Ronald is a formerly incarcerated person who defended himself in prison, succesfully advocated for his own release, and now works as a nationally recognized activist for prison reform. The interview goes over Simpson-Bey’s experience as an incarcerated person, and as a leader within his prison family. In this, we hear stories of dehumanization, found family, and the barriers to education within the prison system. Simpson-Bey also describes life after prison and his vision for the future of incarceration through the decarceration movement. Simpson-Bey calls for an end to the systemic injustice of mass incarceration as it exists today.

Transcript

Ayana talks about building a relationship with her father who was incarcerated for 17 years of her childhood and how family dynamics changed once he was released. She also discusses channeling these experiences into co-founding and leading an organization that supports young women affected by parental incarceration.

A child of an incarcerated parent herself, Shari founded COIPP, an all-volunteer organization that works to support families that have been affected by the criminal legal system. Shari speaks about her experience working with incarcerated parents, children of incarcerated parents, and the caregivers of those children.

Erica Gerrity is the founder of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project, which assists incarcerated mothers in the childbirth process. She speaks about the abuses that incarcerated mothers face and how she wants to end prison births in America.

Transcript

Tevin discussed the impacts of incarceration on the community and how detrimental the carceral system is to community health. Particularly, Tevin shared his insight into the ways in which the carceral system takes mothers and fathers out of the community. Children grow up with limited guidance and lack structure. In turn, the criminal justice system attempts to fill the void created by incarcerated parents. He also discussed the lack of healthcare in prison. He emphasized Covid-19 and how prisons don’t take proper precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. Tevin felt that the prison system does not value the life of people in prison.