Martin Luther King Celebration in Westport CT
Professor James Forman, Yale University Law School, author
Westport belatedly held its MLK celebration on March 10. Snow had caused a postponement from the original January date. We were fortunate that the keynote speaker Professor James Forman and the other presenters were able to make the new date.
James Forman, Professor at Yale University Law School, gave an impressive and inspiring speech for the MLK Celebration. Though he titled his talk “Fighting for Racial Justice in the Trump Presidency,” he related events of past decades that have brought us to today’s situation where the US has more people in prison than any other country in the world.
Though he speaks about criminal justice,” he told us that he prefers the term “criminal regulation,” because he does not believe our system exhibits justice.
He referred frequently to his book which I will buy, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America.
Book by Professor Forman
Teaching in Prisons
In addition to his teaching at Yale Law School, Professor Forman teaches courses on law and criminal justice in a men’s prison and a women’s prison in Connecticut.
He has 10 students from the law school and 10 inmates in each class. It’s a major learning experience for both groups, he said. For the law students, participating with the inmates provides lessons they cannot learn in class. For the inmates, the class gives them an opportunity to have their intelligence and humanity recognized as they are not in their daily lives.
Forman challenged those of us in the audience. What can we do, he asked, If we believe the system is unjust and unfair?
There is proof that money spent on education for inmates has major effects in reducing recidivism and the costs to society. Yet funding for education in prisons has been nearly eliminated.
Of course we should elect people who will work to change the system. But we can also seek ways to help individually. Could we teach in prisons as he does? And if not teach, volunteer?
I have to think about this!
Holding up the kola to honor and thank the ancestors
Book Launch Part II
I have more photos from the book launch of Breaking Kola: An Inside View of African Customs last Thursday evening.
And I keep receiving positive feedback from the event.
The audience loved watching the “breaking kola” ceremony and hearing the brilliant explanations from Chief/Sir Chukwudi Dikko and Chief Ichie Paulinus Odigbo.
The men passing and breaking the kola
Reading about the meaning of kola and the ceremony is no match for seeing it performed and explained by Igbo chiefs!
You should still read my book, of course! But watching the real thing was an amazing educational experience for audience members.
I was thrilled we could bring to life this important custom that helps build community in an African village for an audience in Westport, Connecticut.
And I was thrilled to have my daughter, grandson, and his girlfriend Mary in the audience.
Mary and Kenechi with Clem at book launch
If you are reading the book Breaking Kola: An Inside View of African Customs, please do me the huge favor of posting a review on Amazon. Positive comments from readers help potential buyers decide to buy!
Laws in Nigeria Don’t Help Women
In the recent African in Transition blog, two writers described the lack of protection for women in the Nigerian legal system.
Alexandra Bro and Jack McCaslin write about the policies and platforms of the two candidates for president. Both Buhari and his opponent emphasized the poor state of the economy and need for improvement.
“But of the many remedies proposed by the two candidates, neither sufficiently focused on a proven strategy to boost the economy: increasing the participation of women,” the writers say.
They provide lots of data on how improving the status of women in employment improves the economy. Then they talk about Nigerian laws that need change.
“For example, Nigerian law does not mandate nondiscrimination in employment based on gender, nor equal remuneration for work of equal value. Women are not even allowed to work in the same industries, or perform the same tasks at work, as men; among other restrictions, it is illegal for women to work overnight in manual labor.”
Of course changing laws doesn’t guarantee change in attitudes, as we know in the US. Still improvement has to begin somewhere, and better legal remedies would be a great start!
