For its 9th Annual Festival PRONK! partnered with the STEP UP Coalition to support to the Community Safety Act (CSA). The goal of the collaboration was “to use music, dance and art to bring attention to injustices and inequalities in our city and encourage people across Providence to stand behind the legislation.”

The STEP UP Coalition is made up of the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Olneyville Neighborhood Association (ONA) and various other activist groups in Providence. The CSA is a citizen-proposed ordinance that would address racial profiling and other abuses of power by police. Mayor Jorge Elorza recently said the CSA could pass before the end of the year.

This is the ninth year for PRONK! (Providence HONK!) which takes place every Indigenous People’s Day. It is not a Columbus Day parade. Local bands, such as the Extraordinary Rendition Band, What Cheer? Brigade, and Kickin’ Brass participated, as well as bands from around the country. Organizers describe PRONK! as “a cacophonous street celebration with out of town brass bands! We are a street intervention like no other, with outfits and misfits from Rhode Island and beyond – musicians, artists, activists, makers – taking over the streets as part of the Providence HONK Parade.”

Organizers go on to say that PRONK! “spawned from the original HONK! Festival in Somerville, MA that has “grown into a new type of street band movement—throughout the country and across the globe—outrageous and inclusive, brass and brash, percussive and persuasive, reclaiming public space with a sound that is in your face and out of this world.”

Lost in yesterday’s coverage of real estate investor Joseph Paolino‘s roll out of the Providence Downtown Improvement District‘s (DID) plan to deal with the issue of panhandling (and homelessness) in downtown Providence was the introduction of an alternative plan by committed homeless and poverty activists that took place across from Kennedy Plaza at Paolino’s property “The Shops at 100.”

The Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (RIHAP), Homeless Bill of Rights Defense Group and DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) presented a comprehensive plan called “Reclaiming Our Public Spaces.”

The group presented recommendations in three major areas:

• Promoting Community and Economic Development
• Discontinuing Current Criminalization Policies; and
• Supporting Social and Human Service Needs.

The advocates sought to differentiate their ideas from those to be presented by Paolinio. Dr. Eric Hirsch, Professor of Sociology at Providence College and a member of the Homeless Bill of Rights Defense Committee pointed out that Paolino’s proposals were akin to the flawed “broken windows” policies that have been discredited around the country. The “broken windows” policies were based on an idea that allowing minor offenses like littering, panhandling, loitering, or washing car windshields was an open invitation for more serious crimes. They argued that these “broken windows” were the real reasons for the rise of violent and serious property offenses.

“The problem with basing policy on this “broken window” idea is that there was no evidence to back it up,” stated Hirsch. “Unfortunately, although the idea has been completely discredited, police departments and city officials around the country continue to base policy decisions on this flawed proposal.”

“Criminalization is not a solution to homelessness,” added Roger Williams University School of Law Professor and Assistant Dean Andrew Horwitz. “It is incredibly cruel to those experiencing homelessness, dehumanizing the individuals and making it harder to connect to advocates and services. It also costs the system more by spending taxpayer dollars on court costs and incarcerations rather than on housing, medical care, and other long-term solutions.”

Key findings/conclusions from the report are:

• Homeless people are criminally punished for being in public even when they have no other alternatives
• The criminalization of homelessness is increasing across the country
• Criminalization laws violate the civil and human rights of homeless people
• Criminalization laws are costly to taxpayers
• Criminalization laws are ineffective; and
• Criminalization laws should be replaced with constructive solutions to ending
• homelessness.

“Rhode Island has the potential to be a model for how to end homelessness,” concluded Barbara Freitas, Director of RIHAP. “We can do this by collaborating to provide safe, affordable, permanent housing and engaging with and educating our community. It is not done by harassing and further marginalizing our city’s most vulnerable neighbors.”

Here’s the video from their press conference:

Members of the Coalition to Pass the Community Safety Act (CSA) spoke out before Thursday night’s Providence City Council meeting about the importance of empowering local communities on policing.

“Providence needs the Community Safety Act because without it we feel unsafe,” said campaign coordinator Vanessa Flores-Maldonado in a statement. “The Coalition hopes that a public hearing will speak loudly to the need of an ordinance that seeks to hold police accountable when they harass and brutalize our community.

The Coalition, which is comprised of local community organizations and members, had previously submitted a petition on July 1 to have the city council hold a public hearing before going on their August break. However, the 90+ signatures submitted took 3 weeks to verify and no public hearing was scheduled within the 14 days required by the City Charter.

Malcus Mills of DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) introduced three speakers, Dan, representing PrYSM (Providence Youth Student Movement), Wayne Woods of DARE, and Justice, speaking for RI Jobs with Justice.

Dan spoke about the gang database used by the Providence Police Department. If a youth is placed on the gang database list, they have no ability to remove their name or even check to see if their name is on the list. This may result in loss of job and educational opportunities in the future.

Right now, said Dan, the police, “judge people by their appearance, their race, gender etc, and they will say you are guilty… because they think you are part of a gang.”

Wayne Woods spoke of being profiled and pulled over on the East Side of Providence. After being removed from his car, searched, and then waiting for 20 minutes as his car was searched by police, he and his friend, both black men, were sent on their way. The police told the men, “To go home and take it easy.”

If the CSA were passed, said Woods, the car could only have been pulled over for probable cause and the police would have to issue a receipt to people they detain, outlining the conditions of the probable cause.

“A big part of why the CSA needs to be passed is so that we can hold people accountable to what they’re doing,” said Justice, representing Jobs with Justice. “Civil servants and law enforcement should be accountable just like other working people, and we need to be able to protect the people of Providence, we need to be able to protect the youth of color in Providence.”

The Providence Community Safety Act is a city-wide proposed ordinance that aims to hold police accountable and make communities safer. Developed by community members and organizations who are frustrated with police harassment and lack of accountability, the CSA has 12 key points that outline how police officers should interact with community members. These points range from video recording to traffic stops to the gang database.

A subcommittee of the Providence City Council is slated to consider on September 1 the Community Safety Act – a proposed bill that would make police officers more accountable to the people they detain and reduce racial and other forms of discrimination.

A coalition of community groups called the Step Up Network have launched a campaign to promote the legislation – the group includes DARE, the American Friends Service Committee, Providence Youth Student Movement, the Olneyville Neighborhood Association and the White Noise Collective. On Thursday, a Black Lives Matter action called on the City Council to pass the CSA.

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steve Pare does not support the Community Safety Act. RI Future has asked for an interview with Mayor Jorge Elorza about it. We will be reaching out to members of the City Council as well.

Click here to read the full text of the proposed Community Safety Act.

Jessie Justin, an organizer with White Noise Collective and Rhode Island resident, explained in a statement why she has come to protest, “Trump is actively building a culture of hate that directly threatens my Muslim, immigrant, and black neighbors, and we want to make it clear that here in Rhode we are united as a community. His anti-immigrant actions, racism, and Islamophobia are not welcome here.”

In a statement, the White Noise Collective explained that they…

…came to the event today as an affiliated group of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a national network of groups and communities organizing white people for racial justice with passion and accountability to person of color leaders and organizations. SURJ groups around the country have been showing up to Trump rallies to speak out against racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia since the Trump’s campaign began in 2015, including a recent blockade action at Trump’s event venue in Wisconsin where six protesters were arrested.

“For us today was not about a presidential race,” says Beth Nixon, a member of White Noise Collective and Rhode Island native, “it’s about presenting an alternative vision to Trump’s: that the US can be an equitable country that welcomes and includes all people. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there are enough resources for everyone here to live with safety, health, and dignity.”

Meanwhile, outside, things became very heated. Once Trump’s motorcade entered the Crowne Plaza driveway, and Trump stepped from his car to wave at supporters, those outside the venue, including Trump supporters, Cruz supporters and Trump opponents, crossed the street and followed Trump as near to the tent behind the hotel where Trump was speaking as security would allow .

Trump fans, perhaps exasperated to have waited hours, only to find the venue too small to accommodate the full crowd exchanged words and chants with Trump opponents. While Trump supporters chanted “Build the Wall” and “Ten Feet Higher” opponents countered with “Black Lives Matter” and “Love Trumps Hate”.

Perhaps the darkest moment came when a Trump supporter assaulted a man. The police took the man who was punched into custody, handcuffing him. Trump opponents were outraged because the police seemed only interested in arresting the person with the darker skin, who was in fact the victim. Ultimately the man was released by police when video and photographic evidence proved the man was assaulted and only defending himself.

Trump fans also splashed two Trump opponents with liquid from a water bottle and grabbed a camera from another Trump protester and threw it on the ground. If there were more incidents like this, I did not see them.

Another moment that was worrisome occurred when a group of young male Trump supporters thought it funny to chant “Dicks out for Trump” at a young woman with a Black Lives Matter sign in her hands. This was a rape threat, plain and simple, even if it was delivered “humorously” as a police officer stood near by. This event highlighted the misogynistic undertone of Trump’s candidacy. Shirts were being sold outside and worn inside the event saying “TRUMP THAT BITCH!” on the back and in case that was too subtle, the front of the shirt features pictures of Hillary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and the words, “Hillary sucks, but not like Monica”.

Perhaps the best way to describe the tenor of the event is to point out that one of the first speakers at the event, the warm up act, if you will, was WPRO radio “personality” John DePetro. In many ways the event was like a live, interactive version of his radio show… or a circle in Dante’s Hell.

Despite the incidents above, the protest and the event was largely peaceful, given the high level of emotions on both sides. Trump may have been interrupted, but he was never shut down or prevented from giving his fans the full Trump experience. In fact, disruptive protests have become so common at Trump rallies that the campaign runs a sort of public service announcement at the beginning of each show saying that protesters should not be touched but simply pointed out to security to be taken away.

Below are some pictures.

The United Nations has called solitary confinement torture. President Obama recently condemned its use. In New York, a judge just resolved a class-action lawsuit by ensuring that there are legal limits on the amount of time a prisoner can be kept alone in a cell.

In Rhode Island, we call solitary confinement “segregated” confinement.

But what is solitary confinement, really? Can any of us who have not experienced it truly understand it?

Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary heard hours of testimony on solitary confinement in Rhode Island. Most of the time was taken up by prison officials and others explaining the present policy of “segregated” confinement to the Senators on the committee. But the most emotional, moving and disturbing testimony came from former inmates, people who have endured solitary confinement and who are still haunted by the experience.

Jessica Gonzalez was the first juvenile ever sentenced as an adult in Rhode Island. At the age of 14 she was sent to the ACI. Her story should not only make us question solitary confinement, it should make us rethink the entire way we deal with juvenile defendants.

John Prince, who I write about often because of his work with DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), spent decades in prison. He speaks here about his experiences with solitary confinement.

JoseDavi Lamoso is an organizer with Black and Pink, one of the groups pushing for these legislative reforms. While serving his sentence in prison Lamoso was held in solitary “several times.” Lamoso bluntly states that “solitary confinement is torture.”

Osiris spent ten days naked and alone in a cold room with no mattress or toilet paper. This stint of solitary confinement was the worst thing to happen to him in his eleven and a half years in prison.

The General Assembly is considering bills that would curtail the use of solitary confinement in the Rhode Island prison system. Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on Senator Harold Metts‘ bill that would prohibit the use of solitary confinement for specific vulnerable populations (juveniles, elderly and the mentally ill), ensure that conditions in segregation are humane, and limit the use of solitary confinement for all inmates to 15 consecutive days, and no more than 20 days within any 60 day period. The videos above are all from that hearing.

A companion bill, submitted by Representative Aaron Regunberg, will be heard in House Judiciary this Wednesday, room 201, at 4:45pm.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza tore past the twin protests taking place outside his exclusive fundraiser taking place at the Rooftop at the Providence G. On one side were members of Providence Fire Fighters IAFF Local 799, who are in the midst of difficult negotiations regarding overtime and staffing. On the other side were members of the STEP-UP Network, a coalition of community groups eager to pass the Community Safety Act (CSA), which candidate Elorza pledged to support in October, 2104.

Since his election, Elorza has avoided any substantive meetings with any groups about the CSA, and has not supported the bill’s  passage as he promised. This protest was, in the words of the STEP-UP Network, “to denounce the fundraiser for Mayor Jorge Elorza’s campaign as he has neglected and in some cases, refused to meet with groups representing low-income people of color on issues such as public safety, housing, and jobs.”

As a result of Elorza’s broken campaign promises and disinterest in meeting with community groups, the STEP-UP Network asks that instead of donating to Mayor Elorza’s campaign, funds be directed “to local organizations whose work directly impacts those affected by police violence, housing instability, and unemployment.”

Vanessa Flores-Maldonado, a PrYSM organizer, introduced three speakers outside, before the Mayor’s arrival.

Malchus Mills, volunteer for DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), said in a statement, “A fundraiser for a mayor who refuses to meet with his constituents is absurd. We have been asking for a meeting for over a year now, but instead we keep getting passed off to police administrators. We still have not met with Mayor Elorza since the start of his administration, yet he falsely claims to have met with us on numerous occasions.”

Mike Araujo, Executive Director of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, stated: “Not only have we been passed off to police administrators, but we have been given offers of only 15 to 30-minute-long meetings with the Mayor. How are we supposed to talk about the safety of an entire city in just 15 to 30 minutes?”

Jorrell Kaykay, volunteer at the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), stated: “Last time we publicly asked Mayor Elorza about his changing stance on the CSA, he got this bill confused for a statewide bill. Clearly, Mayor Elorza is not paying attention to the issues that are affecting the community he serves especially when he keeps denying to adequately meet with said community. Whose mayor is he really?”

Kaykay spoke in reference to an East Side community forum that took place in November 2015 in which protestors had shown up as it was the second forum held in a neighborhood where crime rates were actually falling. When questioned about his stance on the CSA, Mayor Elorza responded on a different bill that had recently been passed in the General Assembly. I covered that event here.

The STEP UP Network includes the Providence Youth Student Movement, Direct Action for Rights and Equality, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Olneyville Neighborhood Association.

Mayor Elorza did not meet with the activists.

Roline Burgison, Tenant and Homeowner Association leader and member of DARE’s Board of Directors, began the speaking program. Burgison explained that she was forced to move in with family after a two-year fight to stay in her South Providence apartment following a foreclosure. She wants to return to the city’s Southside neighborhood, where she raised her children, but the rent is un-affordable, and low-income developments have long waiting lists.

“I went to a local Community Development Corporation the other day and was told that I could qualify for housing based on my income,” said Burgison in a statement, “but that I might have to wait two years or more. There is a housing crisis in this city, and the Mayor and the Everyhome program need to deal with that.”

Burgison explained that the group was there to “break-up” with the Mayor, because he had ignored their proposals to make the Everyhome program better, and denied their request for a Community Advisory Board to oversee the program. According to DARE and the THA, she said, community members’ hearts are broken over the gentrification and displacement occurring in some of the city’s low-income neighborhoods of color.

Malchus Mills, THA member-leader, outlined the group’s major concerns about the way the program is being conducted. “Right now, there are no standards for the quality of the homes once they’re renovated, the city is not being transparent about which properties are being targeted and why, and they are not addressing the desperate need for affordable housing in our city.” Mills went on to share statistics from Housing Works RI’s recent Housing Fact Book, including that 57 percent (over 18,000 households) of Providence renters pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent and the city currently has 10,500 units of affordable housing. “You need to make 43,000 dollars a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Providence now. How many people here make that?” he asked.

Joe Buchanan, DARE Board member and life-long Southside resident, outlined the group’s demands for changes to the Everyhome initiative. “We want the Mayor to announce the creation of a community advisory board for Everyhome and hold the first meeting in March. We want to see 50 percent of the properties targeted by the program set aside for very-low income housing, and we want a list of all the contractors hired for receivership jobs. We want this set-aside and the list by Tuesday.”

“The United Nations has condemned the use of solitary confinement, saying it can amount to torture,” said Representative Regunberg (D-Dist. 4, Providence). “And the research is very clear that prolonged solitary confinement causes psychological problems that can damage inmates’ chances of rehabilitation. It’s a vicious cycle that is destructive rather than corrective, and it particularly impacts already vulnerable populations, including the very high proportion of our prison population affected by mental illness. Add this to the fact that segregation units are by far the most expensive facilities to operate, and it should be clear that we need to put responsible limits on, and devise humane alternatives to, the use of solitary confinement in the prison system.”

Said Senator Metts (D-Dist. 6, Providence), “We cannot in good conscience call our prison a ‘corrections’ institute when the system relies on a punishment that is essentially designed to cause mental breakdown, particularly when so many of those subjected to it are already mentally ill. We have a moral imperative, as well as a constitutional mandate, to ensure we are not employing cruel or unusual punishment, and it is time we recognized that solitary confinement, in many cases, is cruel. Its use must be limited, and our prison system must stop using it on people who are particularly susceptible to the lasting effects it can have. We have to strive to find a better balance between rehabilitation and punishment.”

Many studies have found that long-term solitary confinement can produce psychological damage with symptoms such as hallucinations, hypersensitivity to noise or touch, paranoia, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), increased suicide risk and uncontrollable rage or fear. The risks are higher for juveniles, whose brains are still developing, and for those with mental illness.

Those effects can result in inmates having more difficulty complying with prison rules, defeating the purpose of solitary confinement. Even those who aren’t mentally ill when they enter solitary confinement can be left with lasting psychological effects that they take with them when they are released from prison into the community.

“Solitary confinement is cruel and unusual punishment,” said S, a current inmate at the ACI who has asked to remain unidentified for fear of retribution. “I have seen people get years in segregation, and get locked in solitary for non-problematic reasons, like identifying as LGBTQ, filing lawsuits, or sharing political views. I have witnessed people in solitary confinement break down, start talking to themselves, become paranoid, play with their own feces, and worse. When you go to High Security [the solitary confinement facility] for causing a problem, they don’t help you, they don’t give you any mental health services, they just lock you in a cell for 23 hours a day. So when you go back to the normal facilities, you’re worse off.”

The legislation would prohibit the use of solitary confinement — also called “segregated confinement” — for specific vulnerable populations, ensure that conditions in segregation are humane, and limit the use of solitary confinement for all inmates to 15 consecutive days, and no more than 20 days within any 60 day period.

The bill (2016-H 7481) has support from a wide array of inmates’ rights activists, mental health advocates, civil rights groups and families of incarcerated individuals.

“Solitary is a very dehumanizing experience that leaves a person broken and unable to function,” said John Prince, a member of Direct Action for Rights and Equality with first-hand experience of solitary confinement in the ACI. “You hear nothing, see nothing, have nothing to think about almost 24 hours a day. You lose all perspective of time. Human beings are not meant to live like that for weeks or months on end. My experiences in solitary were extremely painful, and I have many friends who were left unable to relate to people, even their families, after prolonged segregation. There have to be limits that keep this from being used for long periods or on people who are likely to suffer lasting damage from it.”

“Even mentally healthy people lose their faculties in solitary confinement, but for people with mental illness, it is a particularly unhealthy situation that impairs an individual’s ability to maintain healthy relationships,” said Michael Cerullo, a psychotherapist with extensive clinical experience in the juvenile and adult criminal justice system. “Without positive relationships in the community and with oneself, meaningful rehabilitation is significantly compromised. People with mental illness suffer serious trauma that cannot be undone when they are released either back into the prison population or back into the community, and that damage has ill effects on them and the people around them. We have to stop using this counterproductive approach with human beings challenged by mental illness for their sake and for the sake of the whole community.”

“Across the country, states are reducing their reliance on solitary confinement,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the Rhode Island ACLU. “Long-term isolation costs too much, does nothing to rehabilitate prisoners, and exacerbates mental illness — even in those who were healthy when they entered solitary. More than a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court noted not only the extreme toll solitary confinement takes on those subjected to it, but that those who are affected may never recover well enough to reintegrate well into the community. Yet, the use of solitary confinement persists. States that once relied heavily on solitary confinement are now instead focusing on policies that promote safe communities and fair treatment — at the same time saving their states millions and reducing violence in the prisons. It’s time for us to do the same here in Rhode Island.”

The House bill has 38 cosponsors, including Representatives Scott A. Slater (D-Dist. 10, Providence), Jean Philippe Barros (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), Raymond A. Hull (D-Dist. 6, Providence, North Providence) and David A. Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston).

[From the press release]

PSU was joined in their effort by representatives from PrYSM, the EJLRI, Youth in Action and DARE as well as community and labor leaders.

Recent studies have shown that high school students perform better when race and ethnicity classes are offered. A Guardian report on a Stanford University study said, “Student attendance increased by 21%, while grade-point averages surged nearly a grade and a half for those enrolled in the class – striking results, according to the researchers.”

Students spoke passionately about the lack of representation in their history classes (see video below). They also resented having to learn real history outside of school. “I just recently learned the truth about Columbus Day,” said Diane Gonzalez from Central High School. “I didn’t know who Columbus really was, until I learned it with Providence Student Union, in one of our mini workshops about oppression… I’m Guatemalan, and I have no idea about our history at all.”

“This is an undeniable problem,” said Afaf Akid, a senior at E-Cubed Academy and a PSU youth leader, in  a statement. “We did an analysis of the American history textbook we use in Providence, and our results were shocking. Of our textbook’s 1,192 pages, fewer than 100 pages are dedicated to people of color. That’s less than 10% of our history curriculum, in a district where 91% of the students are people of color. That is unacceptable. And, of course, the few references to people of color are problematic as well, often treating issues like slavery and colonialism as neutral or even positive developments. We deserve better.”

“The oppression of enslaved African-Americans and Native Americans is disguised as… ‘cultural exchange,'” said Licelit Caraballo, “the hardships that Asians had to endure as they migrated to the US is viewed as just ‘seeking work’ when they were also treated as slaves. Our history books don’t cover these topics.”

A very interesting part of the presentation consisted of holding up black and white posters of famous activists of color, and asking those in attendance if they knew the people pictured. First up was Bayard Rustin, a leader in civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights written out of civil rights history because of his homosexuality and atheism. Also held up was Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party, Grace Lee Boggs, author, social activist, philosopher and feminist born here in Providence, Dolores Huerta, labor leader and civil rights activist and Ella Baker, civil and human rights activist.

“We think it should be pretty self-evident that Providence students need a more culturally relevant curriculum,” said Justin Hernandez, a junior at Hope High School and a PSU school delegate. “But if those in charge of our school system need convincing, we are ready. We’re used to tough fights, from ending the unfair NECAP graduation requirement to expanding bus passes. And we are excited to do whatever it takes to win ethnic studies courses and move our schools a little closer towards providing us the education we deserve.”