The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land - S.O.J.E.S. -
is dedicated to historic preservation and educating the community about the contributions of African Americans in the creation and progression of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County, Texas.
This includes commemorating and memorializing the Sugar Land 95.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2023 - DON'T MISS THIS!
THE 95 at F I V E
S.O.J.E.S. marks the 5th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Sugar Land 95
Educate. Honor. Heal.
The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land (S.O.J.E.S.) is committed to its mission of educating the community about convict leasing and honoring the contributions of African Americans in Sugar Land and Fort Bend County. It is time to learn and heal.
We invite the public to a commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the discovery of the "Sugar Land 95," the 95 victims of convict leasing whose remains were discovered in a Sugar Land high school construction site on December 18, 2018.
Our keynote speaker is Alex Lichtenstein, Ph.D., noted author on convict leasing and American Studies Chair at Indiana University, to speak about the impact of convict leasing in the south and in Sugar Land, Texas. Other speakers and honorees will be featured in the program.
This is a FREE event event, but donations are gladly accepted at: https://www.sojesjustice.org/donate.html
S.O.J.E.S. is working toward creating a TRAVELING EXHIBIT on CONVICT LEASING, including the Sugar Land 95. We look forward to your participation and support.
A QUICK READ
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONVICT LEASING?
The discovery of the Sugar Land 95 through the construction of a Fort Bend ISD high school 2018 exposed a state-sanctioned system many people had never heard about: Convict Leasing.
In short, convict leasing was a new form of slavery. It involved the forced labor of mostly African-American men in conditions so horrendous the majority of its victims died within two years of entering the system.
Yet, as S.O.J.E.S. strives to memorialize and educate our community about convict leasing, its members often hear this statement:
They were prisoners, weren't they? They committed crimes. Why should I, or anyone, care about their situation?
Our response is simple: The convict leasing system was wrong. It was outrageous and inhumane. It benefitted only a handful of people at the expense of thousands of human lives. It was riddled with abuse and atrocities... just like or worse than slavery. And we must educate others, learn from this system to heal as a community, and do all that we can so it never happens again.
S.O.J.E.S. believes, as a community, it is imperative that we all do the difficult work of confronting our history of racial injustice. Our painful, yet candid connection with history shapes our present and helps build a future embedded in justice.
To be sure, Texas was not the only Southern state to practice convict leasing. The system can be traced as far back as the 1840s in Georgia, according to Digital History. Below is how the Equal Justice Initiative explains the evolution of convict leading in Texas and the South:
"After the Civil War, convict leasing persisted because Southern states leased prisoners to private railways, mines, and large plantations. While states profited, prisoners earned no pay and faced inhumane, dangerous, and often deadly work conditions. Thousands of Black people were forced into what authors have termed “slavery by another name” until the 1930s.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, but explicitly exempted those convicted of crime. In response, Southern state legislatures quickly passed “Black Codes” – new laws that explicitly applied only to Black people and subjected them to criminal prosecution for “offenses” such as loitering, breaking curfew, vagrancy, having weapons, and not carrying proof of employment. Crafted to ensnare Black people and return them to chains, these laws were effective; for the first time in U.S. history, many state penal systems held more Black prisoners than white – all of whom could be leased for profit.
Industrialization, economic shifts, and political pressure ended widespread convict leasing by World War II, but the Thirteenth Amendment’s dangerous loophole still permits the enslavement of prisoners who continue to work without pay in various public and private industries. As recently as 2010, a federal court held that 'prisoners have no enforceable right to be paid for their work under the Constitution.' "
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The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land - S.O.J.E.S. - believes it is important to become a necessary catalyst in propelling our community to bravely confront the unknown truth about our past local history of racial oppression and exploitation from slavery to convict leasing to segregation, through a creatively and cohesively proposed organized collaborative effort to create an educational center and museum (with both indoor and outdoor learning exhibits). We call this The Sugar Land 95 Experience.
References and sources: Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2018). Digital History. Retrieved (May 29, 2020) from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-convict-leasing/
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CONVICT LEASING?
The discovery of the Sugar Land 95 through the construction of a Fort Bend ISD high school 2018 exposed a state-sanctioned system many people had never heard about: Convict Leasing.
In short, convict leasing was a new form of slavery. It involved the forced labor of mostly African-American men in conditions so horrendous the majority of its victims died within two years of entering the system.
Yet, as S.O.J.E.S. strives to memorialize and educate our community about convict leasing, its members often hear this statement:
They were prisoners, weren't they? They committed crimes. Why should I, or anyone, care about their situation?
Our response is simple: The convict leasing system was wrong. It was outrageous and inhumane. It benefitted only a handful of people at the expense of thousands of human lives. It was riddled with abuse and atrocities... just like or worse than slavery. And we must educate others, learn from this system to heal as a community, and do all that we can so it never happens again.
S.O.J.E.S. believes, as a community, it is imperative that we all do the difficult work of confronting our history of racial injustice. Our painful, yet candid connection with history shapes our present and helps build a future embedded in justice.
To be sure, Texas was not the only Southern state to practice convict leasing. The system can be traced as far back as the 1840s in Georgia, according to Digital History. Below is how the Equal Justice Initiative explains the evolution of convict leading in Texas and the South:
"After the Civil War, convict leasing persisted because Southern states leased prisoners to private railways, mines, and large plantations. While states profited, prisoners earned no pay and faced inhumane, dangerous, and often deadly work conditions. Thousands of Black people were forced into what authors have termed “slavery by another name” until the 1930s.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, but explicitly exempted those convicted of crime. In response, Southern state legislatures quickly passed “Black Codes” – new laws that explicitly applied only to Black people and subjected them to criminal prosecution for “offenses” such as loitering, breaking curfew, vagrancy, having weapons, and not carrying proof of employment. Crafted to ensnare Black people and return them to chains, these laws were effective; for the first time in U.S. history, many state penal systems held more Black prisoners than white – all of whom could be leased for profit.
Industrialization, economic shifts, and political pressure ended widespread convict leasing by World War II, but the Thirteenth Amendment’s dangerous loophole still permits the enslavement of prisoners who continue to work without pay in various public and private industries. As recently as 2010, a federal court held that 'prisoners have no enforceable right to be paid for their work under the Constitution.' "
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land - S.O.J.E.S. - believes it is important to become a necessary catalyst in propelling our community to bravely confront the unknown truth about our past local history of racial oppression and exploitation from slavery to convict leasing to segregation, through a creatively and cohesively proposed organized collaborative effort to create an educational center and museum (with both indoor and outdoor learning exhibits). We call this The Sugar Land 95 Experience.
References and sources: Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2018). Digital History. Retrieved (May 29, 2020) from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-convict-leasing/
The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land | 5826 New Territory Blvd. #711, Sugar Land, TX 77479 | sojesjustice@gmail.com