DC March Agenda
August 12, 2005, Washington, DC.
5:30 to 8:30 PM
Welcome Reception - Getting to Know Each Other
CIty Hall - Mayor John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 1st Floor Foyer
Washington, DC 20004 - Phone: (202) 727-2980
Speakers, Refreshments, Music/Entertainment, Greetings from
City Official of Washington DC and more.
Displays and Brochures will be available. - Film: Torture Inc. - Americas Brutal Prisons; from
UK Channel 4 (UK)
August 13, 2005, Washington, DC.
Family Members and Friends of People Incarcerated March on
DC
Saturday 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Lafayette Park (North Side of the White House)
Family and Friends of People Incarcerated March on Washington
Speakers, Music and More!
There will be a variety of music at the reception, including
The Exciting Corinthians of Alabama (rythm and blues, jazz, gospel
and much more), and new speakers are being confirmed through
June 30, 2005.
The Patrick
Crusade is hosting a DC March Transportation Online Forum.
Whether you're organizing bus trips and car pools, or just looking
for a ride, this is the place to connect.
The Patrick
Crusade is also hosting a forum: Why Am I Going To The March On DC? We'd
like to hear from you - these informal messages will be available
for media and promotional contacts.
Featured Entertainment:
The Heartland Crofters: Amy,
Julie, Jess and Molly are sisters who have been singing together
all their lives. Natives of America's heartland, their roots
are in bonnie Scotland where their ancestors were crofters: simple
folk who lived in highland cottages and worked the land. As the
Heartland Crofters they sing folk music, raising their voices
in song for praise, inspiration, and the simple joy of music.
Visit their website: www.geocities.com/sr_judy/Crofters.html.
A Song by The Crofters: If
You Believe (mp3 Format)
 Peter Love:
Recording Artist/Songwriter/Entertainer/Music Producer; Founder
of the SOC
(Save Our Children) Foundation; and "Save Our Children"
Song/Day Creator. Based out of the Chicago area, Peter Love has
acquired an impeccable professional business reputation, while
delivering high quality entertainment on and off stage. Mr. Love
brings many years of performance and song writing, and relevant
musical content to the DC March stage. Visit his website at:
www.peterlove.biz.
Download 2 Songs by Peter Love: A
Mother's Love and Safe
Harbor (mp3 Format)
Featured Participants:
 Roberta Franklin, Director of Families
and Friends of People Incarcerated, and lead organizer of the
DC March. Ms. Franklin is a seasoned social justice organizer
living in Montgomery, Alabama. Through her efforts, Ms. Franklin
has garnered broad-based support from the general public and
national officials. Franklin is the host of her own radio talk
show, Let the Truth Shine, on Montgomery's WAPZ-AM.
Franklin was named a "Soros Justice Fellow" by the
Open Society
Institute (2004-2005), recognizing her criminal justice reform
work in Alabama and with FMI. She also received the Excellence
in Journalistic Broadcasting Award from The International Bannister Foundation, Critical Resistance South, Southern Center for Human Rights and Patrick
Crusade at the first Family Members of Inmates Convention
in 2003.
 Bryan Stevenson, of the Equal Justice Initiative, will discuss Criminal
Justice Sentencing. Mr. Stevenson, Executive Director of EJI
and Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of
Law, has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against
the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system.
Since graduating from Harvard Law School and the Harvard School
of Government, Stevenson has assisted in securing relief for
dozens of condemned prisoners, advocated for poor people, and
developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving
the administration of criminal justice.
 Garry L. Jones, the Advocate4Justice, is a motivational speaker
who has made guest appearances on local television in Tallahassee,
FL, among others. A retired Lieutenant for the Federal Bureau
of Prisons, he now speaks out for people adversely affected by
the failed war on drugs. Garry has recently joined the Speaker's
Bureau of LEAP (Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition)
"During my career as a Correctional Officer, I would
often ask myself the question: Why is the largest percentage
of inmates black, when blacks in the United States are only 13%
of the population? Why is prison so black when 80% of people
in this country are white?
"When I retired in 2003, it became obvious that there
had to be a way to advocate for justice for all people. Today,
I am that advocate who is standing up and speaking out on behalf
of thousands of prisoners who have been affected by mandatory
guideline sentencing. I hope you will join our growing network
of others working to end drug war injustice."
 Dorothy Gaines, is an accomplished public
speaker and former drug war prisoner. Dorothy Gaines spent six
years in federal prison on a 19-year sentence for drug conspiracy
charges, and was released by President Clinton's order of clemency
on December 22, 2000.
Ms. Gaines teaches an unknowing public how mandatory minimum
sentences and conspiracy laws are at the root of the growing
federal prison populations. "These laws are getting people,
not drugs, off the streets!"
 Sherry Swiney, founder and Director of
The
PATRICK Crusade. "The mission of the Crusade is to correct
the abuse that is endemic to our prison system. Many of the abuses
that prisoners are forced to endure have been common knowledge
to all for many years. Very few of these abuses are new, for
things have changed very little in our prison system over the
years."
Ms. Swiney is an accomplished speaker and organizer, with
15 years of experience in criminal justice reform.
 Brother El Bey, of FOXO (FOXO (Fraternal Order of X-Offenders). FOXO
is a community-based organization spearheaded by former-offenders
who have personal experience, professional academic wisdom, and
understanding about juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior.
FOXO believes we are in a battle for the hearts and minds
of our youth. We believe that if the children are our future,
then it is imperative that we reach our youth to ensure a better
future for all.
 L. Elaine Sutton Mbionwu, Founder &
President/CEO of The
National Re-Entry Resource Center, Atlanta, Georgia. Elaine
serves in two capacities that are intimately connected and integrated
towards providing second chances for the formerly incarcerated
and their families. Elaine is the Founder, President/CEO of the
NRRC, and is also the owner of Covenant Collaborative Consulting
and Training.
As the Founder of the NRRC, Elaine's immediate efforts are
centered around 4 major goals towards building up the formerly
incarcerated and their families that include:
Reducing the fragmentation of re-entry programs and resources
across the country; Strengthening the sustainability; presence,
visibility, infrastructure, and capacity of re-entry programs
serving the men, women and youth formerly incarcerated; Eliminating
the information dissemination gap; and Centralizing the availability
of and access to resources on all matters related to re-entry.
Another facet of Elaine's work is through Covenant where she
serves as a Faith/Community based Re-Entry Strategy Consultant
to churches and community organizations interested in building
local, state, and national collaboratives through a comprehensive
network of direct care service providers to address the critical
continuum of care needs faced by individuals with incarceration
histories.
 Eric
Sterling, President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, is a
nationally recognized authority on drug policy reform, federal
sentencing, medical marijuana, the effects of the drug war on
race, the economy and business, and the confluence of faith and
drug policy reform.
Mr. Sterling was Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary from 1979 until 1989. On the staff
of the Subcommittee on Crime, (Rep. William J. Hughes (D-NJ),
Chairman), he was responsible for drug enforcement, gun control,
money laundering, organized crime, pornography, terrorism, corrections,
and military assistance to law enforcement, among many issues.
His expert analysis is used by Members of Congress, legislators,
nationally syndicated columnists, major network television news
programs, NPR, Pacifica Radio, 60 Minutes, Nightline,
ABC 20/20, PBS Frontline, etc.
 Barbara Ellis, Founder and Executive Director,
FILO, Inc. (Families
of Incarcerated Loved Ones). Ms. Ellis is supporting the
struggle to fix the California's Three Strikes Law and to assist
those deserving of re-sentencing, helping them transition back
into society and become productive citizens. FILO also helps
families cope with the pain of loved ones incarcerated for life
sentences, assisting them with moving on with their lives.
Ellis is a life member of the NAACP and is active in community
affairs that affect minorities, and an active member of New Hope
Missionary Baptist Church in San Bernardino, California. As an
activist she became the State Chair of Families to Amend the
California's Three Strikes (FACTS) law, the leading advocacy
group for the reform of California's notorious Three Strikes
Law. Her travels have included the State Capital, 9th Circuit
courts, the United States Supreme Court, numerous churches throughout
the State of California, and public marches and broadcasts.
 Cher Ford-McCullough is the Founder and
President of the Women's
Organization for National Prohibition Reform, Kentucky State
Director of the American
Alliance for Medical Cannabis and President of Compassionate Moms. She is a member of the
ACLU and The
Southern
Poverty Law Center. Her name is listed on the Wall of Tolerance in Montgomery, Ala.
Cher participated in both the Florida and Texas Journey for Justice Marches
in 2000 in the capacity of patient support. Cher has worked
in drug policy and prison reform since the first Two Million
Too Many protests in 1999. Prior to becoming a full time activist,
she worked as a professional singer and a retail store owner
in western Kentucky. Cher is married, has two daughters and four
grandchildren.
 Kenneth
Glasgow is Founder and Director of TOPS (The Ordinary People's Society), Dothan
Alabama. A former inmate and self made man, Mr. Glasgow is an
Alabama activist who focuses on restoration of voting rights
and helps inmates to re-enter Society. Glasgow, who's served
time in Florida and Alabama prisons, is among the first wave
of Alabamians with criminal records to register to vote under
a law passed during 2003's special legislative session.
Glasgow was among busloads of formerly incarcerated people,
national advocates and family members of prisoners to converge
at the steps of the Alabama Capitol in April. 2004, marching
as part of the Family Members of Inmates convention that took
place in Montgomery. The Alabama group was founded by radio-talk
show host Roberta Franklin, lead organizer of The March on DC.
 Geri Silva, Executive Director and co-founder
of Families
to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS). Ms. Silva was
born and raised in Los Angeles, where she spent the past 30 years
in all forms of struggle for human, political and economic rights.
Her activity covers the span from immigration rights, to welfare
rights, to the right to decent housing for all in need.
For the past 17 years she has fought against the rampant and
ongoing abuses in the courts and at the hands of the police.
Silva was also a founding member of Mothers Reclaiming Our Children
(Mothers ROC) in 1992.
Cheryl L. Kates, Esq. is the
President of the Edge
of Justice, an organization that performs inmate advocacy
in New York State. Ms. Kates is a graduate of Syracuse University,
and is in private practice as an attorney, focusing on parole
issues, sentencing mitigation, and post conviction relief efforts.
She is the former Interim Executive Director of the Syracuse,
NY New York Civil Liberties Union and was in that position on
September 11. She taught law at Bryant and Stratton and Rochester
Business Institute to paralegals. Ms. Kates is also a Licensed
Practical Nurse. In 2004, Kates received the Martin Luther King
Drum of Justice Award from the Statewide Coalition of Families
of Prisoners for her outstanding courage, committment , and leadership
in advocating for inmate families. Ms. Kates can be reached at
121N. Fitzhugh Street, Suite 300 Rochester, NY 14614, (585) 820-3818.
 John Flahive is co-founder with federal
inmate George Martorano of We
Believe Group; a group of concerned citizens supporting and
helping inmates like George that have received harsh sentences
for their non-violent (drug) crimes get that second chance. "I
feel that all the problems within the prison system (abuse, violence,
medical neglect etc., etc.) are due to the over populated conditions
from "haywire" sentencing", says John. "I
try to spread the FACTS to the public that the justice system
is not what it appears -- it has become purely punitive and revengeful,
when it should be corrective and rehabilatative." Mr. Flahive
is currently a student at Saint Petersburg College in Florida.
 Paul T. Robinson: He wasn't a gang member.
He didn't see guns nor weaponry until serving in the military
at age 21. He never had anything more than a traffic ticket.
What made his drug conviction so unbelievable was the fact that
Paul was raised in an affluent middle-class home with both parents.
Yet, he served more than ten years on a federal drug conspiracy
conviction.
Paul's wealth of real world experience has made him a recognized
figure and valued advisor of topics related to individuals seeking
to overcome challenges within their community. Paul motivates
others to develop their own views on subjects such as voting
rights for ex-offenders and post-prison sentences. His impressive
journey of success over bad choices uniquely qualifies him as
an expert in the area of human achievement and personal development.
In addition to being a proponent of civic awareness, Paul serves
as the State Coordinator of the Alabama Alliance to Restore the
Vote.
 Wanda Valdes will speak on behalf of her
late husband, Frank. Mr. Valdes was beaten to death by guards
at the notorious Starke State Prison in Florida in 1999. Since
that tragic day, Wanda has become a tireless activist against
the abuse of prisoners everywhere. You can read more about Frank
and Wanda Valdes here and here.
 Deborah Small is Executive Director of
Break the
Chains, an organization that seeks to build a national movement
within communities of color against punitive drug policies. Break
the Chains' ultimate aim is to implement progressive drug reform
policies that promote racial justice and human rights. Before
assuming her position at Break the Chains, Ms. Small was Director
of Public Policy for the Drug Policy Alliance where she spoke regularly
to the public and elected officials, religious and community
leaders as well as parents about issues relating to our government's
failed drug policy. Prior, Ms. Small was Legislative Director
of the New York
Civil Liberties Union. It was during this period that she
became an ardent advocate for drug policy reform as she became
increasingly aware of the number of young black men and women
incarcerated for drug offenses. She is a native New Yorker and
a graduate of the City College of New York and Harvard Law School.
 Nora Callahan, Executive Director of The November
Coalition, was raising two children and co-owner of an electrical
contracting firm when her brother Gary Callahan was indicted
for a drug conspiracy in 1989. His resulting 27-year prison sentence
prompted her in 1997 to heed the request of prisoners at Oxford
Federal Correctional Facility in Wisconsin: "Help us organize
drug war prisoners and their loved ones to oppose this war."
Ms. Callahan shared the 1998 Thomas Paine Award from the Thomas
Paine Society of California, recognizing individuals whose efforts
encourage basic democratic principles. In 2000, Ms. Callahan
accepted The Letelier-Moffitt
Human Rights Award from The Institute for Policy Studies on behalf
of The November Coalition. At the 2001 Drug Policy Alliance Conference, she was
presented the Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the
Field of Citizen Action.
 Dalani Aamon, of Harambee Radio Network, was born in Washington,
D.C. on August 25, 1955. He has written and lectured about black
family dysfunction and all of the ills associated with it. His
essays have had such a positive effect that he decided to make
it available to the masses. His book "I Must Let My People Know" won the
best non-fiction book of the year at the Harlem Book Fair. His
articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines all over the
world, and he has appeared on worldwide radio and television.
On December 6, 2004, Dalani Aamon was awarded an Honorable Mention
and National Finalist for the Non-Fiction Book Of The Year at
the 2004 Urban Spectrum Book Awards.
Mr. Aamon is a member in good standing of the E Groups, The
Blacklist, Sons of Afrika, SADA, The Drum Beat , The Black Power
List, The Black Writers Group and more. He is a proud member
of the Pan Afrika Movement. Mr. Aamon is the CEO and Founder
of the Harambee
Radio Network, launched May 1, 2004, and Founder of The Aamon
Publishing Company. His show "Transformation"
airs every Thursdays at 8:00 PM EST . Also visit Mr. Aamon's
official website at www.dalaniaamon.com
 Jean Marlowe is Co-Founder & Executive
Director of the Women's
Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR) and
Director of American
Alliance for Medical Cannabis (AAMC-NC). She is a member
of the ACLU,
the National Organization
for Women (NOW), the Southern Poverty Law Center & the Cannabis
Consumers Campaign (CCC). She serves on the Executive Committee
of the Polk County, NC Democrats. Her name appears on the Wall
of Tolerance in Montgomery, Alabama.
Jean is a 10-year veteran of the War on Drugs, having started
holding rallies in her small NC county to raise awareness for
legislation in Congress introduced by Representative Barney Frank
in 1995. In 1998, after receiving a package of medical marijuana
from a farm in Switzerland, Jean was prosecuted by the federal
government and ultimately spent 10 months in Alderson Federal
Prison Camp. She made national news in the fall of 2004 when
Martha Stewart was sentenced to Alderson Prison. She was interviewed
on CNN by Wolf Blitzer, Fox News, and MSNBC,
and appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, and CNN Sunday.
She was also interviewed by Newsweek and People
Magazines.
 Dorsey E. Nunn
is Program Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
in San Francisco, and has worked for over twenty years on prison-related
issues. He is the chair of the Criminal Justice Consortium, and
a member of the National Organizing Committee for Critical Resistance.
Mr. Nunn has taught classes in the California Youth Authority
on the Rights of Incarcerated Parents. Recently, he has been
involved in focusing the public's attention on the need for better
medical care for prisoners who have AIDS/HIV. He has spoken extensively
on this issue and other issues relating to prisoners, their children
and family members at numerous conferences, workshops, and demonstrations.
Mr. Nunn has won numerous awards, including the Human Excellence
Award presented by the San Francisco Muslim Community Center, a
Certificate of Appreciation presented by the San Mateo County
Board of Supervisors, and a Certificate of Special Congressional
Recognition presented by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. In 1971, at
the age of nineteen, Mr. Nunn was sentenced to life in the California
Department of Corrections under the felony murder rule. He paroled
in 1981 and discharged from parole in 1984.
 Kim Carter is Founder and Executive Director
of Time
for Change Foundation. Ms. Carter advocates for women and
their issues, while empowering them to overcome obstacles preventing
them from leading full and productive lives. She mirrors her
idol Harriet Tubman by lighting a path and leading others to
freedom from addiction and incarceration. Her motto is "A
lit candle loses nothing when it lights another".
A CPA in Not for Profit Accounting, Kim is the only former
client of Cedar
House Rehabilitation Center to come back and serve on the
Board of Directors as the Finance Chair and the Executive Board
as the Treasurer. She is one of 24 women selected from across
California to participate in the Women's Policy Institute Fellowship, where
she learned how to advocate and create policies that will have
a positive effect on women. Currently she is on several Advisory
Boards and a founding member of Forever Free Alumni Association,
which is comprised of 450 formerly incarcerated recovering women
who have successfully maintained their freedom and sobriety to
become active leaders in their communities. Her work has been
featured in The Sun Newspaper, The Black Voice News and The Precinct
Reporter, and she is the recipient of the NAACP "Community Pioneer Award",
The Soroptimist International Women Making
a Difference Award and the KCET 2004 Unsung Hero Award as well
as the San Bernardino County 2005 Women of Distinction Award,
presented by the county Board of Supervisors. She has been appointed
as a Commissioner on the Status of Women for the county of San
Bernardino, CA, 5th District. Kim is married to Mark Carter and
proud mother of Miss 'Ola Dennis, a junior at Tuskegee Institute
in Alabama.
 George Crossley of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) served
three and half years in Raiford and Union State Prisons in Florida,
and will speak on the many abuses of prisoners he witnessed while
incarcerated. George has worked on Civil Liberties issues for
over 40 years and has also worked closely with Kay Lee and Making
the Walls Transparent.
Plus many more exciting speakers and special guests!
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