Abolition X

About Abolition X

Abolition X is the podcast that brings abolition to the culture. Hosts Vic Mensa, Indigo Mateo and Richie Reseda discuss how abolition isn't just about dismantling the prison industrial complex, but that it's also about imagining a world based on community, accountability and healing. In every episode, incarcerated people, organizers and artists address how abolition intersects with different aspects of culture — from housing to hip hop — and leave us with a new vision of how we can treat ourselves and each other outside of revenge and punishment.

Publisher

Spotify Studios

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

1 Feb 2022

Latest episode

26 Apr 2022

Latest episodes

13 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Apr 2022

   X Grief: Mustafa & Ahwoolay, His Incarcerated Friend

   Unprocessed grief can damage our mental, emotional and physical health. It can lead to harmful decision-making and contribute to cycles of trauma and violence. How could creating spaces to process grief help build healthier, safer communities? We talk to Mustafa, a singer, songwriter and poet whose EP “When Smoke Rises” chronicles his grief for loved ones he’s lost to gun violence, including his friend Smoke Dawg. We also talk to Ahwoolay, Mustafa’s incarcerated friend and Smoke Dawg’s older brother. This is the final episode of our first season. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Make sure to follow the podcast and hit the bell icon to get updates on when we’re coming back with more of these important conversations. @mustafathepoet @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Make sure to check out Mustafa’s critically acclaimed EP When Smoke Rises, which was named one of the best albums of 2021 by the New York Times. Check out the amazing music videos for “The Hearse,” “Ali” and “Stay Alive,” songs written in dedication to Mustafa’s friends who have been lost gun violence. Read this 2018 study breaking down the effects of police killings of Black people have on the mental health of Black Americans. Watch people talking about Mustafa’s 2021 concert at Massey Hall and what he means to the Regent Park community and the city, as a whole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2. 

   19 Apr 2022

   X #ProtectBlackWomen: JT from City Girls & Kaykay, Incarcerated Mother

   #ProtectBlackWomen became a rallying cry after police killed Breonna Taylor. Black women are also the fastest-growing population of incarcerated people and suffer high rates of abuse. In this episode, we talk to half of the platinum rap duo City Girls, the amazing rapper JT, who spent two years in prison during her artistic rise. We also talk to Kaykay, who has spent the last 25 years in prison for killing one of the three men who jumped her as a teenager. How do we embody, rather than just retweet, this vital call to #ProtectBlackWomen? @thegirljt @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out JT First Day Out, the song JT recorded right after leaving prison, as well as The City Girls’ latest record Top Notch. Watch City Girls’ YouTube series, which was partly recorded during the time JT was imprisoned. Read Meg the Stallion’s op-ed in the New York Times, “Why I Speak Up for Black Women,” written after she was shot by a man and somehow became the person being criticized. See some of the impactful grassroots work being done to protect Black women, like that of the group Hoochies of Houston. Find out more information about how Black women disproportionately suffer different types of violence and how they are over-incarcerated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3. 

   12 Apr 2022

   X Domestic Violence: Prof. Leigh Goodmark & Floyd, Incarcerated Advocate

   Even some who believe in abolition struggle with the idea of addressing domestic abuse without locking people up. Learn how to stop domestic violence without prisons from lawyer and professor Leigh Goodmark, author of Decriminalizing Domestic Violence. We also hear from Floyd, an incarcerated survivor of child abuse, who, after committing deadly domestic violence, has dedicated his life to helping men who abuse transform their behavior. To find more information and resources for people experiencing domestic abuse, go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website or call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233). Socials @LeighGoodmark @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== To find more information and resources for people experiencing domestic abuse, go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website or call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233). Socials @LeighGoodmark @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out some stats on the effects of children being exposed to domestic violence. Need some guidance on where dive into the work of influential Black feminist writer and scholar bell hooks? Check out this guide from the New York Public Library. Find out more about the anti-domestic-violence work Floyd is doing from inside prison through his organization AIDA. Find more information about Prof. Leigh Goodmark’s book Decriminalizing Domestic Violence, as well as her upcoming book Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4. 

   5 Apr 2022

   X Forgiveness: JJ'88, Incarcerated Advocate

   Forgiveness heals. But is it required for abolition? Dive into how forgiveness offers a sense of justice for some but not others, with JJ’88, an incarcerated musician and organizer with a unique relationship to forgiveness. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Take a listen to ‘88’s song “Kings in Chains” on the album Defund The Sheriff, which also features songs by Vic, Indigo and Richie. Check out the song “Wings” Vic wrote with Pharell, as well as “Heaven On Earth,” which Vic wrote for his late friend Dare. Find out more about “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body In the Healing of Trauma” by Besser Van der Kolk, the book Indigo mentioned in the podcast. You can read The Game of Life and How to Play It by artist and writer Florence Scovel Shinn in its entirety online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5. 

   29 Mar 2022

   X The Streets: Dr. Ameena Matthews & Michael, Incarcerated Organizer

   Many of our people support police because they are unaware of other options to keep them safe from street violence. But violence intervention programs led by former gang members have shown to be more effective all over the country. Dr. Ameena Matthews, violence interrupter and congressional candidate for Chicago’s 1st District, and Michael, a former gang leader and peace advocate serving life without the possibility of parole, show us how. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @AmeenaMatthews @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Stay plugged in to what Dr. Ameena Matthews is up to at her campaign website and put that June 28 primary election on your calendar, no matter who you’re voting for. Watch the incredible, award-winning documentary “The Interrupters” and see Dr. Matthews in action on the streets of Chicago. Find out more about CeaseFire and other violence interruption programs around the country, like the “Operation Peacemaker Fellowship” in Richmond, California, which is credited with bringing down homicides in the former “murder capital of California” by 80%. Take a listen to “Opportunity, Please Knock,” one of the songs in Oscar Brown Jr.’s musical revue performed by members of the Blackstone Rangers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6. 

   22 Mar 2022

   X Gender: Dominique Morgan & Ms. Kelli, Incarcerated Organizer

   The gender system was established by the same colonizers who brought us mass incarceration. The criminal legal system targets trans and nonbinary people at high rates. We talk to Dominique Morgan, the formerly incarcerated director of Black and Pink and the Okra Project, as well as Ms. Kelli, an organizer for trans rights who has been incarcerated for 33 years. You can find resources for survivors of sexual violence at the RAINN website, or by calling (800) 656-HOPE (4673). Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @thedominiquemorgan @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Stay tapped in to all the anti-LGBTQ legislation making its way through different legislative bodies across the country. NBC News reports that almost 240 bills targeting the LGBTQ community have already been filed in 2022, with most of them targeting Trans people. The Human Rights Campaign has a downloadable map of states in which these types of bills are making their way. Freedom for All Americans has a Legislative Tracker breaking down the bills by state and by the community being targeted, and they even has a list of pro-LGBTQ non-discrimination bills that have been proposed. Check out the amazing, on-the-ground work being done by Black and Pink and The Okra Project, an initiative to provide healthy meals to Black Trans people. Bump Dominique’s 2020 album Pisces in E Flat Major. Watch Dominique’s incredible Ted Talk 788,401 Minutes about her time in solitary confinement. And if you haven’t already, check out Mariame Kaba’s instant classic We Do This Til We Free Us and find out why it’s mentioned on this podcast so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7. 

   15 Mar 2022

   X Sexual Violence: dream hampton & Laura, Incarcerated Survivor

   The criminal legal system often fails and antagonizes survivors of sexual violence, but what should exist in its place? We explore this issue with dream hampton, organizer, filmmaker and executive producer of Surviving R. Kelly, and with Laura, an incarcerated survivor serving 50 years to life for killing her longtime abuser. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, know that you aren't alone. Free, confidential support is available 24/7 through RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 and online.rainn.org. If you or someone you know may be struggling with their mental health, there are ways to get help. Please visit spotify.com/resources for more information and access to mental health resources. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @dreamhampton @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out some stats about how incarceration affects survivors of sexual abuse from the ACLU, Survived and Punished and RAINN. Read Mariame Kaba’s essay “The Sentencing of Larry Nasser Was Not ‘Transformative Justice.’ Here’s Why.” The essay is also in Kaba’s book We Do This Til We Free Us. Watch dream hampton’s beautiful documentary Black August: A Hip Hop Documentary Concert. Read dream hampton’s essay “R Kelly’s Abusers Deserve Justice, But What Does That Look Like?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8. 

   9 Mar 2022

   X Family: Larry Hoover Jr. & Jaki, Incarcerated Mom

   The carceral system locks families into cycles of trauma. Peak into the worlds of these resilient families with Larry Hoover Jr., whom we talked to the day after the Kanye and Drake concert to free his father, legendary Chicago gang leader turned peace advocate Larry Hoover, and with Jaki, an incarcerated mother of three. To find more information and resources for people experiencing domestic abuse, go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website or call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233). Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @larryhooverjr_ @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out some stats on how families are affected when a loved one is incarcerated in the Who Pays? report from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and at the Essie Justice Group. Read about how people with incarcerated loved ones have shorter life expectancies and poorer health outcomes in this briefing from the Prison Policy Initiative. Find out more about the advocacy work being done in Chicago by the Uptown People’s Law Center, which helped Vic’s friend Moosa get out of prison early. Listen to Vic’s song dedicated to Moosa off his 2021 project I Tape. Watch the concert to free Larry Hoover put on by Kanye and Drake in 2021. Read about some myths surrounding the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Time article “Don't Forget That Martin Luther King Jr. Was Once Denounced as an Extremist.” Stay tuned for more info on Larry Hoover Jr.’s podcast about his father. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

9. 

   1 Mar 2022

   X Tech: Dr. Safiya Noble & Brotha C, Incarcerated Coder

   We are taught that tech conquers human bias. But it actually can just mechanize the biases of the people who program it. As the punishment industry relies more on tech, how will it affect our communities? We go in with Dr. Safiya Noble, MacArthur Genius Grant winner, tech abolitionist and author of Algorithms Of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, as well as Brotha C, an incarcerated coder from a community being gentrified by tech. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @safiyanoble @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out Dr. Safiya Noble’s book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, and find out the many reasons she is a recipient of a 2021 MacArthur Genius Grant. Follow the work of digital architect and influential tech leader Iddris Sandu. Read about the controversy surrounding Simone Biles’ 2020 Vogue cover. Find out more about how the PATTERN risk assessment tool was found to have bias against incarcerated Black people and Brown people. Read about how Big Tech is rapidly gentrifying the Bay Area. Check out ProPublica’s in-depth reporting on how COMPAS software used all over the U.S. by courts and prisons was found to be biased. See the work the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative is doing to help protect digital privacy and dignity online. Read Dr. Noble’s article in The Cut about Meghan Markle’s lawsuit against The Daily Mail, and how her story speaks to how Black women face a unique type of online attacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10. 

    22 Feb 2022

    X Entertainment: Kendrick Sampson & Dre, Incarcerated Filmmaker

    The entertainment industry is the biggest propaganda machine on earth. The punishment industry uses this to its advantage. We talk to the homie Kendrick Sampson, an actor making abolitionist media and working to get police off of studio sets. We also talk to Dre, an incarcerated filmmaker creating films from prison. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @kendrick38 @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Check out some of the stats about the depictions of law enforcement in the Color of Change report “Normalizing Injustice” and in this 2020 Quartz report. Keep up with the work Kendrick Sampson’s organization BLD PWR is doing to bring about real change in the entertainment industry, through initiatives like Hollywood 4 Black Lives. Read about the film Dre is trying to make from behind bars at his GoFundMe page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11. 

    15 Feb 2022

    Abolition X

    Abolition X brings Abolition to the culture. Hosts Vic Mensa, Indigo Mateo & Richie Reseda talk about how they became abolitionists with incarcerated singer, rapper and organizer, JJ’88. You can find resources for survivors of sexual violence at the RAINN website, or by calling (800) 656-HOPE (4673). Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Learn about Success Stories, the program Richie co-founded while in prison to help men learn about ways to combat toxic masculinity and patriarchy. Watch the CNN documentary “The Feminist on Cell Block Y,” a film about Richie’s anti-patriarchy work in prison. Check out all the cool work Indigo and Richie are doing over at Question Culture. Listen to Indigos album Singleplayer Listen to the Forgotten But Not Gone, the EP Richie produced and released from prison. Watch the music video for the song Vic dedicated to his friend Moosa, who was paroled early from a 25-year sentence thanks to help from Vic and the Uptown People’s Law Center. Watch Vic’s 2018 Breakfast Club interview. Read Khalil Gibran’s book of poetry The Prophet, and the section “On Crime and Punishment” Vic mentions in the episode. Find more information about We Do This Til We Free Us, an amazing book by abolitionist organizer and writer Mariame Kaba. Check out Emergent Strategy, another great read from Black feminist writer and pleasure activist Adrienne Maree Brown. Read back issues of The Abolitionist, the newspaper put out by Critical Resistant, an organization that aims to put an end to the prison-industrial complex globally. Disponible en español. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12. 

    15 Feb 2022

    X Mental Health: Patrisse Cullors & James, Incarcerated Advocate

    Mental health is key to how we treat ourselves and each other. But can investing in mental health really make us safer? We holla at Patrisse Cullors – artist, author of An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing the World and Yourself, and caretaker of her brother, who has been criminalized for mental illness. We also talk to James, who is currently serving 15 years in prison for an altercation that took place during a mental health episode. If you or someone you know is struggling or thinking about self-harm, there are ways to get help. Go to spotify.com/resources for a list of organizations that offer support for anyone feeling distressed, experiencing feelings of depression or anxiety, or thinking about self harm or suicide. Check out our episode notes below for links to resources and some of the other points discussed in this episode. Socials @osopepatrisse @vicmensa @indigomateo @richiereseda ============== Find and independent bookseller where you can buy Patrisse’s new book An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World. Check out some of the statistics on Mental Health X the criminal justice system from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Read this NPR article about the work being done in Trieste, Italy around mental health that Patrisse mentions in the episode, and how this abolitionist framework is now under threat. You can hear James on Vic’s 2021 album The I Tape. Find out more about Patrisse’s art and the work she’s doing through her organization The Crenshaw Dairy Mart in Inglewood, CA, as well as the Care Not Cages initiative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13. 

    1 Feb 2022

    Introducing Abolition X

    Abolition X is the podcast that brings abolition to the culture. Hosts Vic Mensa, Indigo Mateo and Richie Reseda discuss how abolition isn't just about dismantling the prison industrial complex, but that it's also about imagining a world based on community, accountability and healing. In every episode, incarcerated people, organizers and artists address how abolition intersects with different aspects of culture — from housing to hip hop — and leave us with a new vision of how we can treat ourselves and each other outside of revenge and punishment. Coming February 15 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

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