattling The Bars. Absolutely. Because it's the only way that you're going to get Amber-Rose and a CURB report, on Rattling the Bars. You're not going to get it from no other major network. Nobody going to talk about $1.9 billion being taken away from a

prison-industrial complex. Nobody going to sit up here and talk about how the devastation from prison... They're not going to give you this information on a major news network. You're only going to get this information on The Real News, and you're only going to get this information when you rattle the bars. That's right. Thank you very much, and thank you, Amber for- That's right. ... enlightening us,

and giving us this opportunity. Thank you so much for having me on.