“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Eastern State Penitentiary is my favorite tourist destination in Philadelphia. I got a membership because I take all of my out-of-town visitors there. Last semester, I took my students to ESP on a field trip. The header photo for my website is a picture I took at ESP. I have admired their recent efforts to highlight contemporary prison issues in their presentation of the past through the Searchlight series. I am elated and honored to be a part of their celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King on Monday, January 21st. Join me and actor Len Webb for a reading and discussion of Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
We celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, and the 50th anniversary of his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, with special readings offered several times throughout the weekend.
Why did the civil rights leaders of the 1960s choose jail time to demonstrate their plight? How did Dr. King’s letter—written in the margins of a newspaper and smuggled out of Birmingham Jail—create a pivotal moment in the American civil rights movement?
Readings of the Letter:
Professional actors read Dr. King’s letter, followed by an informal Q&A on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 11:30 and 2:30[and 3:45] each day. Free to the public. Tickets available online or at the door, subject to availability.
Going home for Christmas is always a good way to stretch my brain. When I arrived, I was happy to find that my nieces have reached the age where they can really play with Legos. We have an epic family Lego pile. Since my brother and I combined our stashes some twenty years ago, I like to remind the girls that the Legos belong to everybody. I do this even as I go through picking out my favorite pieces, trying to make sure that they don’t notice my pile of Lego computers, suitcases, and favored building components from the Paradisa collection of 1992 (rare! I now live in Toy Story).
The impulses of girlhood are strong, and my nieces had dutifully, albiet contentiously, picked out and divided all of the female minifigures. It seemed like a good gift-giving opportunity, so I decided a shared gift could diversify our minifigure holdings. I settled on the “fairytale and historic minifigures set” mostly because it came with mermaids and lots of ladylegos, but also because it didn’t come with any police.
I have really mixed feelings about the Lego Police.
I think police toys are weird. It’s kind of like police procedurals- I don’t really find them entertaining because they are too much analytical work. Generally, I just can’t enjoy them, I have to think about what they mean. It can’t be helped- crime and punishment are the focus of my intellectual life. I accept my discomfort with Lego police sets because they naturalize the carceral state as well, just another part of life in the Lego City. Usually I ignore that because hey, I hardly ever think about Legos.
Something curious has happened to me recently: my revulsion toward the Lego police sets gave way to fascination. The Lego offenders (notably, there is no court) have scruffy, unshaven faces that are variably smirking, scowling, or smiling toothlessly. Lacking the gender parity of other Lego city careers, Lego criminals are all male. The narrative of the sets- as seen in the video here– is that Lego museum robbers will inevitably be caught by a complex Lego police apparatus that includes, a semi-truck (“police command center”), “prisoner transport,” a police helicopter, dogs, forest police station (which comes with a bear!), and so on. The pièce de résistance, however,is the Lego police station.
I’ll be honest with you: in spite of myself, I really want the Lego police station.
It comes with a booking area for mugshots! A coffee pot and watercooler! A Lego policewoman with an adorable bob! The garage doors open! The cells even have toilets!
The cells even have toilets?
That brings me back to earth. Even the Duplo police set, intended for 2-5 year olds, includes jail cells with toilets. Recently I read Joseph F. Fishman’s 1923 account of American jails, Crucibles of Crime. He writes:
“At Key West, as in so many jails of the country, the loathsome ‘night bucket,’ as it is politely termed, is used. The night bucket, which we have met so often, is used in jails- there are hundreds of them- which have no toilet facilities or plumbing in the cells. They are emptied each morning. As they are made of iron and last for many years, and as so many jailers are not particularly concerned that they be kept clean as possible, the atmosphere of the jail will be apparent” (p. 84-85).
At the very least, the jails of 2012 have toilets. The Lego jail cell toilets, trivial as they may seem, are a strange piece of evidence in the historic contingency of the carceral state– every facet of the Lego police set reflects some aspect of the carceral state that was wanted, created, built, reformed. The Lego sets reflect the way many in the public would like to think about the criminal justice system- that it is tidy, humane, just, non-violent. The Lego police sets are the criminal justice system as we would like to see it. No guns, no victims, no courts, no activists. Just a few sillybandits who will get what they deserve at the hands of righteous police with a lot of cool crime-fighting tools.
But I can’t overlook the comforting aspect of the Lego police sets:
In honor of the Opening Ceremonies, some friends of mine are hosting a viewing party (if there’s anything that makes me feel like I’m closing in on thirty, it’s viewing parties). I was stewing over what might be the most American thing I could bring– something slightly more American than wearing a beret.
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Fortunately, my hostess resolved my dilemma, and no one will have to suffer the ardent nationalism of my chocolate chip cookies. She asked me to bring Mormon Funeral Potatoes. They are the culinary vestige of my time with the Saints, and in my opinion, a perfect representation of modern American household cuisine. I had these at a number of Mormon Sunday dinners before I actually ate them at a funeral. They are fast and easy to make- I often mix them the night before so everything can meld together in the fridge overnight. Smothered in all kinds of dairy fats, they are cheesy and cozy. I’ve added caramelized leeks and onions to class it up a notch.
In a large bowl, mix together:
1 pint sour cream
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom, or whatever, if you’re serving vegetarians)
2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
caramelized leeks and onions
add in at least
1 large bag (at least 30 oz) thawed frozen hashbrowns
Spread mixture evenly in a 9×13 pan. Top with as much cheese as you want because it’s your party, and throw some panko on there if you want to go totally bananas.
Bake at 350 degrees for ~1 hour. You can add more potatoes if you want a less overwhelmingly creamy and fatty dish of yum-yum or, if, god help you, you have to feed more people.
MELANIE NEWPORT 