Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:Schools to Prison Pipeline, Today's Civil Rights Issue

Constance Curry of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange writes a powerful article speaking about the legacy of the Civil Rights movement as reflected by the increasing criminalization of black and brown youth and the growing crisis as millions of black males are denied meaningful participation in American democracy.

"In the late 1990s, I was struck by a news article on the issue of felony disenfranchisement pointing out the large number of black men in particular who could not vote after their release from prison. More than 5.3 million Americans are barred from voting because of past criminal convictions"

Constance Curry goes on to show the history of the ties between the denial of education and the growing strength of the prison industrial complex starting with the Reconstruction south and continuing today.