“Until we are all free, we are none of us free.” —Emma Lazarus
Happy Juneteenth. Happy Father’s Day.
In honor of both, I want to introduce you to Sam Brown.
Sam was released from the California Department of Corrections December 20th, 2021. I met up with him a month after he was released and we recorded a walk where he narrated what it felt like to be free from the constraints of prison after spending 24 years behind bars, more than half his life.
I’ll be sharing more about that walk soon.
At the age of 20, Sam was sentenced to life plus 13 years for the crime of attempted murder. While incarcerated, Sam developed the “Theory of Emotional Illiteracy-Based Criminality” and founded the 10P Program, which uses social emotional learning to help participants make the internal changes critical to gaining parole and successfully re-entering society. He acquired three college degrees, the last one being a Bachelors in Communication Studies. In the last five years, he met, fell in love with and married activist Jamilia Land and is now a devoted husband and father of three daughters.
This is a story about one of Sam’s most recent accomplishments.
In 2019, as Covid ran through the prison system, Sam was working as a hospital janitor disinfecting cells, which often involved cleaning blood, urine and feces. With underlying conditions and concerned for his own health, he told his supervisor that he didn’t want to risk that much exposure and that he would work two days a week rather than five.
Sam was earning seventy five cents an hour, 55% of which was taken by the state for restitution.
He was told that if he missed a day of work he would be written up for insubordination, or, in prison terms, a '1-15' or '1-28.’ These are disciplinary reports, which would go into his file and be prominent at his upcoming parole hearing. Receiving one could result in a loss of privileges or, even worse, as in Sam’s case, years added onto his sentence.
He had been before the parole board three times already and had another hearing coming up. “It’s like a modern day whip,” Sam told a reporter from ABC10. Despite all the work he had done for his fellow inmates, his good behavior, and the three college degrees he acquired, he got the message. His release was predicated on his labor. Sam went back to work.
While we celebrate the end of slavery today on Juneteenth, the truth of the matter is slavery still hasn’t ended. There remains a clause in the US Constitution that outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime where the party has been duly convicted.” The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) requires able-bodied prisoners to do many hours of labor each day during his or her term of imprisonment. Incarcerated individuals cannot refuse a job assignment or fail to show up for work. There is a growing movement to end this practice. Colorado, Utah, and Nebraska have already voted to abolish involuntary servitude.
When Sam lamented to his wife, Jamilia, she said, “Why don’t you change the law?”
So Sam then went back to his cell and wrote the language that would become ACA 3, The California Abolition Act, a bill that would amend the California State Constitution. He and Jamilia co-founded the ASAP Justice Network to support the passage of the bill and Jamilia leveraged her ties to the California legislature and found a sponsor in State Senator Sydney Kamlager. Along with California Abolition Act coalition members, Jamilia stood on the steps of the capital to launch the campaign. Sam called in from prison and Jamilia held her phone up to the mic. From inside prison, Sam described his experience of modern day slavery.
On May 31, 2022, the bill passed the Senate Committee on Public Safety. Sam was there to celebrate.
There are more than 2.3 million men in US prisons today. Many of them are fathers. All of them are sons.
Happy freedom day to us all. And happy fathers day to those of you on that path.
Update July 2022
On June 30th, the California Assembly Refused to hear ACA 3.
Sam and Jamilia were both at the Capital waiting for ACA to come up for vote when, at the final hour, the Senate adjourned without hearing the bill.
I spoke with Sam about what happened.
SB: “The people of California want to end slavery but the Dept. of Finance and a few Senators denied the people the opportunity to vote on this sensitive and historical matter. While it’s important to get rid of the statues, which are vestiges of white supremacy, it’s important to get rid of the statutes. If we don’t stamp them out of our Constitution, which is a living document, then we won’t see real change. Until you take slavery off of the books, as long as forced labor takes precedence over rehabilitation you can’t even imagine doing prison differently. Not when the interest of corporations takes precedence.”
TPR: What are your next steps?
SB: More people are learning about it every day. We are becoming more educated, concentrated, agitated and dedicated to end slavery in CA once and for all. I’m proud of everyone who is standing on the right side of history who is supporting the end of slavery.
FROM THE INSTITUTE OF PLEASURE STUDIES
Please consider donating or volunteering to the ASAP Justice Network to help this movement grow.
The California Abolition Act Coalition provides more information about how and why slavery is still on our books. Including the following:
In 1865, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was difficult to pass. The exception gave Southern states cover to claim they had abolished slavery while, at the same time, allowing them to craft laws that discriminated against Black Americans and institute a shadow slavery system that was perfectly legal.
Formerly enslaved people were arrested for minor crimes such as vagrancy and then put to work in conditions not much different than slavery. In 1898, for example, the state of Alabama got more than 70% of its state revenue from convict leasing, which is essentially another form of slavery.
Today, many states still simply echo the language of the 13th Amendment in their state constitutions or make no reference to slavery or involuntary servitude, allowing the 13th Amendment exception to stand.https://abolishslavery.us/
Bravo to Sam!