Work wages and working conditions for inmates. While receiving little to no media attention, it is spurring conversation about our nations population of incarcerated men and women and whether or not they are living environments and treatment in violation of human rights coul. He joins us to discuss this very weighty topic. Welcome, professor sullivan. Start by giving a little more into history of the attica uprising and its significance to the events of september 9. Prof. Sullivan the attica uprising was in 1971 and was a shock to the conscious of america. Prisoners essentially took over a prison and took some people hostage and demanded that the state negotiate with them. It was the first time prisoners i think it is important to remember and preference preface what im saying is that although some of your liberty is taken away, all of your rights are not taken away when you are in prison. As a human being, you still have rights to basic necessities and medical treatment. They felt, and it was true, that they were being unduly worked and that they were not being treated medical attention and they demanded change. Unfortunately several people died, inmates and hostages, and cut uprising in the attic cut uprising. Karen how does that relate . Prof. Sullivan the same basic issues are at play. People working for a quarter of a day where working regular hours for a quarter of the day. That goes into their commissary. Complaints about the increased prison cell 23 hours a day. They get to go out to a slightly larger prison cell alone for an hour for exercise. The other claims have to do with medical treatment that people are essentially left to languish and not receive adequate medical treatment. That is quite amazing that they were able to coordinate across jurisdictions among several prisons around the country. U outside. It is not like they can pick up the phone and call other prisons, so the coordination to me was inspiring. Karen these strikes have been happening around the country. Hasnt reached any massachusetts prisons it . Prof. Sullivan not yet and not on the scale as we saw in alabama and so forth. I believe it is probably coming what is happening at far too many prisons across the country. The proliferation of private prisons, the federal government stopped it. Thank you, president obama, but there are still private prisons in the state system all around. They are trying to make money. They have no incentive to spend extra dollars on basic care for inmates. That is what is missing and that is what inmates protest. Karen and people are using the mass incarceration problem and likening it to slavery. They say that convicts are the exception to the rule. Thats not quite exactly the wording of the 13th amendment, but there is some suggestion in there that slavery is ok if you are committing a crime. Amendment, we know as the first reconstruct an amendment. Reconstruction an amendment. It reads Something Like the following. Slavery and involuntary servitude is abolished, except for punishment of a crime where of the individual has received due process of law. Historically that clause was not intended to stand for the proposition exception to slavery. Rather it was intended to mean that there were some people whose liberty was taken away at the time based on crimes that they had committed. The notion was the state could still restrain their liberty in the prison and not that they can make them slaves. The way that it reads, i think it is subject to multiple move in the court was to be a strict constructionist. The document says what it says and we cannot read into it. There may be time for a constitutional amendment to clarify that. Karen do you think people running our prison systems are hiding behind that clause and using that clause as a justification for the treatment of prisoners . Prof. Sullivan i do not think it has risen to that yet. I think the people running government doesnt care about incarceration. Karen or doesnt know. Prof. Sullivan im actually glad youre doing this. You started off in the opening saying that this has been an underreported episode and it has been. The public doesnt know and there are people of good will who would be outraged at the way fellow human beings are being treated. Even though you committed a crime, your human being. Of the public that doesnt care and that is sad. Karen what are people like you and advocates around this cause doing to raise awareness of the issue . Prof. Sullivan what i do is litigate. I think that there are people who can do many things for many different angles. In appropriate circumstances i go to court in order to get relief for a client, personal clients or clients through the order the prison to do certain specified things. There also has to be legislative reforms. They should be outside advocacy to bring awareness and all these things working in conjunction hopefully will converge and help create a better system. Karen professor ron sullivan, thank you for being here today. You give us a little insight into whats going on. Prof. Sullivan absolutely, obrien and how shes bringing diverse thoughts to the . With sleep number, you choose the exact firmness and comfort you want and so does your partner. Amazing sleep for all. Dont miss the columbus day sale going on now save 400 on the queen c4 mattress set. Karen beginning with this past september, Soledad Obrien has taken over the helm of crosssection of americans. Obrien seeks to push conversations with not just highprofile political guest but trusted voices in academia, science, and journalism. Nothing is off limits, especially race. Here, of ryan the controversy over Colin Kaepernicks silent protest in the nfl with Baltimore Ravens tight end ben end ben watson would struggle if he had to stand or kneel on the football field this year. He is out with a torn achilles tendon that has ended his season , but it has not stopped him from weighing on the National Dialogue generated by San Francisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick. He has been holding his silent protest against the treatment of afghan americans by refusing to stand during the national anthem. In your latest post, spoke about colin kaepernick. I would like everyone to check out what you wrote. A quick i stand because of this mixed back of evil and good is my home. My home is my standing and a pledge to fight against all injustice and to present the greatest attributes of this country, including Colin Kaepernicks right to neil. Kneel. Such displays against the status quo are distinct the american. The problem not the protester. You go on and on and i think its a very thoughtful column. Do you think that what has been happening has brought more attention to the problem and not to the protester . Ben there always been protest that pushed the envelope forward and brought change along. As a black man, i understand theres a lot i dont like about our countrys history. Theres a lot im upset and angry about. Get better. When i stand, im standing for all the injustices, but im also standing because ive seen great progress because i want there to be more progress. My hope is that we can actually have that conversation and have that progress. Karen joining us now from washington, d. C. On satellite is Soledad Obrien, a peabody awardwinning journalist who is now part of the hearst producer of matter of fact Soledad Obrien, airing sundays at 11 30 a. M. On wcvb. What new perspectives are you going to be bringing to the show . Soledad it is interesting because i think its all about just giving access and really seeking them out and making sure that we are not sticking with washington insiders and boldface names, which is very easy to do when youre covering politics. You tu perspective your hearing to make sure you are moving the stories out of the nations capital. Politics is everything. Its your school, its your streets, its everything. We want to hear from people affected by issues today with some kind of context and not just shouting at each other when they disagree. Karen you must have some goals or ideas about getting people involved and engaged outside of the beltway. Open up conversation to diverse voices, that does get people involved. I think people are interested when people are interested in hearing what other people have to say. They may not agree, but they wanted discourse that is respectful and has context and is informative and they can make up their mind when something is done thoughtfully versus just again people yelling at each other. I think people want that. For a conversation and also a conversation where you frankly hold people accountable and people are not allowed to say what they want unchecked. One thing i like best about being a journalist is that you do your homework and you hold people accountable on the issues that matter. Karen speaking of people yelling at each other, we are in a very strange political season if you have not noticed. Soledad ive not noticed. Tell me about it. I have not noticed at all. [laughter] president ial election, i assume youre going to be taking and digging into some of these interesting conversations and backandforth we have been having. Soledad always, i think thats really important. I think especially frankly with our politicians. We really do have the slowdown and fact checked and dig into some of the things being said and get context and history to the things being said. It has been kind of a crazy political year. It does not feel like we have been covering this election. Karen yet appeared on cnn recently and criticized the media for what you said normalizing white supremacist ideas. Soledad you dont even need to quote me because i will say it again normalizing white suppresses ideas. Thats very true. You take somebody who self them time to recruit people, that is not responsible journalism. Im sure it is great for ratings. A journalist job is to make sure that your thoughtful in the people you are interviewing and how your interviewing the. You cannot just put people on who has hateful speech. That has been something done poorly by some journalists. Im not going to call the guy a white supremacist. He self identifies as that. I think that is a big problem. You give people your credibility when you put them on camera and you have to spend a lot of time thinking about how you do that to make sure that you are doing a service to your viewers and not a disservice. Karen some of the voices that with Soledad Obrien will offer a balance to some of those conversations that we hear on cable news. Soledad absolutely. I really just want to expand the number and types of voices and perspectives. They dont have to agree with me. Its not really about that. Its about a thoughtful, respectful conversation where we get to push people on their beliefs. Karen i cannot let you go without reminding people here in boston that you have a close li we will not mention the call letters. Soledad i got a lot of coffee for everybody. Thats how good i was as an intern. [laughter] i went to Harvard College and got a chance to speak at their graduation a couple years ago, which was really fun. My sister lives there and my other sister lives close their. Re. Me back to boston. We will be watching you on matter of fact with Soledad Obrien. Soledad thanks so much. Karen matter of fact with Soledad Obrien is right here on wcvb at 11 30 a. M. , followed by cityline every sunday at noon. Be sure to pick up the november issue with Soledad Obrien on the cover. Check out the banner this financial at reggie lewis track and field. It is a free event, but registration is required. Up next, using art to change the narrative. Cmon in, pop pop happy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. As it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. . With sleep number, you choose the exact firmness and comfort you want and so does your partner for the best sleep ever. Dont miss the columbus day sale going on now save 400 on the queen c4 mattress set, with 24 month financing and free home delivery. Karen there is a wide range of perspectives and american share the common fear of the notion of terrorism. Many muslims agree that radical terrorism is a threat and should be debated. Often their voices get lost in the antimuslim rhetoric in talk we are joined now by a local Muslim Artist. She along with other artists are tempting to change the narrative of what islam means with the exhibit more than my religion. It is on display at the Cultural Arts center in cambridge. Thank you for having me. Karen what was the inspiration behind putting this exhibit together . For me personally, i was compelled with this sense american muslims living in the united states. Given the broad negative rhetoric, we felt that it was really urgent the need was urgent and critical to highlight and spotlight the reality of the american muslim and their story and their narrative and to reclaim it. Karen what kinds of images will be see in the exhibit . I really invite you to stop by at some point. It is up until december 5 at the multiCultural Arts center. Struck by the diversity of the artwork that is on display right now from traditional calligraphy to still life to very thoughtprovoking photography. A lot of portraits so the diversity that comes through these are pieces is incredible theres more to people than one angle of their identity. Karen the topic of the pieces is not necessarily about islam. The point is that there are artists of muslim faith who have diverse interests and representation in the art world. That is what we will see. Absolutely. Karen let me just share some statistics with the regarding anti america. According to a poll in early 2015, and found that 55 of surveyed americans had an unfavorable opinion of islam. Three weeks after 9 11, and abc news poll showed that unfavorable view went down to 39 . Pretty interesting. Has turned increasingly negative in recent years. A recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research institute revealed 56 of people surveyed agreed that the values of islam are at odds with American Values and the way of life, which is a significant increase of 47 since 2001 from 47 with the statistics that you were just talking about, it is often coming out of the fear of the unknown. We strongly feel that through this initiative we can take that anxiety and that fear down to some level. Using our as a platform we can bring people to a very good neutral ground where we can have some of these informative conversations and get to know each other. Initiative right now. I think some of those misconceptions or mistrust is a byproduct of some of the fear of the unknown. That is what we are sort of aiming to critique. Karen fear of the unknown and lack of knowledge. Absolutely. Karen you have had a similar exhibit in providence in 2015. What was the reaction to the exhi the city and mayor of providence welcomed us and give us a very warm welcome. They received this initiative really well. It was a warm and powerful endorsement from the mayor at the reception gallery. I remember to this day that a reception evening started off with showcasing the muslim work of artists. And then it became a really wonderful platform for a lot of dialogue to initiate, and that brought us to a much better place at the end of the event. A followup to the reception was a salon talk that was held and that in itself was very productive. It was a room full of members and a panel of Muslim Artist and we engaged in a very productive in constructive dialogue. At the end of that lot of reduced anxiety and knowledge about each other. Karen so when bostonians have a chance to visit the exhibit here, what would you like them to leave with . I think if they take time out of their hectic, busy schedules i think i can say with confidence that they will come away with the feeling of wow. Theres so much diversity in the small sample that we are seeing. Each one of those paintings is really talking about an american muslim experience and life and story. It will bring hope to the fact that there is a lot more shared common values and shared ground. That we all have the same aspirations and values. We need to connect at that level and really get to know each account the Headline News and react to that. Karen come with your eyes open and your heart open. Thank you so much. Be sure to catch more than my religion at the multiCultural Arts center in kim at now through december 2. You can learn more about everything we featured on todays program by logging onto our site at wcvb. Com. Do not forget to follow us on social media at cityline five. Thanks so much for watching. Which is responsible for its . Welcome to teen kids news. Im veronique. Lets begin with our top story for this week. . Competition in sports, it gets our adrenaline flowing. In class, competition helps keep us on our toes. But as amelia reports, too much competition isnt a good thing. Our generation is possibly the most competitive generation ever. For many of us, it seems like were in competition from the day were born. Well, in elementary school, it was about who could run the fastest, who could jump the farthest, who could play basketball