John Jay students learn of Cuban 5

Alex Majumder, Gail Walker, Prof. Luis Barrios and Ramsey Clark.

Students preparing for a profession within the so-called “justice system” in the United States heard a denunciation of that system’s inequalities and biases by one of its former top officers, who spoke about the persecution of the Cuban Five.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who has distinguished himself in the last few decades for his exposure of U.S. militarism and aggression worldwide, spoke April 26 before a full lecture room at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Clark, who in 1970 received an honorary degree from JJC, gave a short introduction to the history of the Cuban Revolution before taking apart the unfair prosecution of the five Cuban heroes, who have been unjustly held in U.S. prisons since 1998.

Rev. Luis Barrios, who teaches at JJC in the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Department, organized the lecture, which many of his students attended. JJC’s student body is 60 percent women, 40 percent Latino/a, 25 percent African American and 25 percent foreign born.

Barrios and Gail Walker are co-directors of the IFCO Pastors for Peace Organization, which organizes solidarity trips to Cuba. Shown in the picture are, from left, Alex Majumder of the International Action Center, Walker, Barrios and Clark.

— Report & photo by John Catalinotto