Cruisin Jams

Interview with Dianne Jones, Fox Rich, and Sade Dumas about prison abolition, the incarceration of women, and how to bring change to the system.

Their community town hall event, titled Ending the Incarceration of Women and Girls: How We Get There, takes place at First Grace Church on Saturday, July 21, from 1-4 PM.

https://www.facebook.com/events/809473302585343/

http://wwav-no.org/

https://opprcnola.org/

http://www.foxrich.com/index.html

Chamblee-Ryan is the lead attorney on cases currently being brought against DA Cannizzaro's office, alledging that illegally they issued fake subpoenas to witnesses and victims of crimes in attempt to coerce statements directly to the DA's office, in addition to illegally detaining witnesses using material witness warrants. Hear about the past, present, and future of the case.

Interview with Miranda Yonta. Along with co-organizer Laura Ekua, Yonta is working on the Black Mama's Bailout Action, cosponsored by Southerhers on New Ground and local organization Women With A Vision. We talk about the bail system, courts and incarceration in Orleans Parish, and this action to bring Black Mamas (widely defined) home this mother's day.

Interview with Claire Beauchamp from European Dissent's Anti-Gentrification Action Group about their upcoming workshop.

Want to fight for economically just, diverse communities, but aren't sure how? Worry that you are contributing to gentrification, but don't know what to do about it?

Registration is free & will give you access to pre-event readings:

RSVP at: https://goo.gl/forms/ENpRuMtfFv2DO0QQ2

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"Finding your place in fighting displacement: Building an anti-racist strategy" is a half-day workshop focused on individual and collective action that gentrifiers can take to mitigate our role in displacement while supporting development that benefits existing communities. We will explore these actions in the context of New Orleans' highly racialized history of gentrification.

White people have disproportionately perpetuated and benefited from gentrification, and consequently have an out-sized responsibility to change its course. With this in mind, we are partnering with Black organizers to create a multi-racial environment challenging gentrifiers to take informed action.

This event is free and open to anyone committed to building an anti-racist understanding of the impact of gentrification and a lack of affordable housing in New Orleans.

Hosted by: The Anti-Gentrification Action Group, a working group of European Dissent that focuses on education and advocacy around the role of white people in housing justice issues in New Orleans.

This workshop is part of a month-long festival called The Rent Is Too Damn High! at the Boxing Gym. Presented by Color BLOC, the exhibition and catalogue publication celebrates the New Orleans tricentennial and creates a platform for Black New Orleanians to use art, history and culture to make meaning of the city’s tricentennial legacy, and, ultimately, to shape it.

Learn more about Color BLOC and exhibition programming here:

https://color-bloc.com/

Get tickets* here: http://neworleans.boldtypetickets.com/events/51345355/the-rent-is-too-damn-high

*people 18 and under get in free

Interview with Rontherin Ratliff, John Isiah Walton, and Carl Joe Wiliams from the Level Arts Collective, whose show, Inside Out: Reflections on incarceration in Louisiana, runs through May 6 at the Double Shotgun gallery. Info below.

Featuring Keith Calhoun, Glenn Ford, Ana Hernandez, Maria Hinds, Chandra McCormick, Brandan Odums, Sheila Phipps, Rontherin Ratliff, John Isiah Walton, and Carl Joe Williams.

April 14-May 6, 2018

Opening reception: Saturday, April 14, 2018, 5-8 p.m.

Gallery hours: Saturday & Sunday 12-5 or by appointment

Louisiana currently has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the United States (and the world), with 816 people in prison for every 100,000 residents. That’s nearly double the national average. Since the late 1970’s the number of people in prison has grown 30 times faster than the state’s population.

While New Orleans celebrates its “Tricentennial,” Inside Out seeks to recognize our incarcerated populations and provide insights into their lived experiences. Every day in the state of Louisiana thousands of people are enduring dangerous, torturous and inhumane conditions of confinement that have long lasting physical and psychological effects. Their voices are often marginalized, yet their resilience, creativity and experiences have much to contribute to the narrative of American life and history. 

Much of this exhibit relates to Angola prison or LSP (Louisiana State Penitentiary), an 18,000 acre maximum security prison located on the banks of the Mississippi river in central Louisiana on land formally occupied by slave plantations. Also known as ‘The Farm’, Angola houses 6300 incarcerated men, most of whom have life sentences among whom most will die in the prison. The Department of Corrections paired with a racially biased legal system, perpetuates a legacy of slavery by disproportionately targeting black, brown and poor white people for incarceration, the majority of whom are housed in for-profit facilities. One in eighty-six adult Louisianians are incarcerated, nearly double the national average. Among black men from New Orleans, one in fourteen are behind bars; one in seven are either in prison, on parole or on probation.

Interview with Nicky Gillies and Julie Connelly from NOLA to Angola about the organizations Bike Ride and Cookout for Prison Justice coming up Saturday, April 7th, starting and ending at City Park.

More info at www.nolatoangola.org

Recorded March 13, 2018. Imani Jacqueline Brown discusses fossil fueled culture, the Fossil Free Movement, and the upcoming festival that will bring together folks involved in artistic, scientific, and political pursuits (lots of overlap already!) to talk about resisting oil and frankly assessing our own accountabilities in fossil fuel culture.

Recorded March 13, 2018. Imani Jacqueline Brown discusses fossil fueled culture, the Fossil Free Movement, and the upcoming festival that will bring together folks involved in artistic, scientific, and political pursuits (lots of overlap already!) to talk about resisting oil and frankly assessing our own accountabilities in fossil fuel culture.

Ernest Johnson discusses Ubuntu Village NOLA, an organization with a mission "to provide programming that delivers social, economic, and transformational justice to children and communities" here in New Orleans.

Their recently released report "Parents Fighting for Youth Justice" outlines experiences of parents and families of children in New Orleans' juvenile courts. It highlights three core issues: "lack of information and communication," "lack of respect for families," and "lack of effective rehabilitative services and policies."

https://ubuntuvillagenola.org/

Ernest Johnson discusses Ubuntu Village NOLA, an organization with a mission "to provide programming that delivers social, economic, and transformational justice to children and communities" here in New Orleans.

Their recently released report "Parents Fighting for Youth Justice" outlines experiences of parents and families of children in New Orleans' juvenile courts. It highlights three core issues: "lack of information and communication," "lack of respect for families," and "lack of effective rehabilitative services and policies."

https://ubuntuvillagenola.org/