PUBLIC HEARING AT LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

The following speech was given by Cornell Lewis in order to highlight a problem. This document is posted on this website, in order, to give readers a glimpse into the unseen war waged by employees of color against racism / bias in state agencies.

Cornell Lewis                                                                                                                                                       July 2, 2012

Honorable members of the legislative body,

I want to thank you for putting together a forum that allows the public a vehicle by which to address the issues of bias, discrimination, and racism within the Department of Children & Families plus Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, CT.

Aristotle said “the state is the highest form of community, and each state has a responsibility to do that which is best for its citizens.” If these words of Aristotle are deemed as true, then Connecticut has a sacred responsibility to address continual concerns of bias, racism and discrimination of employees (past or present) of color within DCF or CJTS. Let me begin by stating something known for years, DCF has a documented record of allegations of bias toward employees of color. Disciplinary actions are often meted out disproportionately with people of color bearing the brunt of investigations, written reprimands, or loss of employment due to unfair decisions. This is not a hermeneutic problem within both agencies, but something based on evidence.

At CJTS where I am employed as a Youth Services Officer there is a constant battle, from employees of color, to address issues that diminish and objectify  the stature of YSOs by bias & even racist actions from administrators. There is currently a class action lawsuit from five CJTS employees against that agency and DCF. Our entreaties for a semblance of justice have been dismissed, ridiculed, called anecdotal, or lacking anything corporeal. DCF & CJTS pride themselves on presenting facts to show efficacy in treating their clients. Well, that same factual method can highlight how employees of color are filing complaints of bias, being railroaded out of employment, or bludgeoned by using policy & procedures as rods of correction.

Let us say that DCF & CJTS are in states of denial (refusal to grant the truth of a statement or allegation), about what is happening in their facilities. Stanley Cohen writes in his book States of Denial  classical official denials are often used by oppressors such as literal –nothing happened; interpretive-what really happened is something else; implicatory-what happened is justified. Which one of these denials are administrators using at CJTS & DCF to discredit complaints from employees of color?

At CJTS for example, there have been multi-racial protests outside the facility, petitions signed then given to management, a hunger strike lasting eight days- all in 2012. Somewhere in the not too distant past people of color suffered under a racist system that is endemic to America. Now, in this era of proclaiming Jim Crow is dead, we discover the same disease within state agencies. I stand before you as a man depicted in existential philosophy. My fist is raised and shaking at a hostile universe -represented by DCF & CJTS. My voice raised in a soliloquy of anguish. In this defiant moment the existential man is not going to let the hostile universe defeat him.

In conclusion it is my hope that the lawmakers are listening to myself and others appearing today, describing DCF / CJTS discrimination toward employees of color et al., and will act to stop such actions on this new version of a DCF Plantation. DCF &CJTS have not conducted a serious investigation and refuses to do so despite all the pressure this community has brought to bear. Ergo, it is up to the legislature to demand a full and open inquiry.

Legislative Copy

A HUNGER STRIKE AND REPLY OF THE OPPRESSOR

 This story captures the resolve of a person on the DCFplantation to be heard as a sentient human being. Notice the words of a DCF spokes person to the hunger strike "There's been no complaint, there's been no demand, there's been no request......" 

Posting of this story is intended to give readers an idea of the intense nature of the struggle for racial equality.                 ( the date of 10-21-11 may not be the actual date of publication )


By SUSAN HAIGH
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Conn. pastor ponders hunger strike in race spat   

Black pastor and activist Cornell Lewis said Friday he plans to decide this weekend whether to continue his hunger strike to protest what he calls a racist attitude by mostly white supervisors toward employees at the state's only secure facility for delinquent boys.

Lewis, a youth service officer at the Middletown facility, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, announced Monday he would ingest only water, juice and tea. He said he decided to wage the hunger strike because he was frustrated by what he considers to be inaction by the Department of Children and Families, which runs the school.

Lewis, 61, told The Associated Press on Friday that he will decide Saturday whether to continue the strike, begin consuming protein shakes or end the strike. Starting at 208 pounds, at a height of 6 feet, he said he has lost nearly 10 pounds and some muscle mass.

"I'm going to see how I feel," he said. "If I can keep going, I will."

Training School officials have not met any of Lewis' demands, including an apology to the youth service officers for what he says was biased treatment. DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said Lewis hasn't presented a specific complaint of racism to the superintendent of the juvenile facility, William Rosenbeck, for him to investigate.

" Kleeblatt said. "There's just been communication with The Associated Press."

Lewis' protest comes more than a year after he and four black co-workers filed a federal lawsuit against state officials, claiming black employees have been the target of racially motivated disciplinary actions, are promoted at a slower pace than others and have faced harassment. They also have claimed that their opinions and concerns about matters such as restraining Training School residents have been ignored.

The lawsuit lists specific incidents.

Lewis said he has received an outpouring of support, including from minority employees at the Connecticut Valley Hospital, a Middletown psychiatric hospital that also is run by the state. He said even people who've questioned his approach to activism in the past have reached out to him and offered support.

"I think they know that I'm serious," he said. "To do this for five days, it's not been easy."

Lewis worked on Monday but has been off duty for the rest of the week. He is scheduled to return on Saturday.

Kleeblatt said if Lewis does come back to work, there's an expectation by DCF that he can physically perform his duties.

FUND RAISER AND SOCIAL EVENT ABOUT INJUSTICE

Friends,

We want to invite you to a party and legal defense fund raiser for Cornell Lewis. For six years Cornell and others have waged a relentless battle to expose bias and discrimination within state agencies. Cornell has been unjustly terminated from his state job (pending union arbitration hearings) and is paying legal costs associated with his struggle.

Join us for an afternoon of music, light refreshments and important conversation about the ongoing struggle for social justice in Connecticut, and how you can support Cornell’s ongoing campaign to draw attention to and correct inequity in the workplace.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

3:30 pm – 5:30 pm

7 Scotland Road, Bloomfield CT

Suggested donation: $20, at the door

The afternoon will consist of:

·        Special music by friends of Cornell

·        Beverages and light refreshments

·        A brief narrative from Cornell of the history, current status and next steps of his legal challenge to the state agency that terminated him.

·        Event will be outside if weather allows; please bring folding chairs

·        Event moves indoors if weather is inclement

We must join together to keep the momentum of this campaign going. Please join us!

“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable”             --- Kenyan proverb.

For more information on this event and to RSVP: nrbowden@comcast.net or (860) 212-9596.

For background on the workplace justice campaign itself, see www.dcfplantation.org

This story was written for black owned Hartford newspapers in 2011. It is meant to question the silence of fellow workers at CJTS in light of allegations of bias / racism against administrators.

A GREAT SILENCE ON THE DCF PLANTATION

                                By Cornell Lewis

I have worked at the Department of Children and Families for five years and noticed a repeated pattern among employees. When there are disproportionate disciplinary actions handed out to employees of color, there is great silence. This silence comes not from DCF administrators who continually choose victims (66% of disciplines are handed out to employees of color, see dcfplantation.org) of a dark or brown hue but employees. Since 1970 it is documented how this mammoth state agency continues not to address in a meaningful way allegations of bias or racism; of course DCF has conversations about race and studies to bolster claims of “how they seek a more diverse workplace.” Still the bodies of disciplined employees continue floating downstream in full view of lawmakers, DCF employees, and activists / NAACP officials-but there is still a great silence.

 At Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, Connecticut inquisition type punishment is often handed out based on who management likes or dislikes. There is no uniformity of procedure, only the whim of petty potentates with Napoleon type delusions. At some point the historians write people, being oppressed, will rise against injustice. Why is it that at CJTS there are Youth Service Officers sitting in silence as their co-workers (for years) are led to the slaughter and disciplined out of proportion to infractions? Fear is part of the reason a great silence exists on the DCF plantation; management has been known to dismiss anyone challenging administrative policies. While people in Connecticut begin a new year full of hope, there is little hope for some DCF employees of color. For in 2013 even more victims are being prepared to face a fate of standing bias within DCF plantation compounds in CT.

If people want something to pray about, look no further than a great silence on the DCF plantation.

A LETTER ABOUT INJUSTICE AND PLEA FOR HELP

This letter is posted for the readers to get a feeling of the struggle going on within the DCFplantation. In the future more letters and documents will highlight a continual theme of struggle and workplace bullying.

The Honorable Richard Blumenthal

90 State House Square, 10^th Floor

Hartford, CT 06103

January 9, 2013

Dear Senator Blumenthal,

I remember several years ago you called me in Hartford and left the following message, “Reverend Lewis you are doing a courageous job [ridding the Northend of drug dealers] if you ever need assistance with anything let me know." I always thought it was thoughtful for a man of your importance to personally call a person in Hartford to wish him well. I never asked for your help then, but I'm asking now.

On January 9, 2013 I called your Hartford office and spoke with a lady about racial injustice towards employees of color in the Department of Children and Families. She informed me that your office cannot intervene due to the fact DCF gets funding through the state not federally.

There are two issues I wish to bring to your attention 1). racial discrimination within DCF toward employees is well documented. However, there is little movement toward resolving this issue. 2). I have organized employees to address this issue at my place of employment Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, CT [a class action lawsuit was filed by five employees of CJTS 2 years ago.] Since then, my activism has often caused management to provide extra scrutiny toward me.

At this time DCF management is seeking to retaliate against me by ending my employment [by using policy & procedure over an incident within CJTS] and making it impossible for me to work with youth in the future. 

Senator Blumenthal, a call from your office to William Rosenbeck, Superintendent Connecticut Juvenile Training School (860) 638-2401 would certainly help. Just asking what is going on as it relates to racial bias and retaliation towards me lets management know someone of influence is watching.

You have always stood up for the struggling mass of humanity in Greater Hartford. Please do so now.

Sincerely,

Minister Cornell Lewis

STANDARD OF JUSTICE: ADMINISTRATORS GET LENIENCY WHILE PEOPLE OF COLOR GET FIRED??

The news came as a shock to members of the DCF Plantation writing cadre. It is rumored that two administrators from Connecticut Juvenile Training School received a verbal warning for unauthorized computer use while at work. This supposedly came out when a member of the local union asked a question about various standards of justice at CJTS for staff and administration. Seems as if Gung Ho Charlie administrators, within the plantation, have fired several Youth Services officers for using computers and not being observant of the residents. Yet now the second in command at CJTS is given a verbal warning for excessive- unauthorized computer use, while people of color get the unemployment line.How do you justify an argument for such a standard of justice which allows the school principal of an educational system, at  CJTS, to get away from monitoring residents or their school work? and this while on the computer looking up things risque.
Let me be clear. A lack of leadership is in full swing at the CJTS plantation due to these kind of double standards. Call the role please 1. resident recently almost escapes from CJTS and no administrators are watching the cameras ( who got fired for this?), 2. staff member last week is walked off the property for falsification of time cards, 3. office staff come back from suspension due to computer abuse, and their schedules get re-schuffled allowing them to attend a party in their honor (say what?), 4. a Unit Leader  uses state time to bake cakes and cookies for the triumphal return of employees mentioned in # 3, then  4.management at CJTS finally take action against a white employee, only after the Greek Chorus of complaints ( from people of color and female co-workers) reaches a crescendo.
Back to the original argument of why two CJTS administrators received a lighter punishment that other front line employees caught in the same computer abuse net. It was reported first on the DCF plantation blog how DCF leaders abuse the computer system. Now like magic a, decisive, stand is taken albeit a mild one for CJTS leaders. As a reporter named Paul Harvey once said " and now you know the rest of the story."

NEGROES ON THE DCF PLANTATION AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF KING'S SPEECH

The scene of all those black people lining up to board buses ( dressed in fine regalia) headed for Washington D.C. was indeed a sight. All those people of color went on August 28, 2013 in celebration of Martin Luther King's 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Negroes came from all over the country, including the DCF Plantation; why I spotted a few blacks from Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown headed to Washington to pay homage to what King stood for; jobs, ending segregation,  confronting racism, inequality etc. However in my mind there is a disconnect between what King said [ in his "I Have A Dream " speech], and what Negroes on the DCF Plantation are not doing. In other words why go celebrate a man who stood for something and sacrificed his life for an ideal, while negroes on the CJTS plantation are shivering from fear of even speaking the truth ( about bias from administrators). Why are CJTS blacks still whispering in master's house?

 In the world we live in people often refuse to take stands for anything: evil continues unabated - inducing something called spirit death. Yet on the 50th anniversary of that March on Washington people were "fronting" i.e. pretending to be for truth, justice, and the American Way- while looking the other way at injustices on the DCF Plantation in Greater Hartford. King wept on August 28, 2013, how far have black people really come in 50 years? To answer that question just look at the great silence hovering over that institution in Middletown allowing racism to thrive.