The discussions in the last few days of Spring Taking Action have led to or have a connection to the topic of Prison Industrial Complex. The definition of Prison Industrial Complex is "the system that creates the need for mass incarceration, and then directly and indirectly profits from it, at the expense of primarily Black and Latino people."

This is a major issue that needs to be dealt with. White supremacy and capitalism are what leads to continuing this "cycle of death." I say "cycle of death" because it is something that is being put in a positive connotation which means that is something that is ‘needed,‘ that will actually help the economy and the prison system. Reality is, this is actually something that has a negative affect on many of us, if not directly then it's indirectly. It affects us in the sense that it can lead to you being separated from family members, like not being able to have a relationship with your own father, mother or any other person.

In my view as the definition says "at the expense of primarily Black and Latino people," it is targeting us people of color. Targeting us people of color because for one, those that are in jail are primarily Blacks and Latinos which leads to an increase of lower income families. The truth is those that are in low income families are mostly Blacks and Latinos and this is because with all these systems being established it is only adding more to one's bills, like the telephone companies with the collect calls. These corporations do not care about the people, all they care about is money for themselves, having no need to lower their prices when it comes to such situations.

This is the time for change and hope, and yesterday was the past and today is the future. We people of color will speak out against all the discrimination that we have to face on a daily basis! Power to us. Sí se Puede!

Cristian Rendón [1] was a student of the Summer Youth Organizing Academy, and has since graduated the program in 2009.