Ep. 45 - Prison-Industrial Complex & Fitness Against Fascism 2.0 ft. Coss Marte

BrownTown talks abolition, branding, and burpees with Coss Marte, founder of CONBODY, a "prison-style" fully bodyweight fitness studio that hires formerly incarcerated individuals. Using Coss' experiences and SoapBox's Fitness Against Fascism series as models, the team unpacks the connections between healthy communities and the prison-industrial complex.In this follow-up to Ep. 30 - Holistic Health & Fitness Against Fascism ft. Mel Phillips, Coss joins BrownTown from NYC to discuss his journey creating CONBODY, collaborating on SoapBox's Fitness Against Fascism 3 (FAF3) event, and the effect of the prison-industrial complex (PIC) on healthy communities. Similar to the SoapBox event, the gang unpacks now-mainstream views on criminal "justice" reform, the pros/cons of the current narrative-shift, and the physical/mental health effects that mass racialized incarceration has at the individual, familial, and community level, all through an abolitionist framework (watch Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project "The Long Term" video here). The gang sifts through related topics including the cultural impact of Ava DuVernay's 13th documentary, intentions in branding socially-minded enterprises, Coss' CONBODY book, and even SoapBox catching smoke on Twitter (1, 2).Coss and BrownTown take an unusual turn and focus on New York City: They touch on the escalation of NYPD's subway crackdown and protesters (1, 2, 3) the movement to close Rikers Island Jail (and what do do next), as well as Coss' brother Chris Marte's run for City Council in District 1.GUESTThe founder of CONBODY, Coss Marte developed his bodyweight training style when he was incarcerated for four years at Rikers Island Jail on drug charges. Coss lost 70 pounds in 6 months and found his calling, ready for a new path. He founded CONBODY fitness studio in New York City, where he hires other formerly incarcerated folks who have turned their lives around through fitness. Listen to more of Coss’ story on aSweatLife’s podcast #WeGotGoals Episode 94! He has also been featured in The New York Times, Buzz Feed, Elle, Vice,The Startup podcast, and more. (Bio sources: aSweatLife and CONBODY)--CREDITS: Intro/outro song Love & Prejudice by Young Toussaint. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro. Episode photo by Andrew Merz.--Bourbon ’n BrownTownFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | PatreonSoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Support