Incarceration is a uniquely American issue. Whether or not you think it's a problem, a badge of honor, or merely a proclivity, you cannot deny that we love locking folks up. I say "uniquely American" because as it stands, the good ol' U.S. of A jails its citizens at a higher rate than any other in the world. A lot of credit for that can be attributed to what is commonly known as the "school-to-prison pipeline," a means by which particularly young men of color are channeled into the prison system, guided by inherent social disadvantages, discrimination, and a lack of education.
Melissa today will show you a remarkable interview she conducted in her hometown of New Orleans with an activist, Norris Henderson, who has dedicated himself to destroying that pipeline. That will spark a conversation you will not want to miss, and will tee off a Foot Soldiers profile of more folks making a difference at a local prison here in New York.
Other topics we'll cover today include, naturally, the just-concluded convention season -- including a full recap of what was discussed and presented at this week's Democratic National Convention, and what wasn't discussed. To help us break all that down are our guests:
- Lola Adesioye, British-born political writer and social commentator.
- Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York.
- Glenn Martin, vice president of Public Affairs at the Fortune Society.
- Ari Melber, correspondent for The Nation and an msnbc contributor.
- Joy Reid, managing editor at theGrio.com, and an msnbc contributor.
- Leslie Sanchez, Republican analyst and author of "You've Come a Long Way, Maybe."
As always, folks -- be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!