Move It Forward

In this final episode of Move It Forward, we’ll conclude our conversation on community violence prevention, exploring alternatives to policing and prosecution that are focused on addressing the systemic factors which give rise to violence. Throughout this season, we’ve heard from people impacted by gun violence and homicide about the influences of the overlapping crises of poverty and wealth inequality. Decades of divestment from education, health care, and public spaces has gone ...

Throughout this season, we have shared a quite a bit of political history and a number of personal stories that have illustrated the failures of policing and incarceration. Today we’re kicking off a two part conversation on the alternatives, delving even deeper into the work of the violence prevention projects we have featured consistently throughout this season. In this episode, we’ll learn more about the leaders in this work and the processes of mentorship and mediation that the...

We’re back again with more exploration of our criminal justice system. In the first part of this conversation, we looked at policing. In this episode, we’re focusing on prisons and prosecution. There has been a lot of attention given in the past several years to police reform but there has been less focus on how we can change prosecution and incarceration.In this episode, you’ll hear from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on some of the approaches his office has taken to reduce sys...

The recent resurgence of gun violence and homicide shows the deep failures in our approach to criminal justice. But instead of investing in new strategies, politicians are pushing us to respond with the same methods of policing and incarceration that we’ve been using for decades. In the first part of this conversation on our justice system’s approach to this crisis, we’ll take a close look at policing. We’ll explore its history, from the connections to slavery to the lineage...

US media and policymakers have long focused on the connection between violence and the drug economy. Since the 70s, the War On Drugs has shaped our approach to these overlapping crises, putting millions of people behind bars and tripling the number of Americans in prison. Today, cities like Philadelphia are facing levels of gun violence we haven’t seen since the crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s and early 90s.In this episode, we’re looking at the economic and political factors that have shape...

This episode, we’re talking to people who have lost loved ones to homicide about those experiences and what happened afterwards, both immediately and over a longer period of time. There’s a lot of pain and grief here. For every person who is murdered, there is a family, a friend group, a community who feel that loss. The numbers – over 500 people murdered in 2021 alone – can make it hard to think about the individual stories of those victims. In this episode, we’re taking some time to s...

This episode, we’re taking a closer look at guns. The vast majority of murders in this country are committed with firearms. We can’t have a meaningful conversation about murders and gun violence without talking about how these guns make their way to our streets. With more being bought now than ever before in the United States, we spoke to people who have lost loved ones about what the proliferation of guns means for our communities. Guests include Philadelphia District Attor...

What is at the root of violence in the United States? In this episode, we speak to people with close connections to gun violence about what they think causes it and talk about the impact of seeing great wealth while living in poverty. The richest 1% in the US controls about 40% of the nation’s wealth. Could this be why the U.S. has more murders than other wealthy nations? We spoke to people from neighborhoods impacted by violence - some who have committed violent acts in the past - and people...

Are you a fan of true crime? From podcasts, books, documentaries, and Netflix series, our society is consumed with ‘juicy’ horror stories of crime. Whether it’s a story about serial killers or cold-blooded killings, people are hungry for more. In this episode of Move It Forward, we look at the genre of true crime with guest Chenjerai Kumanyika and explore its history, our fascination with it, and the realities of crime and harm on the streets. Tune in to learn more about how institutional and...

There’s talk all over the country about the rise in gun violence and homicide. While nightly news headlines sensationalize a crisis, there is little time given to explore what is behind the rise in violence and what people are trying to do to address it. In Philly alone, over 560 people were murdered, making 2021 the city’s worst year on record. Today we’re kicking off a season long focus on this issue — from the personal to the political we’re exploring the impact on both those w...