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Day 18 – Designing a Coalition
The last two days we have analyzed “The New Jim Crow” through mass incarceration and the criminalization of black girls in schools. Today we look at grass roots organizations, coalitions, and groups who have vowed to combat this system of mass incarceration.
The question we must ask ourselves is how do we move forward?
What systems, groups, and coalitions can we design to ensure everyone can receive equality in our justice and school systems?
We will explore how activists who speak against mass incarceration are combatting this unjust system daily.
As we begin to brainstorm our own ideas on how to dismantle our unjust justice system listen to this Ted Talk from Jarrell Daniels who went from being an inmate to a student at Columbia University.
When you think of prison reform and inmates who need to acclimate themselves to the real world you usually think of some type of training, or programs with certification. However, we also need to address the trauma that inmates experience inside and outside of prison. One group in Ohio are using art to allow inmates to express themselves. Ohio Prison Arts Connection is a coalition dedicated to building arts access to people in prison and reentry. This is space for storytelling, resources sharing, and dialogue in and out of prison.
Men and women are wrongfully committed and sentenced to prison for years. The Innocence Project uses DNA to exonerate and wrongfully committed prisoners. This non-profit organization also has vowed to bring reform to our unjust prison system. Check out their website here!
After you engage with the challenge materials on prison reform coalitions and programs, share ways you can engage in the movement for prison reform. You can share your responses with us @LWScienceHealth on Instagram.