X Grief: Mustafa & Ahwoolay, His Incarcerated Friend

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 [https://www.instagram.com/mustafathepoet/?hl=en] @vicmensa [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== Make sure to check out Mustafa’s critically acclaimed EP When Smoke Rises [https://open.spotify.com/album/0iPWPiOsdGaWgcy9RMpvXw?si=org4WrmFSxW23XTudBCGjA], which was named one of the best albums of 2021 by the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/arts/music/best-pop-albums.html]. Check out the amazing music videos for “The Hearse,” [https://youtu.be/8F4pITS9fXs] “Ali” [https://youtu.be/GPOXFCkQLNw] and “Stay Alive,” [https://youtu.be/7E26_sjxbYY] songs written in dedication to Mustafa’s friends who have been lost gun violence. Read this 2018 study [https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/davidrwilliams/files/bor_j._et_al._police_killings_spillover_effect._lancet_2018.pdf] 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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPkfAgPkK84] 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 [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

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 [https://www.instagram.com/thegirljt/?hl=en] @vicmensa [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== Check out JT First Day Out [https://open.spotify.com/track/0Otdui0avqjOxuCAzC7Jfc?si=4f626f40c2d240f2], the song JT recorded right after leaving prison, as well as The City Girls’ latest record Top Notch [https://open.spotify.com/track/5pH8a5XwtyjHhGWXINFDgu?si=b41e79f711124fd5]. 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,” [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/opinion/megan-thee-stallion-black-women.html] 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 [https://www.instagram.com/hoochiesofhouston/?hl=en]. Find out more information about how Black women disproportionately suffer different types of violence [https://iwpr.org/iwpr-issues/race-ethnicity-gender-and-economy/violence-against-black-women-many-types-far-reaching-effects/] and how they are over-incarcerated [https://www.aclu.org/other/facts-about-over-incarceration-women-united-states]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

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 [https://www.thehotline.org/] or call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).  Socials @LeighGoodmark [https://twitter.com/LeighGoodmark] @vicmensa [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== To find more information and resources for people experiencing domestic abuse, go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website [https://www.thehotline.org/] or call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).  Socials @LeighGoodmark [https://twitter.com/LeighGoodmark] @vicmensa [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== Check out some stats [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/progress-notes/201902/alarming-effects-childrens-exposure-domestic-violence] 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 [https://www.nypl.org/blog/2021/12/15/where-start-bell-hooks] 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 [https://awarenessintodomesticabuse.com/]. Find more information about Prof. Leigh Goodmark’s book Decriminalizing Domestic Violence [https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520295575/decriminalizing-domestic-violence], as well as her upcoming book Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism. [https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520391123/imperfect-victims] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

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 [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== Take a listen to ‘88’s song “Kings in Chains” [https://open.spotify.com/track/2cr4ogw4bG7O0If84amJDe?si=b7123f9a4741490d] on the album Defund The Sheriff [https://open.spotify.com/album/6duQJCNaDFvNaTS1OrBjxM?si=vh6i6V17Q6COPPJCtXFqwA], which also features songs by Vic, Indigo and Richie. Check out the song “Wings” [https://open.spotify.com/track/7KnA6HeX3WJRHa8Q4bhoVs?si=a543b25d46fa45a1] Vic wrote with Pharell, as well as “Heaven On Earth,” [https://open.spotify.com/track/1sJfnJDAtMSui93wzX2Mmc?si=9e37338d81704e43] 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” [https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score] by Besser Van der Kolk, the book Indigo mentioned in the podcast. You can read The Game of Life and How to Play It [https://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/shinn/gol/gol06.htm] by artist and writer Florence Scovel Shinn in its entirety online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

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 [https://twitter.com/ameenamatthews?lang=en] @vicmensa [https://instagram.com/vicmensa?utm_medium=copy_link] @indigomateo [https://instagram.com/indigomateo?utm_medium=copy_link] @richiereseda [https://instagram.com/richiereseda?utm_medium=copy_link] ============== Stay plugged in to what Dr. Ameena Matthews is up to at her campaign website [https://ameenaforcongress.com/] 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” [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/interrupters/] and see Dr. Matthews in action on the streets of Chicago. Find out more about CeaseFire [https://www.evidentchange.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/ons-process-evaluation.pdf] and other violence interruption programs [https://www.americanprogress.org/article/beyond-policing-investing-offices-neighborhood-safety/] around the country, like the “Operation Peacemaker Fellowship” [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/richmond-california-murder-rate-gun-death/] 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,” [https://darkjive.com/2012/01/04/opportunity-please-knock-chorus-oscar-brown-jr-s-collaboration-with-the-blackstone-rangers/] 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 [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]