Dr. William Bronston was the chief medical officer of Building 76 at Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, NY, which housed 200 disabled children. His new book Public Hostage, Public Ransom: Ending Institutional America tells the story of the injustices he witnessed at Willowbrook. About the book he writes, “The book contains my lifetime understanding and the pursuit of, health and social justice. We must end the profit driven, corporatization of human caring with rightful, health care owned by the public.” Dr. Bronston joins Esty Dinur for the first half of the show to talk about the underbelly of institutionalization.

Then, we speak with local activist Tarah Stangler about her opposition to Fitchburg’s planned police facility. The new Police Services Facility is now projected to cost between $49.2 million. FreedomInc is also organizing against the facility. For more on this issue, check out reporting by WORT’s Faye Parks.

William Bronston is an American psychiatrist and activist and advocate for Medicare for All and citizens with disabilities. Bronston is known for his involvement in the deinstitutionalization of Willowbrook State School in the early 1970s. He is the coauthor of A History and Sociology of the Willowbrook State School and the filmmaker of “Willowbrook State School: Flagship Institution for the New York Department of Mental Hygiene.”

Tarah Stangler is a local Korean-American organizer who has been organizing across the midwest for almost the last decade. Although she organizes across issues, her main focus is on abolition and alternatives to policing. When she’s not organizing, she is either working as the Harm Reduction Services Director at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center or spending time in community.

Image from Public Hostage: Public Ransom Photo Gallery accessed via Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disability.

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