Illusory Protection: Education & The Prison Industrial Complex

                                         Kids enjoy a few games at HHCF San Jose Summer Camp

Illusory Protection: Education & The Prison Industrial Complex

by Adisa Banjoko and Arash Daneshzadeh | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)

“He confused science fiction with science facts, He couldn't separate the block, from recorded tracks” – GZA, Illusory Protection

In 2006, I created the Hip-Hop Chess Federation to teach kids chess and correlating life skills. A few years ago, a young Black female student tried to sneak past me in the lobby at John O’Connell High School where I worked as a security guard. She was late. Being the ever inquisitive security guard, I slipped into stealth mode. It was a hot morning. As she tried to skip through the lobby entrance I playfully popped outta the shadows and said “What time is it?!”

The girl grabbed her phone from her front pocket and glanced at her phone—it was off. “ I dunno what time it is!” Half startled and irritated from my AM kung-fu moves.

For a soundless second her eyes blinked between my face and the face on the clock. Her shoulders sagged—her chin dropped like a scolded toddler. “I can’t tell time” she confessed. “Please don’t tell anybody, it’s  embarrassing. Nobody knows.”

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One Big Chess Game

Here is a special essay I wrote as a guest blogger on New Black Man, ran by super historian  Mark  Anthony  Neal. 

My first few days teaching life strategies to at-risk and gang impacted youth using chess, I met three Latino boys. The first was heavyset with black marble eyes, dark curly hair and a body like Baby Huey. The second was super thin with reddish brown Aztec skin, small beady eyes and an unusually slim face. The third, at first glance you might miss really easy. He had an average build, average height but a very sweet smile. Oddly though, his eyes had no emotion- like a snake. It was deeply unsettling. That’s what I remember about meeting him for the first time. I recall going home and telling my wife “I think I met a killer today.”

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