Episode 66: Meet The Activists Fighting to Close NYC's Penal Colony ft. Freedom Agenda NY

This week Relly and Rudy are joined by Freedom Agenda NY — a grassroots, member-led project dedicated to organizing people and communities directly impacted by incarceration to achieve decarceration and system transformation. Darren, co-founder and co-director, and Ashley, senior community organizer, take us into the Close Rikers movement, uplift community members we’ve lost on Rikers, and bust the NIMBY (not in my backyard) myths about the new borough-based jail system. Relly shares his experience on Rikers and the group goes into the ideas of decarceration and abolition. On March 7, join Freedom Agenda ahead of the City Council Criminal Justice Committee's Preliminary Budget hearing to insist on a budget that supports the closure of Rikers by moving resources from the bloated Department of Correction to crucial community needs. https://freedomagenda.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=122Shout out to Rudy for his work partnering with Bluesky on their new app Flashes to create “Blacksky Images,” a Blacksky explorer page! A photo-sharing app that is NOT backed by Meta!Follow @freedomagendany on all platforms to stay informed and join the movement to #CloseRikers!Watch, Like & Subscribe to the podcast on Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@UnapologeticTawkPodcastDon’t forget to leave us a nice rating :)Follow the podcast on socials:Instagram: @unapologetictawk Tik Tok: @unapologetictawkFollow Relly: @rellyrebel Follow Dimez: @dimez_cartierFollow Rudy: @shacqealRudy is the creator of Blacksky, an algorithm to connect Black users on Bluesky and the basis for other community algorithms on Bluesky. Check it out at blacksky.xyz Follow Rudy on Bluesky: @rudyfraser.comSupport Blacksky on Open Collective at: https://opencollective.com/blackskyRudy also created Papertree.earth, a joint bank account for community groups to collectively manage finances.We The People NYC is a community-led mutual aid group that runs a hot food & clothes distro every Thursday @ 1PM on the corner of Fulton & Nostrand in Bed-Stuy & every Saturday @ 1PM on 125th Street & Lexington Ave in Harlem.Check out more info at wethepeople.nyc or @wethepeople_nyc on InstagramJoin the Stonewall Was A Riot! Movement to join a community of Black youth fighting specifically for Black LGBTQIA+ liberation. Tap in on Instagram: @stonewall.wasariot !!!