In my first blog as executive director of the RFC I reflected on Michelle Alexander’s commitment to “getting out of [her] lane” and broadening her focus from mass incarceration to the systems (racism, classism, militarization, etc.) that support and sustain the growth of the prison industrial complex.

I was struck by a column I read in the Sept. 23 issue of The Nation. In it, Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, discusses her dissatisfaction with the narrowness of her focus on mass incarceration.   In reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington she finds powerful inspiration in the fact that in the aftermath of that historic event, “Dr. King ignored all those who told him to stay in his lane, just stick to talking about civil rights.” Dr.

In just a few days I turn the Executive Director’s job at the RFC over to my daughter Jenn.  Most of my time these last few weeks has been spent handing over my responsibilities to her, and going through the accumulated papers, books, and stuff of 23 years.

A number of people have asked me what I intend to do with my blog.  When I started writing these short essays four years ago, I didn’t know if I’d like it.  But 200 posts later, I don’t want to stop.

I feel a kinship with Bradley Manning.  In all likelihood a few weeks from now a military judge will sentence him to serve several decades in prison for violating the Espionage Act of 1917.  My parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were convicted of violating the same act and executed just over 60 years ago when I was six years old.  But that’s only the beginning of my sense of connection with him.  The prosecutors, and now the judge, have labeled Manning’s actions espionage, theft and several other unsavory terms.  Stripped of the pejorative legal expressions, howev

One of my most enjoyable tasks as part of the staff transition underway at the RFC has been to review communication from beneficiaries from the past few years.