Incarceration is isolation. And amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, folks are more isolated than ever--having minimal interactions with their loved ones and even with legal representation. Today, Somil Trivedi continues to shed light on the sparse and ineffective public health precautions correctional facilities have taken to combat COVID-19 and what measures should be taken. Join us in our conversation to learn more about what we all can be doing on an individual level to advocate for incarcerated individuals and vulnerable communities. Spoiler alert: one of them is to please register to vote! For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

This week we’re joined by Somil Trivedi, a senior staff attorney from the ACLU, who shares his insight and experiences working to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in jails and prisons. With the pandemic in mind, we discuss the role that various stakeholders play in the criminal legal system, the responses we’ve been seeing in jails versus prisons, and how these issues speak to societal problems at large. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violence, racism, and sexual violence. This week, we continue our conversation with Professor Michelle S. Jacobs to delve further into the ways in which state violence is committed against Black women and federal policy designed to protect survivors of domestic violence actually discriminates against Black women. Professor Jacobs goes on to describe how police violence translates into carceral violence and shares the value of thinking critically about reformist vs. abolitionist solutions to our broken criminal legal system. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violence, racism, and sexual violence. Michelle S. Jacobs, a Professor of Law at the University of Florida, walks us through the layered nature of violence and oppression against Black women in America. During our conversation, we reckon with the fact that police killings of Black women rarely make headlines. To explain why Black women are often left out of racial discourse, Professor Jacobs unpacks the roles and stereotypes that have been prescribed to Black women throughout history. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode will contain discussion of trauma-related events and impacts including sexual assault, interpersonal or domestic violence, grief, and loss. Today, Jacqueline Williams continues to share her expertise with us regarding carceral trauma. The conversation is centered on the carceral trauma pregnant women experience and the immense impact this has on both the health of the mother as well as that of the baby. Jacqueline also talks us through the critical legislative work she is doing to improve the conditions of confinement for incarcerated pregnant individuals. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode will contain discussion of trauma-related events and impacts including sexual assault, interpersonal or domestic violence, grief, and loss. This week we invited the cofounder of the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative and a current Program Associate at the Michigan Criminal Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee to speak with us about various forms of pre-carceral trauma individuals may experience, specifically interpersonal and structural trauma. Jacqueline Williams discusses with us the ways in which trauma during childhood, trauma prior to incarceration, and the resulting physiological reactions to trauma are criminalized, especially for girls and women. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you listen. For information on our sources for this episode, view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues related to sexual assault, abuse, and violence. This week we continue our conversation with Asia Johnson as she shares her experiences reentering society and the opportunities she sought out that inspired and shaped her mission of working towards ending mass incarceration. From domestic violence and sexism to prison programming, Asia talks us through some of her personal experiences navigating incarceration as a woman and provides her perspective on prison abolition and criminal justice reform. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues of trauma, sexual assault, violence, depression, and death. Our guest today is a filmmaker, essayist, poet, activist, and student, and has been formerly incarcerated. Asia Johnson speaks on pre-carceral trauma, navigating mental health behind bars, transitioning from jail to a hospital, hospital to a prison, and prison to the outside, all without adequate resources and in a debilitating environment. Join us as Asia shares her journey of growth and healing. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Content Warning: This episode discusses issues related to sexual assault, abuse, and violence. 

Our entire carceral state is a mechanism of social control -- a way for those in power to abuse norms, sanctions, and laws to marginalize individuals. In our criminal legal system, the menstrual experience is a microcosm of social control, and the lack of access to menstrual products only reinforces these power structures. People who menstruate are stripped of their autonomy and are vulnerable to the abuse of officers who dictate the number and type of menstrual products they have access to. This inhumane treatment needs to end. Menstruation is natural, and accessibility to menstrual products should be a human right. Join us as we delve further into this complex topic. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.

Menstrual hygiene products are not free in jails and prisons across America. Policies regarding this issue are quite minimal--only recently, in 2018, did federal legislation addressing this get passed. But even then, the First Step Act only offers free menstrual products for those in federal prisons, meaning that 95% of women and girls who are incarcerated aren’t covered. In this episode, we discuss the lack of accessibility of menstrual hygiene products and the physical impacts this can have on those who menstruate. For more information on the sources for today’s episode, visit www.whincthemovement.org to view our transcript. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Fesliyan Studios.