hip dri e
The Urban League of Greater
Mu egon kicked-off it annual
Membership Campaign on June
15. With the theme "Challeng
ing Tomorrow", the membership
drive will last through July 31,
according to Stephen Pressley
Jr, Executive Director.
ttomey Theodore . Wil-
liams, Jr., President of the
bo rd of directors has appointed
Thomas Ralya, personnel
director, Comrneric Bank-
Hackley, as membership com
mittee chairman.
Serving on the committee
with Ralya are: Rev. George
Bennett, Pastor, Mt. Zion
C.O.G.I.C.; Rev. Jay Karow,
Assistant Minister, First Con
gregational Church; Katherine
Wansley, County of Muskegon;
Robert VanDyke, American Coil'
Spring; and Don Jackson, Presi
dent, Local 539, ewc Textron.
For' more information on
Urban League Memberships, you
may contact the Urban League
Office at 722-3736.
GRAVES top vote aetter for the Benton Harbor
I sworn in by Superintend nt Bury S. Stephen
board member. Lawrence Crockett ere re-elected
I board m her.
VOL. VII NO. 30 JUNE 24, 1985
Jac
o
o
By .. Goodin
From The Michigan Chronicle
In less than a wee Jackson
State Prison of Southern Michi
gan has had two violent inci
dents in which guards have
been reportedly saulted by
inmate. With last Thursday s
incident 11 guards were in
jured in an hour long fight with
inmate who were attempting to
keep a fellow prisoner from
being escorted to a discipli
nary hearing.
Over the weekend nine peo
ple were injured following a
clash between 40 prisoners and
an unknown number of cor
rections staff. This incident
reportedly began during an
indentification check in a prison
work area.
The two incidents comprise
the wor t prison violence' since
1981 hen 28 people were
injured in 0 riots.
Jackson pri on authorities
have been quic to respond to
the incident and report that
not only h e they restored
order but they will not tolerate
assaults on st ff members.
Inmate • ve . on of the in-
cidents contra t arply with
what authoritie have to y.
J. "Lucky" orris a inmate
and an officer of the State
Prison of Southern Michigan
AACP branch, h d this to
say about pri on rules and
disciplinary procedure .
"Men have been here 5 10
or 15 years and haven't caught
one major ticket. That's im
possible, not to catch one
major ticket. But we've got an
honors block of guy ho have
EW YORK - Black youth
will be the focus of attention
on Sunday, July 21, 1985
at a special program devoted
to the major issues and problems
that confront them today, s
part of the ational Urban
League' Annual Conference in
Washington, D.C.
The principal speaker will
be Dr. Asa Hilliard of Georgia
State University who is emersed
in the study of the Black family
from its roots in Africa ot its
development in America, and is
an advocate on the u of
history and culture in the
preservation, survival and
enhancement of the Black
family.
Responding to Dr. Hilliard's
presentation will be a high
Co
•
veneln
uskegon
MARIE RIGHT TOLLIVER,
Pr sid nt St t. Association of Colored Women will
usk on.
STORY 0 PAGE 3
y,
e
not caught a ticket," orris
aid.
• But now all of a sudden
because (prison official have
gotten caught with their hand
in the cookie jar with unpro
mulgated rules they want to
retaliate against us by writing
100 tickets a day 'he said.
"Tickets' refer to the inter
nal di ciplinary procedures of
the prison which authorizes
staff members to cite inmates
for infractions of the rules by
issuing something similar to a
citation. And what inmates
call 'unpromulagated rules" are
tho e instituted without public
airing.
Though felons once con
victed and ntenced to prison,
cannot have their sentence ex
tended by correctional authorit
ies staff can punish them
through revocation and denial
of prison privileges and denial
of good time considerations.
These tickets can also be
considered at an inmate's parole
hearing.
Because inmates through var
ious court cases and civil suit
have been able to legally chal
lenge the rules on the basis
that all public institutions must
provide public hearings before
instituting any new rules or
reinterpretations of public law,
prison officials, citing time de-
lays, the uniquene of the
pri n environment and the
importance of maintaining
strict control over the prison
population have continued their
procedures de pite court order
to the otherwi inmate charge.
id orri Don't nobody
,
,
to
ecurity pri oner
because of shortage 0
space at the state' tw m i
mum security facilities Hur n
Vallen Correction Facility and
arquette Pri on.
Brown also ttributed me
of the problem inexperienced
staff members.
Amin A. umin, a staff
member on the prison' news
p per The Spectator, said the
problems are due to 'a la k of
understanding p sitive com
munication and cooperation be
tween the residents, the guards
and the prison administration.
"This has been the cause
of a number of problems that
presently exist within the pri on
system. If the things con
tinue to go on as they are
the situation will continue to get
wor " Mumin said.
"Many prison official have
had to take pay reductions.
The prison guards who are al
ready complaining that they are
understaffed will· be working
with even le s guards. The resi
dents that are already forced
to choose between various right
and privileges are etting mor
and more restriction every
week. Everyone is angry d
upset" umin said.
you
chool tudent udent from
predominately Blac colle e and
another from a predominately
white college.
The 1985 Annual Conference
of the ational Urban League
comes as it is celebrating its
75th year. The UL was
founded in ew York City in
1910 to help the growing tide
of Black migrant from the
rural South adjust to the dif
ferent circumstances of urban
living.
The formal opening of the
Conference will come on Sun
day night with the keynote
address by John E. Jacob
President of the UL. The first
of a n�mber of plenary se ions
will take place on Monday
morning, "Minorities and the
publican Party."
In ddition over 20 forum
will be held during the four-day
conference on such subject a:
"Th Role of the Black Chur h
in the Community,' , ommun
ity obiJization to Enhance
Black Families," "The Chal-
lenge to ffirmative Action'
, Coping with Teenage Pre
nancy" "The Re urgence of
Racism in America " and "Re
flections on Black Leadership.
International ight Session
'on July 23rd, will provide a
forum for the Rev. Dr. Allan
Boe , President of the orid
Alliance of Reformed Churches,
Cape Town, South Africa and
Randall Robinson Executive
Director of Tran Africa the
Continued on p 3