During these past few months, we have seen the Black Lives Matter movement emphasize the murders and injustices that Black individuals have been facing since before our country was founded. In The Loop wanted to take a deeper dive into concrete steps and policies that activists, organizers, and elected officials have been discussing to make real change, as well as understand the importance that local and state government has in these reforms. Our guest, Michael Blake, is an Assemblymember from the 79th District in New York and the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee. During our interview, he gives us an in-depth look at the issues in criminal justice policy as he has been involved in New York State reforms. We hope that this episode will be a vehicle for understanding how city government works and how it controls the justice system, specifically looking at Chicago.

With Election 2020 just two days away, UChi In The Loop wanted to take a closer look at how states are preparing for the election and specifically look at our home state, Illinois. This episode looks at the structures of the Illinois government in the context of election infrastructure and security. It also features our guest Darren Reisberg who is the Vice President of Programs and Strategy at the Joyce Foundation, which specializes in promoting public policy strategies that advance racial equality and economic mobility. In addition, their foundation has a focus on fair and free elections. He is also the chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education. He was previously the vice president for strategic initiatives and deputy provost here at the University of Chicago. He was also the director of the Institute of Politics and now sits on the institute’s Board of Advisors. Our podcast hopes to create more in-depth conversations about the structures of local, state, and federal government within the context of different issues.