Dismantling Injustice

¡Un episodio especial en español! ¿Es esta la primera vez que escucha de Envision Freedom Fund? ¿O es usted un antiguo simpatizante que quiere refrescar sus conocimientos sobre quiénes somos, qué hacemos y cómo hemos adaptado nuestras estrategias para mantenernos al día con el siempre cambiante panorama político? Tenemos el episodio perfecto para ti.
En esta conversación especial, Rosa Santana y Anacristina Fonseca celebran el segundo aniversario de la organización como "Envision Freedom Fund" y hablan de por qué y cómo hacemos honor a este nombre. Además, compartirán interesantes noticias sobre el lanzamiento de nuestro nuevo programa de afiliación comunitaria y los próximos eventos presenciales.

Are you new to Envision Freedom Fund? Or are you a longtime supporter who wants a refresher on who we are, what we do, and how we've adapted our strategies to keep up with the ever-changing political landscape? We've got just the episode for you!

In this special conversation, Julie Mente and Zoë Adel Perry celebrate the organization's two-year anniversary as "Envision Freedom Fund" and discuss why and how we live into this name. Plus, they'll share exciting news about the launch of our new community membership program and upcoming in-person events! 

Notes:

If you are interested in our new community membership program, please reach out to ACF Fonseca at acfonseca@envisionfreedom.org.

Referrals for legal services is one of the most requested methods of support we hear from folks we have bonded out from immigration detention. That’s where experts like Rebecca Press come in. Co-founder of Co-Counsel NYC and Senior Counsel at Central American Legal Assistance, Rebecca joins the podcast to discuss the dire need for immigration legal services in New York City. The episode explores the challenges faced by legal service organizations, what’s at stake for migrants, and tangible steps you can take to help address this urgent issue.

Notes:

Check out these resources provided by Rebecca!

Welcome back to a new season of the Dismantling Injustice Podcast! To kick things off, we are doing a deep dive into an issue that is making headlines everyday: the arrival of asylum seekers and other migrants to New York. First: shelter and housing. On this episode, Carl sat down with a reporter who has been on the front lines documenting this evolving situation for months — Daniel Parra, reporter and editor at City Limits. They discuss how New York City's approach to housing migrants has changed over time, what migrants are sharing about their experiences, the organizations overseeing these facilities and how imposing “length of shelter stay” restrictions will create more instability.

Notes:

Check out Daniel Parra's recent reporting on asylum seekers in New York...

While Dismantling Injustice is taking a brief summer break, the Envision Freedom staff is curating a “Staff Picks” series, where we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from this past season. This week, our Communications Manager, Julie Mente, shares one of our most listened to episodes.

Professor Henning, activist, youth defender and author of The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth, sat down with Carl for a conversation about the criminalization of Black youth. Professor Henning explains how and why America manufactured fear of Black children, how that fear feeds into criminalization today and the ways in which Black children are not allowed the same adolescence as white children. She shares solutions for moving forward and why we must all examine our biases toward Black youth.

While Dismantling Injustice is taking a brief summer break, the Envision Freedom staff is curating a “Staff Picks” series, where we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from this past season. This week our Director of Development, Donny Repsher, shares an episode we released over the winter holiday about how we can have calm, productive conversations about bail reform while bringing more people into the movement to end pretrial detention. Although we should say, the takeaways from this episode apply to more than just bail reform! They can be used in any conversation where ideas are exchanged and hearts and minds can be changed.

Notes:

Hello dear listeners, we hope you are having a restful and revolutionary summer! We are coming to you with some exciting news. While we're taking a little summer hiatus before the next season starts in the fall, we will be re-releasing some of our favorite episodes from the last season. You’ll be hearing from Envision Freedom Fund staff over the next few weeks as they reintroduce these episodes to you and we hope you will listen, listen again and share with a friend! And at the end of the summer, we’ll be back with a brand new season of conversations about how we envision and bring to fruition freedom for all people. 

Everyone has a role to play in the fight for social change. But how can you find the role that best uses your strengths and meets the needs of the movement? Carl and author, activist and trainer Deepa Iyer discuss her new workbook, "Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection," which maps out the social change ecosystem and how we can each find our place in the movement—including what to do if you realize you're in the wrong role, how these roles intersect with race and gender, and how identifying our role helps us avoid burnout.

In this episode of the Dismantling Injustice podcast, Carl sits down with Gabrielle Inès Souza, the executive director of the Okra Project, to discuss the needs of Black trans New Yorkers and the profound significance of mutual aid in bridging the gaps left by governmental and systemic failures. Gabrielle also shares the upcoming, exciting work of the Okra Project and reminds us why investing in Black trans joy (with no strings attached!) is critical to our personal and collective liberation.

Notes:

Carl is joined by Rose Berry, Co-Director of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), to discuss the intersection of Blackness, queerness, and migration. Rose shares the importance of centering and building power within this community to create a world where all Black LGBTQIA+ people are free and liberated. Learn how to support and learn more about BLMP's work, during Pride month and beyond!

Notes:

This week on Dismantling Injustice, we talk to Aaliyah and Mike from Youth Represent, which uses a youth-driven approach to advocacy and peer education in addition to providing legal services. Prioritizing the voices of young people who have experience with criminalization is critical in the fight for youth justice in New York. Aaliyah, a passionate activist since her teens, shares why changing the criminal and juvenile justice systems has always been her priority. Mike explains how Youth Represent's comprehensive approach meets the diverse needs of young people impacted by the system. 

We kick off our series on youth justice with Professor Kristin Henning, activist, youth defender and author of The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth. Professor Henning explains how and why America manufactured fear of Black children, how that fear feeds into criminalization today and the ways in which Black children are not allowed the same adolescence as white children. She shares solutions for moving forward and why we must all examine our biases toward Black youth. 

On this episode of Dismantling Injustice, we are joined again by Zoë Adel, research & advocacy manager at Envision Freedom Fund, to update us on how New York state leaders passed a budget that includes a third round of changes to the bail laws that will undo the progress made towards pretrial freedom. Zoë breaks down the specifics of these changes and the human toll we can expect. As someone who has been fighting to expand pretrial freedom for many years, Zoë shares her insights on why setbacks like this one are not enough to derail continued organizing and advocacy. Listen to learn more.

Notes:

Envisionaries, we have a treat for you today! Carl sits down with NYC's Comptroller, Brad Lander, to discuss all things NYC budget. Comptroller Lander explains why providing migrants with resources helps all New Yorkers, how we get to the root of public safety issues (hint: it's not investing more in NYPD and DOC) and why you should testify at city council hearings. And finally, he answers the age-old question "How do you pronounce Comptroller?" 

The New York State budget is already a week late and there's one thing holding it up - Governor Hochul's dangerous proposal to rollback bail reform for a third time. Envision Freedom's research & advocacy manager, Zoë Adel, joins the podcast to explain the history of bail reform in New York, the meaning and impact of the Governor's proposal and how you can step in to help save bail reform.  

On this week's episode of Dismantling Injustice, Envision Freedom's communication manager, Julie Mente, steps in for Carl to continue unraveling the mystery of government budgets. Julie is joined by Gabriela Viera, senior advocacy manager at Detention Watch Network. They discuss the federal appropriation process - including Biden's proposed budget for the next fiscal year - and how they impact the rights and dignity of immigrants in the U.S. 

Notes:

Do you hear the words "government budget" and feel lost, confused or disinterested? Marissa Martin, executive director of The Advocacy Institute, is here to help. She joins the podcast for the first episode in our series about the New York budget to break down the budget process, what we should look out for this year and why YOU should care.

Everyone has a role to play in the fight for social change. But how can you find the role that best uses your strengths and meets the needs of the movement? Carl and author, activist and trainer Deepa Iyer discuss her new workbook, "Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection," which maps out the social change ecosystem and how we can each find our place in the movement—including what to do if you realize you're in the wrong role, how these roles intersect with race and gender, and how identifying our role helps us avoid burnout.

During this #BlackFuturesMonth, Carl speaks to Kristin Powell-Harris, deputy director of Black Futures Lab. Kristin shares a behind-the-scenes look into the Lab's Black Census Project — the largest survey of Black people in the U.S. in 157 years. They discuss community concerns, the desire to be heard and what Black communities envision for the future.

Notes:

While this is not what we hoped to highlight for our first episode of #BlackHistoryMonth, the death of Tyre Nichols and police violence are tragically part of Black history in America. As guest Nicole Triplett says, "This is not an aberration or breaking of police protocol, this is what policing in America has been and will continue to be." Carl and Memphis native Nicole, the senior advocacy & litigation strategist at Envision Freedom, talk about what is happening in Memphis, the role of race in Tyre Nichols' murder, and what this means for policing in the U.S. more broadly.

Notes:

We are wrapping up our series on mental health with a conversation with Cara Page - a Black, Queer Feminist cultural memory worker, author & organizer. For the past 30+ years, she has organized at the intersections of racial, gender & economic justice and transformative justice. Cara is the co-author of the book Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care & Safety - to be released next month. Cara and Carl discuss healing justice: how it addresses activist burnout, how it's different from self-care and why it's necessary for our collective liberation.

Notes:

A conversation between Carl Hamad-Lipscombe and Vianey Romero-Mendez, director of programs at Mixteca, about the need for mental health resources in immigrant communities. Vianey explains the term "immigration stress," why mental health services are so critical for immigrant New Yorkers and small ways we can all reduce stress in our own lives.

Notes:

You’re gathered around the dinner table for the holidays when a relative makes a comment about bail, jail, or public safety that doesn't mesh with what you know. We've all been there. Envision Freedom is here to help! In our final episode of 2022, Carl talks to Envision Freedom Communication Manager, Julie Mente, about how we can have calm, productive conversations and bring more people along with us to end the deadly harms caused by money bail and pretrial detention.

From a growing culture of deputized surveillance, to shows like “Ring Nation,” surveillance is evolving with us. Carl speaks to Rumsha Sajid and Danny Cendejas, two deeply experienced organizers working at MediaJustice, about the historic roots of present day surveillance—colonialism and slavery—and the continued disproportionate impact that surveillance has on communities of color.

Notes:

Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne

Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People's Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time, by James Kilgore

Rafa Kidvai, the Repro Legal Defense Fund Director at If/When/How (and former legal fellow for Court Watch NYC!) joins Carl to talk about the intersection between reproductive justice, surveillance and criminalization. While we should be wary of new technology that will increase data surveillance, much of this surveillance already exists. Some communities (read: Black and brown people, immigrants, disabled people, Black and trans folks) were living in a “post-Roe reality” long before the overturn went into effect. The path forward? Creating a better system than we had to begin with.

Notes:

Carl and Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of STOP (Surveillance Technology Oversight Project) discuss mass surveillance, —particularly of pregnant people or people who can become pregnant— and new technology that is being leveraged to surveil more people with less discretion. And of course, they get into the disproportionate impact these technologies have on communities of color and how we may be creating more inequality by focusing on personal protection, rather than systemic accountability.