Our Youth, Education vs. Incarceration

In the United States, youth of color caught in the crossfire of the war on drugs are frequently subject to persecution, incarcerated and denied access to education opportunities. The irony is that the war on drugs is often defended as a necessary policy to protect the nation's young people. In reality, rather than protecting youth, the drug war has resulted in the institutionalized persecution of Black, Latino and Native American young people. While more and more young men and women of color are being ushered into the criminal justice system under the guise of fighting drugs, resources for educating youth are diminishing and barriers to education restrict students with drug convictions from receiving higher education. Youth of color bear the brunt of harmful drug policies, from arrest to prosecution to detention in correctional facilities. Some states in the U.S. now have the distinction of sending more Black and Latino young people to prison every year than graduate from state university programs. This legacy of discrimination in U.S. drug policy amplifies the burgeoning gap in opportunities available to White youth and youth of color. In order to correct this discrepancy, policies must be enacted that make education a priority over incarceration. There must be an end to drug laws whose effect is to criminalize youth of color, racially discriminatory policing practices and barriers to education for youth who have been directed into the criminal justice system and away from school. Justice or "Just Us" aimed to reach the heart of humanity and bring The Kingdom of God in a Contemporary Voice Speaking Truth in Love.