Move It Forward Amistad Law Project

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 hand in hand with the expansion of policing and mass incarceration.  What would this crisis look like if we changed our course, and shifted our investments towards the vital resources our communities actually need?  We’ll wrap our season with this discussion, featuring Aqeela Sherrills with Newark Community Street Team, Kendra Van de Water of YEAH Philly, Kempis Ghani Songster of the Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project (YASP). Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and former Philadelphia Public Defender Keir Bradford Grey.
We’ll also share a conversation with the organization Day One Not Day Two, highlighting their Ascension program which is focused on combating gun violence by transforming the culture of Hip Hop.  Throughout the show we’ll feature the music of various artists from Day One Not Day Two’s album Ascension Volume 1.  Listen and learn more about their work here: https://www.dayonenotdaytwo.com/ascension

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 they have developed to support people on both sides of conflict.  We’ll explore the progress that’s been made, along with the limitations on the vast field of organizations working to transform how we address violence.  You’ll hear the familiar voices of Aqeela Sherrills with Newark Community Street Team, Kendra Van de Water of YEAH Philly, and Kempis Ghani Songster of the Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project (YASP).
Listen in the player below or on Apple, Google, Stitcher or Spotify.

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 systemic harm, as well as from other familiar voices such as criminologist Phillipe Bourgois, Aqeela Sherrills of Newark Community Street Team, journalist and professor Chenjerai Kumanyika, former Chief Public Defender Keir Bradford-Grey, and Kendra Van de Water of YEAH Philly.
Listen in the player below or on Apple, Google, Stitcher or Spotify.

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 of police violence and corruption nationwide.  We’ll discuss the effectiveness of various police policies and reforms, look at data on arrests for murders and shootings, and share some interviews with Philadelphia Police officers on the street.   
You’ll hear from past guests such as journalist and professor Chenjerai Kumanyika, Aqeela Sherrills of Newark Community Street Team, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and Kendra Van de Water of YEAH Philly.
Listen in the player below or on Apple, Google, Stitcher or Spotify.

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 shaped the drug economy and building a materialist analysis of it. People in our neighborhoods aren’t manufacturing the drugs or shipping them across international borders. Decades of militarized policing and incarcerating people en masse haven’t put a dent in the street drug trade. Listen as we look into the connection of the drug economy with gun violence -and what gives rise to both- and dive into how we can invest in our communities to truly address these crises of public health and safety. 
We feature new voices of anthropologist and UCLA Professor Phillipe Bourgois, and Ada and Rashid Nicholson–two people who shared on the street interviews with us on the Kensington section of Philadelphia. You’ll also hear familiar guests from past episodes including Aqeela Sherrills of Newark Community Street Team, Kempis Ghani Songster and Will of Youth Art & Self Empowerment Project, Kendra Van de Water, Yané and Kenzie of YEAH Philly, Chenjerai Kumanyika, former Philadelphia Public Defender Keir Bradford Gray, and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Listen in the player below or on Apple, Google, Stitcher or Spotify.

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 sit with the realities of these losses. Guests include Aqeela Sherrills of Newark Community Street Team, Kempis Ghani Songster and Will of YASP, Kendra Van de Water, Yané and Kenzie of YEAH Philly, Chenjerai Kumanyika, and more.