Unconventional Journalist

Harris County wants to build a new jail. Why don't we need it? Ms. Sarah and Krish, members of the Community Not Cages, join me to discuss myths and the movement for community care. Join the community by signing up for the public comment toolkit here. You can also help by donating.

Ms. Sarah lost her son to the system, to the point where the government used a loophole to not count his death. Krish is the executive director of Texas Jail Project. Together we review the desensitization and disconnection we have to the violence our prisons create and maintain.

Additional learnings:

Essays about Harris County deaths, abuses, and medical neglect are at the bottom of Krish's bio page — https://www.texasjailproject.org/staff/krishnaveni-gundu/

Get into it even further:

TX Jail Project on NPR Here & Now
Prison Policy Initiative Spotlight on Texas Jail Project's Custody Death Oversight Program

2024 Mid-Year Newsletter: Of Loss & Collective Struggle

January 2024 Newsletter: 2023 — Of Love & RageTexas Jail Project 2021 Impact Report

Why Are In-Custody Deaths Surging in Houston’s Harris County Jail? – Slate

Pregnant People Are Shackled And Abused In Harris County Jail – The Appeal

Giving Birth in Texas Often Comes With Medical Neglect, Texas Jail Project Finds – Teen Vogue

Expert Declaration For Federal Court in Russel v. Harris County On Jail Conditions – Texas Jail Project

See Ms. Sarah's public comment at the TX Commission on Jail Standards meetings in Austin last year.

After nearly a decade of serving our community, we’re facing a major challenge—we’re being displaced from our location on the campus of Project Row Houses and need to find a new home by May 2025.

As white supremacy fully rears its head, it is clear that white folks have a lot of mess to clean up in our lane.

Lauren H Sweeney, activist, writer, and grassroots organizer joins me to talk about the history of Project 2025 and how we can move collectively. Created by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 has been around since the 80s, with bipartisan implementation across administrations. What does this mean? Where do we go from here?

Lauren is currently on the Organizing Committee with the Green Party and a member of Al Awda Houston. With a background in English literature and journalism, and pursuing ongoing studies in psychology aimed at decolonizing the mental health field, she combines a critical outlook with frameworks of restorative healing and justice. She also shares insights through her newsletter and podcast, What We Call Obstacles. Most recently, she co-founded Olive Branches, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting displaced people in the Gaza Strip.

The Harris County Public Library offers a free alternative form of identification called the Enhanced+ Library card. This alternate form of identification allows folks who can't get a state or driver's license to still have a form of ID to access services like opening a bank account.

Fred, the manager of circulation services, joins me to talk about the Enhanced+ Library card, why the program is important, and how it has helped the community so far.

The United States has political prisoners, y'all. In this report, we recap Curbfest HOU, and learn about organizers that the United States is holding as political prisoners. From Black Panthers from the 1970s to anti-Nazi and environmental activists as recent as 2021, the United States imprisons folks who challenge the system.

Gloria with Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement joins me to talk about the movement to abolish the death penalty. There is quite a bit of propaganda and misinformation around the death penalty, and this interview serves to unpack that.

Gloria has been in the movement since the 1970s! Aside from debunking the myths, we also discuss the changes she has seen over the last few decades.

Read her most recent article about the movement — Why we must oppose ALL executions

The 25th anniversary of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition movement will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at the S.H.A.P.E. Center in Third Ward, Houston, Texas.

I kicked off my journalism break earlier than usual to focus on my community journalism 101 workshop (thanks Houston Climate Justice Museum and Pure Justice for hosting me).

When I came back, especially from my social media break, I was overwhelmed and devastated by Hurricane Helene, the elections, and the ongoing genocide.

This isn't so much of a report as much as it is me catching up with you guys, deconstructing what we've been witnessing, and circling back to our movements here at home.

Our data infrastructure is not as secure as we are led to believe. From corporations extracting data for profits, to governments extracting data for policing, Katya joins me to discuss how vulnerable these systems are and how we must reframe our thinking away from “consumer data” to community data.

Katya is an abolitionist data activist working to help people in movement spaces and organizations protect communities' data rights. Their past research has focused on practices for government transparency, responsible public innovation, collective data governance, and civic participation. In 2021, they started a newsletter called Civic Source to explore how local governments make decisions about data that shape communities beneath the surface, and they've recently revived the letter to focus on issues of data rights and collective data governance. They are currently doing a short-term residency with the Houston Climate Justice Museum, as well as organizing with the Houston Abolitionist Collective.

The Future is Us exists to fight for Galveston youth through community voice, so future generations can meet their full potential. Shanice, Phylicia, and Jonathan join me to discuss the movement to dismantle the school to prison pipeline and to create spaces for Black youth and communities in Galveston.

Poop Water Part I was all about policy education around sewage infrastructure. Sade, a resident who is dealing with poop water in her home and yard, joined me today to discuss her day-to-day lived experiences.