MOVING "CHILD DEATHERS", RACIAL DISPARITIES, AND PENNSYLVANIA'S PAROLE SYSTEM INTO THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE DIALOGUE: MR. MUTI A. AJUMU-OSAGBORO

Contributing Editor to IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®, Mr. Muti A. Ajumu-Osagboro is a respected International Prison Radio journalist, print journalist, and a Criminal Justice Reform Activist from the “inside out” who was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison at the tender age of 17.   To learn more about Mr. Ajumu-Osagboro’s case, view The Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Public Square at https://usainternationalmensday.blogspot.com /2019/08/impartial-and-fair-treatment-in-parole.html.  IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® extends its gratitude to Ms. Judith Trustone of Sagewriters (www.sagewriters.com) for forwarding Mr. Ajumu-Osagboro’s latest literary work entitled, “Moving 'Child Deathers', Racial Disparities, And Pennsylvania’s Parole System Into The National Criminal Justice Reform Dialogue” which appears below

MOVING “CHILD DEATHERS”, RACIAL DISPARITIES, AND PENNSYLVANIA’S PAROLE SYSTEM INTO THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM DIALOGUE”

by:  Mr. Muti A. Ajumu-Osagboro

           During October 2019, CNN T.V. host and CEO of the REFORM Alliance (https://reformalliance.com) Mr. Van Jones, traveled to Pittsburgh to teach on the broken national probation system and what we could do to make a change.  Mr. Jones  utilized the forum as a “teaching and enlisting” platform.    As I watched and listened, I found myself wondering when the forum would move from a “teaching and enlisting” platform to a “listening and learning” platform.   As a member of the M & M initiative for Court Restorative Justice, I attempted to  expand the dialogue to explore the racial disparities that exist in the United States Criminal Justice System which are being scrutinized by the United Nations Special Rapporteur and prevents  Persons of Color, particularly Black and Brown children  who  despite their innocence were sent to prison --Juvenile Lifers –from receiving fair and impartial treatment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s parole system.   The disparate treatment of Black and Brown children by the American Criminal Justice System also comes under the scrutiny of Article 37 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child which was ratified by all member states of the United Nations  in 1989 – including the United States.  It states, in part: 

Article 37

States Parties shall ensure that:

(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age; . . .

My attempt to expand the dialogue to explore the sentencing of innocent children to prison – Juvenile Lifers  or “Child Deathers” – and the racial disparities in the United States Criminal Justice System which prevent fair and impartial dispensation of parole to Persons of Color  -- and particularly, Black and Brown children -- by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took the form of the following questions:

        "Are you ready to deal with the children who are actually INNOCENT, with the evidence to prove it, but still sentenced to Death-By-Incarceration? Dangling parole that ignores your illegal sentence, or the illegal bait – the promise  of parole to circumvent INNOCENCE. . Is the Child who refuses to be released on life parole because the collaborating prosecution and parole board refused to acknowledge the facts --  evidence in  the law – a refusal to acknowledge the facts and evidence in the law exemplified in the cases of Child Deathers – Johnny Berry,, Terrance Lewis and Chester Hollman who were exonerated after serving decades in prison?    As the late legendary criminal law attorney Mr.  Johnnie Cochran stated, ‘Pennsylvania doesn't follow its own law’.”

         Mr. Jones is a soul with a high intellect and good character.  While I am disappointed that my attempt to expand the narrative on Criminal Justice Reform to include "Child Deathers,” the racial disparities in the American Criminal Justice Reform which negatively impact the fair and impartial dispensation of parole to incarcerated Persons of Colors, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s fractured parole system was not entertained by Mr. Jones , I remain undeterred.    Why?  More of the right people need to have Mr. Jones’ ear.  Who are “more of the right people”?  Black Women in the City of Pittsburgh who are an untapped source of Criminal Justice Reform solutions and leadership..  My assertion is corroborated by the Pittsburgh Gender Equity Commission’s recently released report, “Inequality Across Gender And Race 2019 Study” which, among other things, points out that Black girls have a higher propensity for getting caught up in the “school-to-prison” pipeline. Black girls are referred to the police by schools in Pittsburgh’s School District at a rate that is 95% higher than school districts in similar cities such as, for example, Philadelphia.  According to the study, one in five Black girls in Pittsburgh are suspended at least once during the course of any given school year.   We all know that poverty, unemployment, and inadequate or lack of education are among the primary causative factors for incarceration.   Let’s look at poverty.  Black women in Pittsburgh make 54 cents for every dollar made by a White male in that city.  Compare that with the fact that White women in Pittsburgh make 78 cents for every dollar made by a White man in that same city.  Black women in Pittsburgh have it worse than anyone in the United States.  As one sociologist put it, “Life expectancy, income, and educational opportunities for Black children would go up, if Black women moved to most anywhere else.”   It is a Black woman’s experience in successfully surviving “in spite of” and  her qualified leadership with making something happen with scarce or zero resources which help her to navigate an untenable set of circumstances.   Seeking out solutions and leadership offered by Black women on redressing the heart of the parole issue is a critical “piece of the puzzle” to moving “Child Deathers”, racial disparities, and the Pennsylvania parole system” into the national Criminal Justice Reform solutions dialogue. 

          From the bowels of America's terror dome, I am Muti A. Ajamu-Osagboro, a Child on Pennsylvania's other death row -- Death By Incarceration -- engineered by the City of Philadelphia.