New Abolitionists Radio Weekly 6/25/2014

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Mark Clements of No More Death Penalty out of Chicago joins us to discuss police brutality and other related issues in the Chicago area.

In 1981 Mark Clements was a 16 year old juvenile who was kidnapped by cops and taken to Area Three Violent Crime Unit. Mark's parents where not notified of his detainment and he was subsequently tortured by Chicago police into falsely confessing to an arson fire that killed four people. He served 28 years inside the Illinois Department of Corrections on a natural life sentence before his sentence and conviction were overturned.

Chicago Police tortures in the city of Chicago under Jon Burge first occurred in 1972. Burge and his subordinates went on to beat and torture as many as 200 African American and Latino men getting them all to confess to crimes they all say they did not commit.

Mark played a very key role in Jon Burge being found guilty for perjury and obstruction of Justice in which he was found guilty and sentence to four and a half years. Burge will be released from a North Carolina prison in October, 2014. Burge nor any one of his subordinates have ever been charged with the tortures.

Today Mark is a wrongful conviction coordinator with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the administrator over the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Mark can be reached via Facebook at Mark A. Clements and on twitter @Prisonerspeaks or by telephone at 1-847-276-1382.

• In Charleston, SC Witnesses Say Cops Made a Teen Kneel Down and then Shot Him in the Back. We discuss the story.

• In Philadelphia Cops Vow to Arrest You For Pot, Even If New Bill Tells Them Not To.

• A caller last week told us that Florida has a racketeering law entitled, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization, referred to as the Florida RICO Act. And it’s being used against teenagers. We checked it out. Yohanan has the story

• Today's State Constitution profile is Michigan
and our Abolitionist in profile is the real "Uncle Tom" Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883)

Expect all that and more tonight on New Abolitionists Radio

New Abolitionists Radio seeks to educate the public and agitate for an end of 21st Century Slavery and Human Trafficking. It is an extension of the group Move To Abolish 21st Century Slavery

Weekly 6/18/2014

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• Comedian Stephen Colbert discusses modern legalized slavery in excruciating detail during his segment “The Word aka Debt Penalty” It’s all so very funny. At the end of our introduction we’ll let you hear what he says. We’re all in on the joke anyway.

 • June 17th marks the 40th anniversary of Nixon's commencement declaration of the war on drugs. Success or failure depends on who you ask. Today abolitionists answer that question.

 • The historic Bradshaw Cemetery (A final resting place for the “bodies of slaves and African Americans who fought in wars and were denied a proper burial) located in Houston, Texas was bulldozed without its owners consent and now the family is searching for answers. Scotty has the story.

 • The Border Patrol. It even sounds ominous. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddows report “What is the Border Patrol hiding inside its ‘black box’?” shocked me and most of America I’m sure, so I looked deeper. Let me tell you some of the things I found out.

 • This week we also note The 40 year anniversary of the immigration aspect of the war on drugs. Yohanan tells us about a vote last week to remove the bed quotas. What’s a bed quota? Yes. This is certainly something you want to know.

 • Speaking of so many anniversaries. Tomorrow is Junteenth. Yea… lets talk about that from an abolitionists perspective.

 • Prison labor’s new frontier: Artisanal foods” That’s what the FORTUNE online magazine said. We think this might need some propaganda to English translations.

 • Today's State Constitution profile is Maine and our Abolitionist in profile is Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837)