Community Party Column
Political Roundup: Penn Act / City Budget / Pelto for Governor / Free Jane Doe
Last week Ken Barone and Bill Dyson of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project and Glenn Cassis of the African-American Affairs Commission appeared on the WNPR Where We Live program with host John Dankosky to continue their campaign of misinformation regarding the racial profiling issue. http://wnpr.org/post/racial-profiling-connecticut I contacted Dankosky on Twitter and provided him with information on the CTRP3 campaign to protect the police by killing the Community Party's Alvin W. Penn Act enforcement language, especially our traffic stop receipt provision. I also sent him the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement report on the extrajudicial killing of Black people every 28 hours in the United States. http://www.operationghettostorm.org/ Dankosky said that he will review the info and get back to me. We'll have an update next week...
The corporate news media's job is to serve the ruling class by spreading misinformation to the people. The local Sunday political talk shows are a prime example. Fox CT The Real Story host Laurie Perez hosted an infomercial for Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, who was given the opportunity to justify his city budget without being challenged. Councilman Larry Deutsch copied a Hartford Courant reporter on an email exchange he had with Segarra regarding the budget. http://courantblogs.com/cityline/segarra-for-all-those-watching-they-know-who-the-real-fool-is/ Perez did not have Deutsch on the show, nor did she mention the points Deutsch made in the emails about Segarra balancing his budget on the backs of the working class and the poor. Perez could have just taken the day off and let Segarra talk by himself.
Former assemblyman Jonathan Pelto appeared on Face the State to discuss his possible candidacy for governor. http://www.wfsb.com/story/25345652/democrat-may-challenge-malloy-saying-he-cant-win-re-election?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Pelto said he will decide within the next month if he will enter the race as a Working Families Party or independent candidate. Program host Dennis House and Fox CT Capitol Report panelists, who also discussed Pelto, both avoided any mention of racial economic and criminal justice disparity issues impacting Hartford and other urban areas.
It's telling that Patrick Scully, one of Gov. Dannel Malloy's media goons who recently wrote a hit piece on Pelto, is a privatizer. http://jonathanpelto.com/2014/04/23/another-malloy-mouthpiece-explains-must-support-malloy-else/ Scully referred to Pelto as a "union stooge." Isn't Malloy supposed to be the friend of organized labor? Unions provided Malloy with his narrow margin of victory over Republican Tom Foley in 2010. Right now, union delegates are trying to convince members to give Malloy a second term. Sounds like King Dannel is courting the right-leaning independents that he and likely challenger Foley will be fighting over. Team Malloy has launched Operation "Lonesome" Rhodes as a pre-emptive strike against Pelto, who has been a huge thorn in the guv's side and would be a viable candidate due to his name recognition as a former lawmaker and popular blogger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ5RZWttmoA It's too bad that public school teachers and their supporters have wasted so much time with their fixation on Capital Preparatory Magnet School Principal Steve Perry, instead of educating residents in communities of color about the racist agenda behind privatization. The public sector is the largest employer of Black people. If I was a candidate challenging Malloy from the left, I would want the urban community to know about that fact.
Last week my colleague Cornell Lewis, who has bravely struggled against structural racism at the Department of Children and Families, invited me to join a Facebook page supporting Jane Doe, a 16-year-old Black transgender teen who is being held at York Correctional Institution. Jane Doe does not face any type of criminal charge yet she is incarcerated at York, a high security adult prison. https://www.facebook.com/events/645209172199377/?source=29 There was scant mention on the Justice for Jane! page of the role that color plays in this issue. One activist said, "While there has been incredible mobilization for issues like, say, 'marriage equality,' when poor people, especially poor people of color, are literally fighting for their lives, the sound that is most often heard from the non-profit community is crickets. When there is a response, it's all too often purely rhetorical. This is not restricted to the LGBT non-profit community, as I can attest to from personal experience." Incredibly there have been no discussions on the Justice for Jane! page about Cornell's DCF Plantation blog, which includes data charts on structural racism at DCF using statistics obtained from DCF through Freedom of Information Act requests (see Resources).
The Jane Doe page administrator said, "(DCF Commissioner Joette) Katz's comments are the latest in a long, old, and sad line of commentary that paints queer and trans women of color as being uniquely violent and blames them for the violence they experience. http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-op-katz-transgender-girl-york-prision-0422-20140421,0,6980643.story See for example the discussion of the New Jersey Seven, as explained here: http://thepublicintellectual.org/.../the-case-of-the.../ and CeCe McDonald, here: http://www.salon.com/.../cece_mcdonald_released_from_prison/ and black women more generally - see e.g. Renisha McBride: http://www.newyorker.com/.../the-killing-of-renisha... ." Add Miriam Carey to that list. http://blackagendareport.com/content/freedom-rider-aaron-alexis-miriam-carey-and-john-constantino Autopsy results on Miriam found that the 34-year-old mother was shot three times in the back and once in the back of the head by U.S. Capitol Police and Uniformed Secret Service after leading them on a pursuit last October. Miriam was unarmed and her 1-year-old daughter was in the back seat.
There was no mention on the Jane Doe page of the core issue, which is that her baseless incarceration is standard operating procedure in America. This country criminalizes Black youths through police containment of low income communities of color. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuU7bEqKcLk http://poormagazine.org/node/957 Every 28 hours Black people are the victims of street executions by police, security guards and vigilantes such as George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn. When I posted a status asking if the Free Jane Doe campaign would be part of a larger effort to address Black mass incarceration and police containment of Black neighborhoods, I heard the aforementioned crickets, with the exception of one activist who expressed interest in working with CP.
Prominent white activists who are championing the cause of Jane Doe have known about CP's Trayvon Martin Act amendments and done nothing to support the bill. https://www.facebook.com/notes/stop-racial-profiling-obey-the-law/community-party-trayvon-martin-act-bill-language/617004948349355 This is nothing new, of course. I've seen the same scenario repeat itself during the Trayvon Martin murder case ( https://www.facebook.com/notes/stop-racial-profiling-obey-the-law/trayvon-martin-political-football/333866783329841) and a previous protest targeting CT Juvenile Training School / DCF. https://www.facebook.com/notes/stop-racial-profiling-obey-the-law/racial-profiling-and-leftist-hypocrisy/318162334900286 Cornell addressed the issue of racism in the white left in a 2012 commentary for activist Joanna Iovino's Hart Monitor blog entitled, "Do White Liberals Really Want to Work with Blacks?" http://www.scribd.com/doc/85615537/The-Hart-Monitor-March-2012 Joanna wrote a scathing critique of Occupy Hartford, an overwhelmingly white group based in a mostly Black / Latino city. http://thehartmonitor.wordpress.com/?p=70&preview=true
Black Agenda Report commentator Jared Ball talked about how the white left used Troy Davis, who was executed in 2011 for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail despite overwhelming evidence which pointed to his innocence. http://blackagendareport.com/content/troy-anthony-davis-and-useless-leadership Christopher Hutchinson and Socialist Action CT exploited Troy's plight and then quickly moved on to help launch the Occupy Wall Street movement before Troy's body got cold. Hutchinson blew off an invitation from me to collaborate on a North Hartford event dedicated to Troy's memory. When I confronted him about this in an email exchange that included Joanna and others, Hutchinson quickly bailed out of the conversation. His final email included a rejection of my idea to include a voter education presentation as part of the event. Hutchinson said that "people in North Hartford aren't into voting." This was right after he ran for Congress; Hutchinson challenged Democrat John Larson, who represents the 1st congressional district (which is based in Hartford for those who are unfamiliar). I never heard from Hutchinson again after I quickly pointed out this bs contradiction.
The criticism I have heard from Blacks about white leftists that has stuck with me is how they talk about "solidarity" when they want Blacks to support their movements. I was recruited by Hutchinson to join SA and OH. That "solidarity" quickly evaporated when I asked Hutchinson to support CP initiatives. When I told off Kevin Lamkins, Dave Rozza and other members of the all-white, now defunct Hartford Independent Media Collective after they wrote a tone deaf column claiming that the Tea Party isn't racist, their solidarity was quickly replaced by indignation at being challenged by a Black person. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/07/14/107722/tea-party-racism/ Matt O'Connor of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) suddenly started screening posts on the Hartford Rising Facebook page after I posted recent columns that were critical of the white left, the Democrats and union "leaders." I went to O'Connor's personal page and posted a message requesting an explanation; his response was that people have been spamming the Hartford Rising page.
If white leftists want to truly "Free Jane Doe" they need to let go of their internalized superiority. These activists should support Blacks' struggle against the racist criminal justice and socioeconomic systems that empower whites like Katz to justify the despicable act of tossing a Black child into an adult jail, without any legal basis. Jane Doe is a Black youth, not a prop for the white left. As I said a couple of weeks ago, there are some whites who "get it" and are sincere about working together with Black people to achieve social justice. Connecticut native Harris Daniels, a member of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, is an example. http://www.uhurusolidarity.org/category/uhuru-movement/uhuru-solidarity-movement/ White leftists in this state who try to use Blacks are worse than the Ku Klux Klan or any other white supremacist organization. At least hate groups are honest.
Resources
Cornell Lewis' blog on structural racism at the Department of Children and Families (includes data charts):
http://dcfplantation.blogspot.com/
Cornell Lewis Legal Defense Fund:
http://dcfplantation.blogspot.com/2013/07/help-with-legal-fund.html
David Samuels
Founder
Community Party
Monday, April 28, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
GANG VIOLENCE PLACES EMPLOYEES IN DANGER
Sources reported to this blog about gang violence at Connecticut Juvenile Training School. At least five Youth Service Offices have been injured [ and out on Workers Compensation ] after altercations between factions of gangs from Bridgeport. Two Units were involved in the fracas 5C & 6C. Unit 6C was waiting outside to enter the gym, Unit 5C was departing the gym. As both Units passed each other two youth from 6C attacked a resident of Unit 5C. That is when staff intervened and were injured.
These same sources indicate how CJTS in seeking to gain more financial reserves from state and federal government, now allow older residents ( 19- 20 yrs old ) to be locked up at that facility. YSOs report housing the older residents is a logistical nightmare and there are no procedures in place in how to handle older and physically bigger residents. Those restraint techniques implemented for youth 12-17 yrs old just do not work for older ... more imposing residents. Then there is the element of older gang affiliated youth bringing signs, words and old grudges into the facility. Now five YSOs are injured due to a plan not thought out properly about older youth.
Gang violence places front line staff in danger : administrators are out of danger due to their lack of meaningful interaction with residents. The only time management gets involved is to discipline YSOs for improper restraint procedures or micro-managing actions of staff. Sure is safe in building # 1 where administrative gods dwell musing over policies that don't seem to work.
These same sources indicate how CJTS in seeking to gain more financial reserves from state and federal government, now allow older residents ( 19- 20 yrs old ) to be locked up at that facility. YSOs report housing the older residents is a logistical nightmare and there are no procedures in place in how to handle older and physically bigger residents. Those restraint techniques implemented for youth 12-17 yrs old just do not work for older ... more imposing residents. Then there is the element of older gang affiliated youth bringing signs, words and old grudges into the facility. Now five YSOs are injured due to a plan not thought out properly about older youth.
Gang violence places front line staff in danger : administrators are out of danger due to their lack of meaningful interaction with residents. The only time management gets involved is to discipline YSOs for improper restraint procedures or micro-managing actions of staff. Sure is safe in building # 1 where administrative gods dwell musing over policies that don't seem to work.
WHERE IS THE WILL TO FIGHT WHITE SUPREMACY IN THESE PLANTATIONS ?
Where is the political, moral or ethical will to fight white supremacy inside of state run plantations? People of color employed at Connecticut Juvenile Training School, Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital and Department of Corrections are being discriminated against. For years a single narrative has been voiced consistently by employees of color of how white administrators single them out for harsher discipline. Singing a woeful lament obviously has not made a difference because all of the agencies mentioned above are still using tricknology - in disguise of policy or procedure - to kick certain people of color out the door as a way of implementing ethnic cleansing. What is really distressing, however, is why such treatment of minorities has continued for so long without someone stopping it.
First of all there has to be a will to fight from employees suffering under a merciless yoke of white supremacy. Historically no ethnic group ever won freedom from tyranny unless a collective effort was undertaken to force oppressors to back away from evil deeds. In this vein it is now time for employees to stop looking for a paycheck every two weeks and seek a higher goal : freedom and egalitarian rights. How many times have the oppressed at state run institutions ducked or bowed their heads to old massa in order to buy more groceries or go on longer vacations ?? It is sickening to hear countless excuses why grown men and women run to hide in the tall grass from their white administrators; whining like children in the process of being spanked. Second, it is no secret about what white people running these agencies are doing to blacks et al., but politicians seem to be tone deaf when listening to such complaints. Are not the cries and anguish of employees of color valid enough for political action in halting racism or bias ?? When whites suffer tragedy in Newtown [ children shot by a person with mental issues ] help arrives in the form of laws, monetary assistance not to mention continuous media coverage. A tragedy of epic proportions occurs daily within state run plantations to employees of color, yet nobody in political circles moves a finger to stop it.
The thing that must be said is this, people leading these state agencies look like the majority of power brokers in Connecticut. Let me be clear. White politicians are not lifting a finger or voice against whites that run these state institutions. If anyone out there can offer a better explanation of why political forces dominated by whites in Connecticut are silent on this issue- let this blog know. It appears that pain of employees of color is not comparable to pain of other ethnic groups suffering from tragedy. Ergo, there is no need for addressing issues people of color raise about injustice within state institutions. For hundreds of years blacks et al. begged so called sympathetic white allies to speak up, or march, with a unified presence on the bastion of white supremacy in America. Hell, that help is weak at best or non existent at worse. The tea leaves indicate it is time for people of color to forge a pioneer trail of survival and self help. For it is crystal clear people of color stand alone in their fight against white supremacy inside state run institutions.
Let people of color be like Samson in the Old Testament Bible. Stand in the citadel of white supremacy with your chains wrapped around pillars of their temples of white apartheid , then let the oppressed pull with combined strength to topple these edifices. We may perish in the collapse but so will the enemy.
First of all there has to be a will to fight from employees suffering under a merciless yoke of white supremacy. Historically no ethnic group ever won freedom from tyranny unless a collective effort was undertaken to force oppressors to back away from evil deeds. In this vein it is now time for employees to stop looking for a paycheck every two weeks and seek a higher goal : freedom and egalitarian rights. How many times have the oppressed at state run institutions ducked or bowed their heads to old massa in order to buy more groceries or go on longer vacations ?? It is sickening to hear countless excuses why grown men and women run to hide in the tall grass from their white administrators; whining like children in the process of being spanked. Second, it is no secret about what white people running these agencies are doing to blacks et al., but politicians seem to be tone deaf when listening to such complaints. Are not the cries and anguish of employees of color valid enough for political action in halting racism or bias ?? When whites suffer tragedy in Newtown [ children shot by a person with mental issues ] help arrives in the form of laws, monetary assistance not to mention continuous media coverage. A tragedy of epic proportions occurs daily within state run plantations to employees of color, yet nobody in political circles moves a finger to stop it.
The thing that must be said is this, people leading these state agencies look like the majority of power brokers in Connecticut. Let me be clear. White politicians are not lifting a finger or voice against whites that run these state institutions. If anyone out there can offer a better explanation of why political forces dominated by whites in Connecticut are silent on this issue- let this blog know. It appears that pain of employees of color is not comparable to pain of other ethnic groups suffering from tragedy. Ergo, there is no need for addressing issues people of color raise about injustice within state institutions. For hundreds of years blacks et al. begged so called sympathetic white allies to speak up, or march, with a unified presence on the bastion of white supremacy in America. Hell, that help is weak at best or non existent at worse. The tea leaves indicate it is time for people of color to forge a pioneer trail of survival and self help. For it is crystal clear people of color stand alone in their fight against white supremacy inside state run institutions.
Let people of color be like Samson in the Old Testament Bible. Stand in the citadel of white supremacy with your chains wrapped around pillars of their temples of white apartheid , then let the oppressed pull with combined strength to topple these edifices. We may perish in the collapse but so will the enemy.
Monday, April 21, 2014
COMMENTS ABOUT THE RETURN OF OF YSO WEATHERBY
A story about the return of a Youth Service Officer named Weatherby to Connecticut Juvenile Training School has sparked controversy among his peers. This YSO physically struck a resident in 2009 and was not terminated. He was fired from the job at CJTS months ago but recently reinstated. These are a few anonymous comments about the return of Weatherby.
Again, ignorance on every side prevailing. Other officers who have been over scrutinized by the Katz regime should also get their jobs back.
How can Weatherby get back on the job but several YSOs of color are still out ??
The white YSO gets his job back, it seems as if management is playing favorites.
DCF Commissioner Katz is allowing the riff raff to get back in CJTS.
This man has been disciplined several times for various infractions; slapped a kid in 2009 and only received
a few days off. Now he is back to work after being fired last year.
CJTS leaders need to be ashamed for allowing Weatherby back on the property.
How the hell can Weatherby come back but other fired YSOs with minor incidents are still out.
Let us call this what it is.... RACISM. Weatherby is white and gets a pass.
When Weatherby messes up again who will take the blame??
DCF / CJTS are inconsistent with their policies of discipline.
Management went all out to fire former YSO Cornell Lewis but embrace Weatherby. That's right I said it.
Leave comments at dcfplantation@gmail.com
Again, ignorance on every side prevailing. Other officers who have been over scrutinized by the Katz regime should also get their jobs back.
How can Weatherby get back on the job but several YSOs of color are still out ??
The white YSO gets his job back, it seems as if management is playing favorites.
DCF Commissioner Katz is allowing the riff raff to get back in CJTS.
This man has been disciplined several times for various infractions; slapped a kid in 2009 and only received
a few days off. Now he is back to work after being fired last year.
CJTS leaders need to be ashamed for allowing Weatherby back on the property.
How the hell can Weatherby come back but other fired YSOs with minor incidents are still out.
Let us call this what it is.... RACISM. Weatherby is white and gets a pass.
When Weatherby messes up again who will take the blame??
DCF / CJTS are inconsistent with their policies of discipline.
Management went all out to fire former YSO Cornell Lewis but embrace Weatherby. That's right I said it.
Leave comments at dcfplantation@gmail.com
Thursday, April 17, 2014
WORKERS SPEAK AT UNION MEETING ABOUT CJTS PLANTATION
Staff writers attended a union meeting at American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees AFSCME Local 2663 in New Britain, Connecticut April 18, 2014 ... 6:30pm. A group of Youth Services Officers from Connecticut Juvenile Training School showed up to voice concerns [ five men & four women ]. Their voices were clear, as issues were raised, about poor management at CJTS and oppression of YSOs. Here are a few concerns YSOs broached.
1. YSOs are trained to restrain residents ages 12-18 years of age. At this juncture CJTS now accepts
older and bigger residents 19-20 yrs old. YSOs are not trained to restrain these older & bigger youth.
These concerns were brought to management but not addressed at this time. If YSOs do not have proper
training, then management micro -manages if restraints are performed incorrectly. This scrutiny often
leads to disciplinary action.
2. YSOs said management sent out memos that you cannot call out sick the day before or after a vacation.
However blog staff writers have posted data showing a Unit Leader getting away with doing this and
avoiding any discipline.
3. YSOs report how repressive management policies is causing low employee morale.
4. Also management sent out an e-mail berating YSOs for voicing concerns about issues of safety etc.
The Superintendent informed YSOs " you get hazardous duty pay & can retire after 20 years, so get
over it. Do your job."
The comments above by management continue to show a lack of regard for YSOs at CJTS plantation.
For some reason tone deaf and blind administrators regard YSOs as dry moss growing on rocks. It seems more YSOs attend AFSCME meetings and fight to be treated with respect and dignity.
Cries of the masses will be addressed in one form or another and management knows it.
Please call William Rosenbeck, Superintendent of Connecticut Juvenile Training School
(860 ) 638-2401 and let him know barbaric treatment of YSOs is not acceptable
or e-mail : william.rosenbeck@ct.gov
1. YSOs are trained to restrain residents ages 12-18 years of age. At this juncture CJTS now accepts
older and bigger residents 19-20 yrs old. YSOs are not trained to restrain these older & bigger youth.
These concerns were brought to management but not addressed at this time. If YSOs do not have proper
training, then management micro -manages if restraints are performed incorrectly. This scrutiny often
leads to disciplinary action.
2. YSOs said management sent out memos that you cannot call out sick the day before or after a vacation.
However blog staff writers have posted data showing a Unit Leader getting away with doing this and
avoiding any discipline.
3. YSOs report how repressive management policies is causing low employee morale.
4. Also management sent out an e-mail berating YSOs for voicing concerns about issues of safety etc.
The Superintendent informed YSOs " you get hazardous duty pay & can retire after 20 years, so get
over it. Do your job."
The comments above by management continue to show a lack of regard for YSOs at CJTS plantation.
For some reason tone deaf and blind administrators regard YSOs as dry moss growing on rocks. It seems more YSOs attend AFSCME meetings and fight to be treated with respect and dignity.
Cries of the masses will be addressed in one form or another and management knows it.
Please call William Rosenbeck, Superintendent of Connecticut Juvenile Training School
(860 ) 638-2401 and let him know barbaric treatment of YSOs is not acceptable
or e-mail : william.rosenbeck@ct.gov
LORD HAVE MERCY, DA WEATHER DONE RETURNED
The drums are beating loudly at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School facility in recent days. Drums say Youth Service Officer James Weatherby is returning to work April 18, 2014 after being terminated by Department of Children and Families. Mr. Weatherby has been the subject of several stories on this blog site in the past year [ having physically hit a resident several years ago and excessive time on internet while at work ]. Now it appears as if hocus pocus was used to get his job back. In the upcoming days this blog will post numerous comments from anonymous YSOs about this latest development at CJTS plantation.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
UNIT LEADER'S ATTENDANCE CALLED INTO QUESTION
The natives [ employees ] are restless at Connecticut Juvenile Training School over something they consider outright wrong. Sources at the CJTS plantation are asking why a Unit Leader in building # 4 can continue to miss work on a continual basis and not be disciplined !! At CJTS management pursue a relentless campaign against Youth Services Officers who do not attend work for any reason. Several YSOs in the past had medical emergencies with children or family members, but got no disciplinary break from management. When YSOs are late or absent there is a witch hunt that takes place; every device is used to make YSOs pay a price for something that might not be in their control. Even if YSOs call in sick or about an emergency, it does not resonate with tone deaf management seeking a pound of ( YSO ) flesh.
I digress and need to get back to the main point. A Unit Leader in building # 4 did not come to work -sources report - regularly during the last two weeks of March. YSOs on the Unit therefore do not have adequate supervision [ YSOs say leadership is lacking even when the Unit Leader does come to work ] and residents are left floundering. Staff writers for this blog reported not long ago how time sheets of a bldg # 4 Unit Leader needed to be investigated due to suspicious looking entries or excessive days taken off work for a plethora of reasons. Now employees of CJTS front line staff send e-mails about absenteeism on a scale to defy the imagination. Why is it administrators at CJTS plantation allow behavior such as this to exist? Is this not a double standard in dealing with employees, one group is oppressed, while a Unit Leader is given license to miss work. If just a modicum of this story can be verified - by officials other than those at CJTS- there is something odious going on at this facility. For a year this blog reported on a number of incidents that depict how out of control CJTS is : and while management is in denial and refuses to address allegations of racial animus, Unit Leaders do not come to work.
In conclusion it is safe to speculate CJTS will not be able to cover up such infractions for much longer; an axiom states " the light of reason shines on objects and situations in order to illuminate them to the world."
Staff writers for DCF Plantation blog certainly are doing their part to shine light and reason [ by method of praxis ] on parochial minds at CJTS plantation.
I digress and need to get back to the main point. A Unit Leader in building # 4 did not come to work -sources report - regularly during the last two weeks of March. YSOs on the Unit therefore do not have adequate supervision [ YSOs say leadership is lacking even when the Unit Leader does come to work ] and residents are left floundering. Staff writers for this blog reported not long ago how time sheets of a bldg # 4 Unit Leader needed to be investigated due to suspicious looking entries or excessive days taken off work for a plethora of reasons. Now employees of CJTS front line staff send e-mails about absenteeism on a scale to defy the imagination. Why is it administrators at CJTS plantation allow behavior such as this to exist? Is this not a double standard in dealing with employees, one group is oppressed, while a Unit Leader is given license to miss work. If just a modicum of this story can be verified - by officials other than those at CJTS- there is something odious going on at this facility. For a year this blog reported on a number of incidents that depict how out of control CJTS is : and while management is in denial and refuses to address allegations of racial animus, Unit Leaders do not come to work.
In conclusion it is safe to speculate CJTS will not be able to cover up such infractions for much longer; an axiom states " the light of reason shines on objects and situations in order to illuminate them to the world."
Staff writers for DCF Plantation blog certainly are doing their part to shine light and reason [ by method of praxis ] on parochial minds at CJTS plantation.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
WHITE AND GAY PROTECTED, BLACK OR LATINO AND GAY REJECTED
The story you are about to read is a follow up to a previous one about an employee feeling unsafe on Unit 6 Delta. Sources contacted this blog about a situation they feel is unfair, biased and racist. Again let me be clear that the facts are coming from Youth Service Officers working at Connecticut Juvenile Training School and not confirmed by management [ they refuse to speak with staff writers from this blog ]. It is reported that an openly gay white male YSO did not feel safe on Unit 6 D, and to make the point sent e-mail to the Assistant Superintendent at CJTS stating such a fact. Then management in their wisdom transferred the gay YSO to Unit 4 Delta where even a change of scenery did not remove the fear.
If you are a YSO at CJTS, working with difficult and assaultive residents is part of the job, this is told to possible employees up front. Yet this writer wonders why management is going out of their way to protect a YSO who claims to " feel unsafe around residents and staff " and " coming to work daily increases that fear." For the record there are openly gay YSOs working at CJTS that do not receive special treatment; a black male, black female, and Latina female have worked at CJTS for close to a decade and endured taunts etc from residents but received no solace from white administrators. The openly gay white male is moved to 4 Delta and given protection when he appears for work. Sources indicate that management moved experienced YSOs to Unit 4D to make this white YSO feel safe. Say what?? If we look even more closely at this biased behavior it seems strange how black males [ the big black shiny chest buck syndrome ] are taken from various Units to work on 4 D when the white gay YSO is on the property. Why did management take experienced black YSOs from Units 5C and 5D to work with a white male in order to make that person feel safe ? Hell, the gay YSOs of color never were given such honors. In fact a Latina gay female was constantly berated by residents a few years ago and no person in authority offered any help. The poor woman had to take time off work to refocus her damaged psyche.
Well for the record if you are white and gay [ at CJTS ] you are protected, but black or Latino and gay is rejected. The insults to employees of color continue to mount with no end in sight. When will some higher official look into what is going on at this CJTS plantation and correct the problems? Evidently current leadership at CJTS is not doing their job while collecting hefty salaries. In the final analysis there is a definite distinction made between white or employees of color at this plantation : even Stevie Wonder can see something is wrong.
" He who allows oppression shares the crime."
- Erasmus Darwin
If you are a YSO at CJTS, working with difficult and assaultive residents is part of the job, this is told to possible employees up front. Yet this writer wonders why management is going out of their way to protect a YSO who claims to " feel unsafe around residents and staff " and " coming to work daily increases that fear." For the record there are openly gay YSOs working at CJTS that do not receive special treatment; a black male, black female, and Latina female have worked at CJTS for close to a decade and endured taunts etc from residents but received no solace from white administrators. The openly gay white male is moved to 4 Delta and given protection when he appears for work. Sources indicate that management moved experienced YSOs to Unit 4D to make this white YSO feel safe. Say what?? If we look even more closely at this biased behavior it seems strange how black males [ the big black shiny chest buck syndrome ] are taken from various Units to work on 4 D when the white gay YSO is on the property. Why did management take experienced black YSOs from Units 5C and 5D to work with a white male in order to make that person feel safe ? Hell, the gay YSOs of color never were given such honors. In fact a Latina gay female was constantly berated by residents a few years ago and no person in authority offered any help. The poor woman had to take time off work to refocus her damaged psyche.
Well for the record if you are white and gay [ at CJTS ] you are protected, but black or Latino and gay is rejected. The insults to employees of color continue to mount with no end in sight. When will some higher official look into what is going on at this CJTS plantation and correct the problems? Evidently current leadership at CJTS is not doing their job while collecting hefty salaries. In the final analysis there is a definite distinction made between white or employees of color at this plantation : even Stevie Wonder can see something is wrong.
" He who allows oppression shares the crime."
- Erasmus Darwin
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
EMPLOYEE COMPLAINS ABOUT UNSAFE CONDITIONS ON UNIT 6 DELTA
The staff writers for DCF Plantation blog received information about an employee feeling unsafe on Unit 6 Delta at Connecticut Juvenile Training School. Over the years other complaints were made about feeling unsafe ( on different Units ) from employees due to assaultive residents or poor supervision. However in this recent case of feeling unsafe, several factors come into question about what is going on at CJTS plantation. Sources indicate a male YSO formerly working on Unit 6 Delta sent the Assistant Superintendent John DiPilla an e-mail about unsafe conditions on 6D ; in all fairness this staff writer has not read the e-mail but relied on other chatter from employees. The communication to DiPilla supposedly reported how residents on Unit 6D are verbally abusing this employee : in addition the Unit Leader is not managing the Unit effectively and therefore allowing the unsafe atmosphere to exist. There are rumors in the background that another factor - leading to the unsafe environment - could be the sexual orientation and preference of the YSO making the unsafe accusation.
Allegedly residents have made homophobic comments towards the male employee while he worked on Unit 6 Delta. Then to make matters worse the YSO was then transferred to another Unit, and someone forced to work in the same environment deemed unsafe. What intrigues this staff writer is how CJTS proclaims to be a productive milieu for residents; this narrative is sent into the Greater Hartford community consistently. If CJTS cannot protect employees from ( homophobic language etc ) how can it say with certainty residents are living in a safe milieu? Another dimension of the unsafe e-mail to DiPilla is how there seems to be a loss of management oversight at the facility; for several years incidents of racial animus, resident assaults on staff, management showing favoritism to pet employees when giving out overtime etc, and harsher discipline for male employees of color are a regular occurrence. You have to wonder where is the rule of law, in running a facility for incarcerated youth, during times when employees send e-mails about being unsafe?
Someone with a sense of responsibility must look into what is going on at the CJTS plantation. There are a plethora of incidents pointing to a state run facility out of control with Key Stone Cop management running into each other but not doing their jobs. Just recently a newly admitted resident was not searched properly and brought illegal drugs and money on the property. To make matters worse this incident is being covered up : hell, maybe the employee who sent DiPilla that e-mail has a point after all.
Allegedly residents have made homophobic comments towards the male employee while he worked on Unit 6 Delta. Then to make matters worse the YSO was then transferred to another Unit, and someone forced to work in the same environment deemed unsafe. What intrigues this staff writer is how CJTS proclaims to be a productive milieu for residents; this narrative is sent into the Greater Hartford community consistently. If CJTS cannot protect employees from ( homophobic language etc ) how can it say with certainty residents are living in a safe milieu? Another dimension of the unsafe e-mail to DiPilla is how there seems to be a loss of management oversight at the facility; for several years incidents of racial animus, resident assaults on staff, management showing favoritism to pet employees when giving out overtime etc, and harsher discipline for male employees of color are a regular occurrence. You have to wonder where is the rule of law, in running a facility for incarcerated youth, during times when employees send e-mails about being unsafe?
Someone with a sense of responsibility must look into what is going on at the CJTS plantation. There are a plethora of incidents pointing to a state run facility out of control with Key Stone Cop management running into each other but not doing their jobs. Just recently a newly admitted resident was not searched properly and brought illegal drugs and money on the property. To make matters worse this incident is being covered up : hell, maybe the employee who sent DiPilla that e-mail has a point after all.
Friday, April 4, 2014
LETTER TO GOVERNOR MALLOY ABOUT RACISM ON STATE PLANTATIONS
Activists delivered a letter to Governor Dannel Malloy's security staff on March 21, 2014. Also included with the letter were graphs and charts with statistical data supporting allegations of racism / bias.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy
State Capitol
210 Capital Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Dear Sir,
I am sending you this letter on behalf of a group of oppressed employees in the State of Connecticut. For several years we have tried to bring attention to the plight of work place bullying being used as a cudgel to discipline employees of color. Several state agencies e.g. The Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital, and Connecticut Juvenile Training School targeted employees of color [ black & Latino men in particular ] for harsher disciplinary measures. Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act highlights that sixty six percent of DCF terminations are aimed at black males, while the same is true for CVH seventy percent. Bullying is defined as: “a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.” This definition surely describes what is going on as it pertains to employees of color and state run agencies. We must state for the record that many of those people dispensing the discipline are not of color and this causes speculation that these actions might be racially motivated.
Time, and time again, the behaviors of those in our society; our neighbors, colleagues, etc. continues to be of dire concern and there is a need for change.
We respectfully request the office of Governor Dannel P. Malloy have a conversation with the victims being affected by the horrors of people using work place bullying, to possibly implement racial practices of discrimination, bias and intimidation.
I include a few examples from Connecticut Valley Hospital and Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
Special Report: Racism & Homophobia at Connecticut Valley Hospital
October 6, 2012 at 12:11pm
This column appears in the October 11 - 18, 2012 edition of the Hartford News... Last week the Community Party spoke with Connecticut Valley Hospital employees Rosa Badillo and Carlos Vargas, who are currently serving 10-day unpaid suspensions. Rosa and Carlos told us about racism and bigotry that they have experienced while working at CVH. Because of legal reasons we cannot yet discuss the complete details regarding their suspensions, but we can share their stories of discrimination. Rosa has worked for the State of Connecticut for 7 years, the last two at CVH. She had a clean disciplinary record prior to her suspension. Rosa was one of five CVH employees who recently were suspended by the facility; she informed us that while all five employees were charged with the same offense, her and Carlos and another employee were initially hit with 20-day unpaid suspensions with an option of a 5-day paid suspension or a 5-day "working" suspension, while their two other co-workers received 5-day unpaid suspensions with the option of a one-day paid or a one-day "working" suspension.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-samuels/special-report-racism-homophobia-at-connecticut-valley-hospital/10151418650215432
https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-samuels/workplace-bullying-report-a-survivors-story/10151447046360432
At Connecticut Juvenile Training School two events:
In 2009 African American male employee Kevin Strachan and a white co-worker switched assignments [at the white employee’s request ]. Kevin went to the visiting area for his co-worker. One week later Kevin was written up by CJTS management, but the white worker did not receive the same reprimand.
In 2009 a white male employee James Weatherby slapped an incarcerated youth in the face at Connecticut Juvenile Training School [ the youth won a chess game ]. Weatherby received several days off as a suspension for this incident; agency policy states this type of incident results in termination. African American employees are often terminated for lesser infractions.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy
State Capitol
210 Capital Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Dear Sir,
I am sending you this letter on behalf of a group of oppressed employees in the State of Connecticut. For several years we have tried to bring attention to the plight of work place bullying being used as a cudgel to discipline employees of color. Several state agencies e.g. The Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital, and Connecticut Juvenile Training School targeted employees of color [ black & Latino men in particular ] for harsher disciplinary measures. Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act highlights that sixty six percent of DCF terminations are aimed at black males, while the same is true for CVH seventy percent. Bullying is defined as: “a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.” This definition surely describes what is going on as it pertains to employees of color and state run agencies. We must state for the record that many of those people dispensing the discipline are not of color and this causes speculation that these actions might be racially motivated.
Time, and time again, the behaviors of those in our society; our neighbors, colleagues, etc. continues to be of dire concern and there is a need for change.
We respectfully request the office of Governor Dannel P. Malloy have a conversation with the victims being affected by the horrors of people using work place bullying, to possibly implement racial practices of discrimination, bias and intimidation.
I include a few examples from Connecticut Valley Hospital and Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
Special Report: Racism & Homophobia at Connecticut Valley Hospital
October 6, 2012 at 12:11pm
This column appears in the October 11 - 18, 2012 edition of the Hartford News... Last week the Community Party spoke with Connecticut Valley Hospital employees Rosa Badillo and Carlos Vargas, who are currently serving 10-day unpaid suspensions. Rosa and Carlos told us about racism and bigotry that they have experienced while working at CVH. Because of legal reasons we cannot yet discuss the complete details regarding their suspensions, but we can share their stories of discrimination. Rosa has worked for the State of Connecticut for 7 years, the last two at CVH. She had a clean disciplinary record prior to her suspension. Rosa was one of five CVH employees who recently were suspended by the facility; she informed us that while all five employees were charged with the same offense, her and Carlos and another employee were initially hit with 20-day unpaid suspensions with an option of a 5-day paid suspension or a 5-day "working" suspension, while their two other co-workers received 5-day unpaid suspensions with the option of a one-day paid or a one-day "working" suspension.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-samuels/special-report-racism-homophobia-at-connecticut-valley-hospital/10151418650215432
https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-samuels/workplace-bullying-report-a-survivors-story/10151447046360432
At Connecticut Juvenile Training School two events:
In 2009 African American male employee Kevin Strachan and a white co-worker switched assignments [at the white employee’s request ]. Kevin went to the visiting area for his co-worker. One week later Kevin was written up by CJTS management, but the white worker did not receive the same reprimand.
In 2009 a white male employee James Weatherby slapped an incarcerated youth in the face at Connecticut Juvenile Training School [ the youth won a chess game ]. Weatherby received several days off as a suspension for this incident; agency policy states this type of incident results in termination. African American employees are often terminated for lesser infractions.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
HOW DID ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES AND MONEY GET INTO THE FACILITY, WHY THE COVER UP?
Here we go again readers. It has been reported that last week a young man was returned to Connecticut Juvenile Training School for some infraction. The issue about this story revolves around how he entered without being searched really well. A glaring fault at CJTS has been the lack of professionalism by staff during searches of residents- whether after visits or admittance into the facility - and this is problematic. Activist Cornell Lewis, a former CJTS employee, sent mails to administrators a few years ago about the lack of security during searches. Lewis did this after noticing how relaxed the searches of residents were after visits. Cornell was contacted by one administrator about the e mail [ this is confirmed as the result of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act ]. Apparently nothing really changed after receiving Lewis's e mails. Now it has come to the attention of this blog [ by sources ] that a newly admitted resident somehow was able to sneak into a locked down facility with marijuana, pills, and paper currency. Say what? Is anyone watching the hen house?
At this juncture it boggles the imagination how management continues making mistakes that endanger employees and residents: not long ago a resident tried using sheets and climbing a fence to escape, he had on street clothes and paper money. It seems as if management has no control over the actions of staff or lower level administrators; how else can you explain the constant mistakes that occur. This latest episode however is dangerous for several reasons; if residents are not searched properly then being admitted, any type of weapon or drug is subject to be brought in. What is really reprehensible is how CJTS management has kept the incident from being known to DCF officials at Hudson Street headquarters. Now there is a conspiracy to make sure the incident is not known to the public. Should not the general population know if Key Stone Cop administrators are not doing their jobs? Hell, and what about the safety of residents at this facility; someone consumes drugs and dies then what ??
In closing the FOIA documents show that administrators did know about the problem of lackadaisical searches of residents and communicated their concerns by e mail. In the next segment of this story the names of those administrators will be disclosed.
At this juncture it boggles the imagination how management continues making mistakes that endanger employees and residents: not long ago a resident tried using sheets and climbing a fence to escape, he had on street clothes and paper money. It seems as if management has no control over the actions of staff or lower level administrators; how else can you explain the constant mistakes that occur. This latest episode however is dangerous for several reasons; if residents are not searched properly then being admitted, any type of weapon or drug is subject to be brought in. What is really reprehensible is how CJTS management has kept the incident from being known to DCF officials at Hudson Street headquarters. Now there is a conspiracy to make sure the incident is not known to the public. Should not the general population know if Key Stone Cop administrators are not doing their jobs? Hell, and what about the safety of residents at this facility; someone consumes drugs and dies then what ??
In closing the FOIA documents show that administrators did know about the problem of lackadaisical searches of residents and communicated their concerns by e mail. In the next segment of this story the names of those administrators will be disclosed.
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