Facing South
Tony Dunbar: "Prisons
are a waste of human
lives."
NEW ORLEANS, LA.
— Tony Dunbar de
scribes himself as an
"optimistic malcon
tent." Others might be
more apt to say he is a
human being with a
deep social conscience.
Over the past 20 years
he has worked on behalf
of the South's poor, op
pressed, and imprison
ed. His love for the
region and its people,
and his commitment to
social change are ob
vious when he states:
"The interesting thing
about social change in
the South is how both
races — whites and
blacks — have had to
examine their roots and
their values. They've
had to cross huge
barriers to get away
from their traditional,
passive Southern up
bringing, to begin to
speak out and struggle
for change."
Tony says his own ac
tivisim began early.
"My strange career of
complaining about the
status quo and trying to
change things is
probably due to an ac
cident of birth."
Born in 1949 to white
liberal parents, Tony
was early imbued with
the idea that "The black
guys are the good guys
and the white guys were
the bad ones." That
philosophy profoundly
affected him. He says,
"That single interpreta
tion was radical enough
to set me off on a dif
ferent track from most
people."
During Tony's adoles
cent years, the South
was also going through a
radical change —
desegregation. He had
two experiences as a
teenager that solidified
his concern for the poor
and triggered his in
terest in community
organizing. First, he
counselled nine-year
olds in a day care center
in Atlanta's "Vine
City," a black housing
project. "That was a
great education for me
and the other counsel
lors," he said, "but not
necessarily for the
kids."
Then the following
summer he got his first
taste of community
organizing at the Penn
Community Center in
South Carolina. He and
other activists held
night meetings and
taught citizenship edu
cation, birth control,
and mid-wifery.
Tony spent his six
teenth summer in Atlan
ta. living communally
with other organizers.
When he and a young
black friend were
arrested for drag
racing, Tony spent
several days in jail. This
turned his life around.
He and his friend were
put in separate sections
in the segregated Jail,
and Tony says he
"began going crazy in
that cell. Those two
nights in jail planted in
me an absolute hatred of
imprisonment. And a lot
of what I've done since
then has been aimed at
trying to convince
people that prisons are a
waste of human lives.
I've tried hard to help
prisoners get out alive."
When he turned 18,
Tony registered as a
conscientious objector
to the Vietnam War, and
accepted induction. He
went to work for the
Committee of Southern
Churches (CSC), a
small Christian
organization in Nash
ville, Tennessee.
Tony spent six years
with CSC, developing
prison projects —
tutoring programs, pri
soners' rights, visitor
groups. "Our idea,
theologically, was that
everyone should be
released," he explains.
"That's a biblical ad
monition. Jesus said the
imprisoned should be
released immediately."
Using his organizing
skills, Tony transfor
med CSC into a regional
prison reform organiza
tion, the Southern Coali
tion on Jails and
Prisons.
He resigned to
become a full-time free
lance writer, but soon
found himself doing
prison work again. In
1979, he travelled to
Alabama to protest the
scheduled execution of
John Evans. Tony's con
viction runs deep:
"Stopping capital
punishment is central in
determining how moral
a society we are."
Evans won a reprieve,
and Tony met an ac
tivist from Amnesty In
ternational (AI), the
human rights organiza
tion that had received
the Nobel prize for
Peace. Tony joined the
AI staff that year, and
has since been their
southern coordinator in
New Orleans.
Today, Tony's optim
ism and his discontent
work together. He says,
"What we do to
prisoners is absolutely
absurd. It is a con
suming hatred of mine.
It burns at some level at
the back of my soul."
These intense feelings
inspire Tony to keep
fighting against prisons
and human waste.
-SAM & MARTHA
TOTTEN
freelance
New York, N. Y.
BUDDY'S WORKSHOP
Protect Plumbing
In Extreme Cold
If water pipe* in an uninsulated basement tend to
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?■ .'Tietimes, location of the furnace in an uninsulated
bes' nent provides sufficient warmth to keep pipes from
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exposed water pipes, those anchored to the sub-flooring,
in crawl spaces and especially where the main line enters
the home and extensions run to outdoor faucets. In some
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heat tape should be used. Heat tapes may be purchased at
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compared to the cost of plumbing repairs.
• • •
Is It true that drala cleaners should not be used hy
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This is an old, but untrue concept. Small amounts of
drain cleaner are so diluted in the average size septic tank
there is little possibility of any harmful effects.
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iiu*1.25 J
BREAKSTONE DIP ,a«^79'
FOLGER'S FLAKED COFFEE utz cm'2.35
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