Redesign America with Mustafa Ali-Smith

2020 showed us many things: change, struggle, uncertainty, and so much more. For Redesign America, it was a moment of reflection on what this podcast can be and how it can help us make the world a better place. Listen to hear the updates for the podcast and what is in store for the podcast. Subscribe at redesignamerica.substack.com [https://redesignamerica.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]

As more people are emerging into conversations of defunding, divesting, and dismantling from police departments and the institutions they represent, we need to understand how these conversations fit into the framework of abolition. On this episode, we are joined by Jeneisha Harris, organizer and activist, to discuss the history of policing, the differences between reform and abolition, and how abolition helps us to solve systemic problems. This episode reinforces the need for abolition in the fight for social justice, from policing to racial capitalism, and how each of us has a part to play in this movement. Resources: Jeneishaharris.com [https://www.jeneishaharris.com/] gideonsarmyunited.org/ [https://gideonsarmyunited.org/] 8 to abolition [https://www.8toabolition.com/] The Equity Alliance [https://theequityalliance.org/]Critical Resistance [http://criticalresistance.org/]Survived and punished [https://survivedandpunished.org/] Movement for Black lives [https://m4bl.org/] Subscribe at redesignamerica.substack.com [https://redesignamerica.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]

Language conveys information about our attitudes, biases, and is a huge part of how we orient around issues of identity. Today, we are joined by Christopher Mendoza (@linguistpapi), a graduate student in Linguistics at Florida International University to talk about how to unpack the pervasive discourses of anti-Blackness within our communities. This episode interrogates the role of allies, most specifically non-Black Latinxs, in talking the language of intersectional movement building while centering the most marginalized as our political moment necessitates. Subscribe at redesignamerica.substack.com [https://redesignamerica.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]

The Black Lives Matter Movement is an important one, but we do ourselves an injustice by suppressing some of its voices. In this episode, we are joined by Stephon Bradberry (@stephon_jb), Founder of We, Too, are America (@w2aa_org), to talk about the importance of critically acknowledging and uplifting all Black lives, not just some. This conversation looks at how our history has left queer, trans, and non-binary people out of our history despite their many contributions to it, the lack of attention they have received in the Black Lives Matter Movement, and how Black communities must address the violence against queer and trans people within their own community. Subscribe at redesignamerica.substack.com [https://redesignamerica.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]

Higher education since its inception has been dedicated to advancing white maleness. This is often displayed in institutional and racial systemic practices that place persons of color and women on an opposing side. In this episode, we will explore how “white manning” shows up in higher education. We will also explore the lived experience of scholar, professor, practitioner, and researcher Dr. Frederick V. Engram Jr. Subscribe at redesignamerica.substack.com [https://redesignamerica.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast]