Words Shape the World

By: Mona Cadena, Advocacy and Campaigns Director; Jaylah Cosby, Research and Impact Manager The words we use matter. When politicians and policymakers describe people as “heinous,” “vile criminals,” “evil,” “barbaric,” or “alien,” they aren’t just speaking in extremes. They’re laying the groundwork for policies that increase punishment, expand incarceration, and ultimately makes all of us… Continue reading Words Shape the World

Imagining the Possibility of Safety

"No More Police: A Case for Abolition" by Mariame Kaba and Andrea J. Ritchie, with a forward by Black Visions

At the beginning of the summer, our executive director, Jamila Hodge, sat on a panel in a crowded gymnasium in Newark talking about transforming the justice system.  “The system is going to do what it’s going to do,” she said. “It is a machine, and it was built for a purpose, and that was to… Continue reading Imagining the Possibility of Safety