CBH Talk | Prison Imperialism: Indigenous and Black Histories of Subjugation and Global Freedom Dreams
Fri, Oct 6 2023 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Center for Brooklyn History
In his explosive new book, historian Benjamin Weber reveals how the story of American prisons is inextricably linked to the expansion of American power around the globe. Join him in conversation with cultural strategist and organizer, Piper Anderson. A vivid work of hidden history that spans the wars to subjugate Native Americans in the mid-nineteenth century, the conquest of the western territories, and the creation of an American empire in Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, American Purgatory reveals how “prison imperialism”—the deliberate use of prisons to control restive, subject populations—is written into our national DNA, extending through to our modern era of mass incarceration. Weber also uncovers a surprisingly rich history of prison resistance, from the Seminole Chief Osceola to Assata Shakur—one that invites us to rethink the scope of America’s long freedom struggle.
Participants
Benjamin Weber is an assistant professor of African American and African Studies at the University of California, Davis. He has worked at the Vera Institute of Justice, Alternate ROOTS, the Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, and as a public high school teacher in East Los Angeles. The author of American Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration (The New Press), he lives in Davis, California.
Piper Anderson is a writer, coach, master facilitator, and founder of Create Forward, a social impact firm advancing equity and justice through curiosity, community, and culture. Anderson and Create Forward are driving forces behind the Rikers Public Memory Project. She is also the author of How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office and Growing Up Girl, has toured two solo performance works, and was the recipient of a TED Residency award to develop Mass Story Lab which centers experiences of people affected by incarceration. Anderson is a professor at NYU’s Gallatin School and a founding member of the advisory board and faculty of NYU’s Prison Education Program.