Day 13 - Mar 4

Justice System

“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”

― Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

READ

5 Ways LGBTQ people fall into the criminal justice system--and suffer the worst once in by German Lopez

LGBTQ Americans face startling disparities at every level of the criminal justice system, a new, sweeping report from the Movement Advancement Project and the Center for American Progress found. This article describes five examples pulled from the report that demonstrate how LGBTQ Americans are pushed into the criminal justice system — and suffer some of the worst consequences once they're in. (short)

Native Perspectives on the 40th Anniversary of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act by Dennis Zotigh

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Forty years ago, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act finally finally extended that right to the country’s Native citizens. Here Native Americans who observe traditional ways talk about religious freedom. (short)

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon

In this classic study, Anyon profiles schools serving communities of five different income levels, and describes the different kinds of teaching and learning opportunities that she observes for students in each school. (long)

LISTEN

NPR's On Our Watch: Perceived Threat

Experts say — and records read by On Our Watch reporters show — that the internal affairs system is poorly equipped to hold officers accountable for racist policing unless it is overt and extreme. (48:00)

NPR's Code Switch: How One Inmate Changed the Prison System from the Inside

His name has been lost to history, but in the 1970s, prisoners, wardens and prison guards across the U.S. knew of Martin Sostre. He was a fearless prison activist at the dawn of the age of mass incarceration, an inmate willing to risk months in solitary confinement to fight for prisoners' rights. He was one of the first prisoners to successfully challenge his conditions in court and won his biggest victory when he crossed paths with a pioneering judge. (11:00)

NPR's Code Switch: An Immune System

To help us understand how qualified immunity shapes the criminal justice system, we spoke with Josie Duffy Rice, who's been thinking about the doctrine's history and influence for a long time. (21:00)

WATCH

Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People

Statistics and facts about LQBTQ+ people and the justice system. (2:00)

Am I Not Human? A Call for Criminal Justice Reform TEDx by Marlon Peterson

For a crime he committed in his early twenties, the courts sentenced Marlon Peterson to 10 years in prison -- and, as he says, a lifetime of irrelevance. While behind bars, Peterson found redemption through a penpal mentorship program with students from Brooklyn. In this brave talk, he reminds us why we should invest in the humanity of those people society would like to disregard and discard. (7:30)

What is Systemic Racism?

In this 8-part video series, Jay Smooth shows how racism shows up in our lives across institutions and society. Watch the following 2 short clips:

Incarceration (1:01)

Drug Arrests (0:52)

A Conversation with Police on Race

In this short documentary, former officers share their thoughts on policing and race in America. (7:00)

The Human Stories Behind Mass Incarceration TEDx by Eve Abrams

The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, says documentarian Eve Abrams, and somewhere between one and four percent of those in prison are likely innocent. That's 87,000 brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers -- predominantly African American -- unnecessarily separated from their families, their lives and dreams put on hold. Using audio from her interviews with incarcerated people and their families, Abrams shares touching stories of those impacted by mass incarceration and calls on us all to take a stand and ensure that the justice system works for everyone. (13:30)

The Police Killings No One is Talking About: Native Americans Most Likely to be Killed by Cops

News report revealing Native Americans are more likely to be killed by police than any other group, including African Americans. It also finds that cases of African-American police deaths tend to dominate headlines, while killings of Native people go almost entirely unreported by mainstream U.S. media. (15:00--start at 44:00)

13th by Ana DuVernay

Netflix documentary combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. (1:40:00)

note: contains graphic images and language

Can stories create justice? TEDx by Piper Anderson

For the past 40 years, the United States has shipped far more of its citizens off to jail than any other country, and the nation is now paying the price with a corrupt and bloated prison system, broken families, and the permanent alienation of large chunks of society. Piper Anderson is working to reverse the culture of punishment by facilitating community storytelling. Although the problem may seem overwhelming, we can start to solve it by simply listening. (6:11)

We need to talk about an injustice TEDx by Bryan Stevenson

In an engaging and personal talk -- with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks -- human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America's justice system, starting with a massive imbalance along racial lines: a third of the country's black male population has been incarcerated at some point in their lives. These issues, which are wrapped up in America's unexamined history, are rarely talked about with this level of candor, insight and persuasiveness. (23:25)

What prosecutors and incarcerated people can learn from each other TEDx by Jarrell Daniels

A few weeks before his release from prison, Jarrell Daniels took a class where incarcerated men learned alongside prosecutors. By simply sitting together and talking, they uncovered surprising truths about the criminal justice system and ideas for how real change happens. Now a scholar and activist, Daniels reflects on how collaborative education could transform the justice system and unlock solutions to social problems. (11:55)

How we can make racism a solvable problem--and improve policing TEDx by Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff

When we define racism as behaviors instead of feelings, we can measure it -- and transform it from an impossible problem into a solvable one, says justice scientist Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff. In an actionable talk, he shares his work at the Center for Policing Equity, an organization that helps police departments diagnose and track racial gaps in policing in order to eliminate them. Learn more about their data-driven approach -- and how you can get involved with the work that still needs to be done. (12:04)

EXTRAS

ACTION

SONG

Wade in the Water by Sweet Honey in the Rock

POEM

Rememory by Diamond Forde

ART

Illustration about Mass Incarceration by Golden Cosmos

REFLECTION FOR THE DAY

Currently, Germany self-checks itself by thinking about what it would look like if they imprisoned Jews more than any other race, after how they treated them in the past. How is this related to what you learned about the criminal justice system in the United States?

After today's challenge work:

Did you have any ‘a-ha’ moment?

Did you feel any discomfort?

What will you do differently based on your challenge today?

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Final Reflection

Report a Broken Link

Suggestions for Future Content

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