Inclusionism

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 12: Kathryn Garcia is a lifelong New Yorker. In her words -- At my core, I love New York City. This is and always has been my home. I love that people watching is a legitimate activity. In high school, I used to ride the subway and create stories about my fellow commuters based on their shoes - back in the day when there were no electronics to keep our eyes busy and staring at folks was frowned upon. So many different options, running shoes, dress shoes, high tops, sandals, work boots, heels - all with a story. It was a never ending kaleidoscope of activists, industrialists, artists, students, construction workers, techies, parents, and every other person under the sun. All coming together to make NY home. It is this exciting intersection of ethnicities, talents and experiences which makes NY so special.

Growing up in Brooklyn in the 70s with stick ball, kick the can, and skelly (yes we’d make the traffic wait for the turn to end), is idyllic in my memories. The block was the center of our universe, the playground for my four siblings and me. And you were friends with everyone on the block. That New York City is not the New York City of today. It’s always something new. The funeral parlor becomes a restaurant. The liquor store becomes a real estate office. New people arrive and meld into the fabric of the old neighborhood to become a new community. It was in this environment that my parents raised the five of us to embrace public service and social justice. https://www.kgfornyc.com/

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 11: Lucy Lang has spent her career working to ensure that everyone who is touched by the criminal justice system is treated with dignity. As the leader of a national criminal justice reform organization and former assistant district attorney, she has always recognized that the role of the District Attorney encompasses much more than prosecution: it requires deep consideration of communities, prevention, and rehabilitation.

Lucy is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gender and Law and has since served as a Lecturer-in-Law. She was born in Manhattan's Mount Sinai West (then Roosevelt) Hospital, the same hospital where her own two children were born. She now lives in Harlem with her partner Scott, their children, and a rotating cast of extended family. She is the author of March On! a children's book about the 1915 women's march.

Lucy has dedicated her career as a criminal justice reform leader and as an Assistant District Attorney to upholding racial and gender equity, promoting the dignity of all New Yorkers, and prioritizing the safety of all. https://www.votelucylang.com/en/meet-lucy

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 10: Alvin Bragg is a son of Central Harlem and a husband and father raising two children here, Alvin Bragg has spent the better part of two decades in the courtroom, standing up to the powerful and fighting to get justice.

Most recently, Alvin served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in New York State where he oversaw some of the office’s biggest cases, including suing Harvey Weinstein and his company for the existence of a hostile work environment;  challenging the Trump administration over the census for its inclusion of a citizenship question; and bringing significant criminal charges in bribery, securities fraud, and Medicaid fraud matters.

Previously Alvin served as Executive Deputy Attorney General (EDAG) for Social Justice and organized and served as the first Chief of a special unit that investigated police-involved killings.  He won significant settlement agreements in matters concerning discriminatory redlining, tenant harassment, wage and hour violations, unlawful discrimination by employers based on applicants’ criminal history records, unlawful business practices by health insurance companies and led an investigation revealing that only three percent of the approximately 2.4 million Stop and Frisk stops by the NYPD between 2009 and 2012 resulted in convictions and only .1 percent of the stops resulted in convictions for a violent crime.

Prior to the Attorney General’s Office, Alvin served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He successfully prosecuted corrupt politicians, both Democrat and Republican, and obtained trial verdicts convicting the owner of a multi-million dollar business for laundering millions of dollars for an international drug cartel, a lawyer for mortgage fraud involving millions of dollars of losses to financial institutions, an FBI agent for making false statements, and individuals blocking a reproductive health facility in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Alvin is now a Visiting Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Racial Justice Project at New York Law School where his research and coursework focus on the intersection of criminal law and civil rights, prosecutorial discretion and accountability, and the functions of state Attorneys General.

Alvin earned his A.B. in Government (cum laude, general studies) from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He was on the first-place team in the Ames Moot Court Competition and was an editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

Alvin is a member of the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society, a former member of the Board of Directors of the New York Urban League, and a Sunday School teacher at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. He lives in Harlem with his wife Jamila and two children.

www.alvinbragg.com/

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 9: Marcos Sierra is a District Leader 80th NYS Assembly District. Father, entrepreneur, activist, and Candidate for the 11th NYC Council District in the Bronx which includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn.

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen are back from the campaign trail to rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 8: Chi Ossé is a third-generation Brooklynite, activist, and political candidate from Crown Heights.

Ossé is a prominent figure in the revitalization of the Black Lives Matter Movement, marching alongside the activist collective Warriors in the Garden. Understanding that the NYC City Council is tasked with governing NYC's vital and important systems, Ossé decided to take it upon himself to run for office and fight against the inequities that are visible in his community. In his city.

On Juneteenth of 2020, Ossé announced his bid for City Council in the 36th district to be part of the change!

Ossé is focused on the Three Rs: Reimagine, Reinvest & Renew. 

JFK sits down with Historian Ben Hett on his new book, pout in paperback, The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic.

Hett’s work has gradually shifted from a focus on the theory and practice of criminal law in Germany, through the legacy of National Socialism in postwar Germany, to the Second World War on the Eastern front and the work of West German intelligence services in the 1950s. He is the author of three books (Death in the Tiergarten, 2004; Crossing Hitler, 2008; Burning the Reichstag, 2014) and a number of articles. Hett has been a recipient of the Hans Rosenberg Prize for the best article on German history by a North American scholar; the Fraenkel Prize from the Wiener Library in London; and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies.

Originally recorded 10/28/2019

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen are back from the campaign trail to rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 6: Lindsey Boylan is running for Manhattan Borough President "to create a more equitable, sustainable, and livable city that leaves no New Yorker behind". We talked about everything from her business background and the view of NY BP as a Chief Operating Officer of Land Use, to restorative justice, to leading the charge of advocates and activists for change in the face of the power of the Mayor's and Governor's office.  More on Lindsey at www.lindseyfornewyork.com

Lindsey is a public servant and former government official who has dedicated her life and career to creating bold solutions to solve complex urban issues. Lindsey spent almost a decade in urban planning and management, including the oversight of Bryant Park, Herald and Greeley Squares, and pedestrianizing major segments of Broadway Boulevard and several other public spaces in Manhattan.

Lindsey previously served as deputy secretary for Economic Development and Housing for the State of New York, where she oversaw the state’s chief economic development agency. During her time in government, Lindsey secured millions of dollars for underfunded public housing, led the state’s efforts to provide assistance for the people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and pushed to enact a $15 minimum wage and Paid Family Leave policy for New Yorkers.

Lindsey previously served on community boards 5 and 7 in Manhattan. She received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and her MBA from Columbia University. Lindsey is married to her husband LeRoy and together, they are raising their daughter Vivienne.

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen are back from the campaign trail to rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 5: Labor Lawyer Arthur Schwartz talks about his run for City Council in NYC's 3rd District. Schwartz has been an activist since 1968 and educated us on the historically LGBT councilmatic seat that he is running for while being a Straight Ally. We touch on everything from NYCHA and housing to social justice to education to using the law to fight for justice, and how he admires his running mates. Learn more about Schwartz at www.arthurfornyc.com

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen are back from the campaign trail to rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 4: Councilmember Benjamin Kallos is running for Manhattan Borough President in 2021. He talks with JFK & Peter about everything from Land Use to Housing to Police & Social Justice to Money in Politics to Basic Income to the Data Economy. Kallos has a lot of ideas and is used to charting new paths in office. More on his campaign at Kallos.NYC

James Felton Keith & Peter Willumsen are back from the campaign trail to rant about the state of politics and what it looks like to implement the principles of Inclusionism for the real world. This series will interview some of the local 2021 political candidates and experts around NYC.

Series 4: Politics As Usual

Episode 3: Madison Payton is an educator, school leader, advocate, and researcher. He is the product of New York City Public schools and has spent a decade working with young men of color to challenge and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. He is currently working on his proposal at New York University as well,  which he focuses on the impact security resource officers have on students of color and how school leaders make sense of disciplinary policies in their schools. He is also interested in culturally relevant pedagogy, single-sex education, and Black masculinity in k-12 school settings. He also co-hosts the Race Through Education podcast and is a Stanford Fellow and an educator at the Eagle Academy.