Christmas Update 3

When Josiah was here and we embarked on a walk by the river we heard what sounded like a rather unpracticed choir singing carols.  It was very feint, so we went to investigate.  It turned out that the inmates at our local prison were practicing for their annual carol concert.  We inquired about the time and date, discovering it was taking place on the Friday before Christmas.  And so we turned up only to find a fully fledged jazz band playing Christmas and worship songs outside the prison for the incarcerated.  You can just see them on the right.  This was not the best photo, but it did include the open area above the main door from where the carols were then sung by the inmates.  Cousin Dana came down with us to enjoy the concert, and although it wasn't a large turnout, I felt encouraged that this was happening on behalf of those who, for whatever reason are unable to be out with family this Christmas.  Obviously, there are people who have made poor choices and ended up in prison, but systemic injustice in the US criminal justice system is nothing short of a new form of Jim Crow laws.  African Americans are 4 times more likely to end up in prison than other nationalities and you only have to keep up with the regular horror stories, amongst which the George Floyd saga is the tip of the iceberg.  If you are interested at all in this phenomenon, an excellent book is The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness