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70 Million – Forget Reform, They Want Abolition
Aug24

70 Million – Forget Reform, They Want Abolition

  This week on Making Contact we’re taking you to St. Louis, Missouri with the Podcast 70 Million to learn about the city’s ongoing efforts to re-imagine public safety beyond incarceration. Organizers in St. Louis have given up on trying to simply reform the criminal legal system. Now, they’re working to abolish it. And they’re starting with the closure of the “Medium Security Institution” known as...

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70 Million: When “Bail Reform” Isn’t
Jul13

70 Million: When “Bail Reform” Isn’t

  This week on Making Contact, we look at Bail Reform in the state of Texas with the help of our podcast partners 70 Million. For conservative lawmakers and bail reform advocates have long debated what bail reform can look like for those who cannot afford to bail themselves out of jail. Image Credit: Photo by Brandon Allen Image Caption: Monique Joseph stands in front of the  A. M. “Mac” Stringfellow Unit (previously...

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70 Million: How Black Women Are Rightfully “Taking Seats at the Table”
Oct20

70 Million: How Black Women Are Rightfully “Taking Seats at the Table”

Making Contact · 70 Million: How Black Women Are Rightfully “Taking Seats at the Table”   Nearly one in two Black women in the US have a loved one who has been impacted by our prison system. Many become de facto civilian experts as a result. Some rise to lead as catalysts for change. And now, scores of Black women are joining the ranks—as officers of the court, police, and judges—to manage and advance a system that has had such...

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President Biden and America’s Expectation
Jan20

President Biden and America’s Expectation

Making Contact · President Biden and America’s Expectation   Today, a divided nation experiences one of the most tumultuous presidential transitions in US history. Leaders from marginalized communities across the nation are watching, with cautious optimism, as Biden and Harris seek to tackle several serious crises amid a raging pandemic. Thank you to freelance journalist Maritza L. Félix for reporting from Arizona. Like...

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Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism (Encore)
Oct21

Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism (Encore)

Making Contact · Self Care as Selfless Act: Mental Health at the Root of Activism   Activists in the Latinx immigrant community of Los Angeles share what they do to take care of their mental health. The issues these activists work on often impact their personal lives, and people who work in the service of others are particularly at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Self-care becomes a “selfless act” when it allows activists...

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Unblock the Vote 2020
Oct14

Unblock the Vote 2020

Making Contact · Unblock the Vote 2020 This week we’ll explore felon disenfranchisement and the political battle to restore the voting rights of over 6 million people not eligible to vote because of laws that restrict people convicted of felonies from voting. We’ll meet criminal justice activists in California pushing to restore the rights of 50,000 individuals on parole, through the advocacy of a ballot measure in...

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Bad Math: the Risks of Artificial Intelligence
Feb25

Bad Math: the Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Bad Math: the Risks of Artificial Intelligence When we think of Artificial Intelligence we often think of intelligent robots who act and think like humans -the walking, thinking, feeling machines that we see in the movies. The advent of that kind of intelligent robot is so far off in the future, that we often don’t recognize the kind of AI already all around us. Or the effects its having on our lives. Courts, search engines,...

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70Million: The Work of Closing a Notorious Jail
Feb04

70Million: The Work of Closing a Notorious Jail

70Million: The Work of Closing a Notorious Jail Five years after Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer galvanized criminal justice reform activists in St. Louis, they’re gaining serious momentum to shut down the city’s notorious Workhouse jail. Reporter Carolina Hidalgo spent time with the Close the Workhouse campaign and Arch City Defenders, their supporters, and detractors. [TRANSCRIPT BELOW] 70...

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Decarcerated with Danielle Sered: Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair
Sep03

Decarcerated with Danielle Sered: Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair

Decarcerated with Danielle Sered Courtesy of the Decarcerated Podcast, host Marlon Peterson hosts a live conversation with Common Justice founder Danielle Sered.  Sered’s New Book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair explores the difficult transformations we need to make — both as individuals and as a society — before we can displace and replace the prison industrial complex. Danielle tackles the...

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70 Million – Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground
Dec05

70 Million – Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground

70 Million Activists in Houston were galvanized by events in Ferguson in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown. First, they took to the streets in protest. Then they started organizing. Not long after, they found a kindred spirit in the most unlikely person: a candidate for the DA office. 70 Million reporter, Ruxandra Guidi, chronicles how activists and reformers are succeeding in cutting the jail population, diverting...

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