Today we’re tackling another difficult topic: the criminal justice system. But before we get to that and other important issues, like what’s been going on in Ukraine, we have something positive to celebrate! Last weekend, hosts Jasmine Clark, Amanda Weinstein and Rachel Vindman finally all met each other in person! Amanda and Rachel attended a fundraiser for Jasmine’s re-election campaign but they also all made time for meaningful conversations and just getting a tour of Jasmine’s neck of the woods.After discussing the prison system amongst themselves, the hosts are joined by Barbara Gaskins, a mom in North Carolina who founded a non-profit dedicated to incarceration re-entry. And on top of that, she’s also running for Congress! Amanda, Jasmine and Rachel talk to Barbara about her own experience with the criminal justice system and how difficult it is to move on with a clean slate, even decades later. They also discuss the overall injustice of the system, from the paltry charges given to the January 6th insurrectionists to the constant fear Jasmine and Barbara have for their sons interacting with the police.After that, Rachel interviews Marlon Peterson, the author of Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song. Marlon faced a difficult childhood as an immigrant in Brooklyn and ended up spending over 10 years in prison. He has since become a speaker, an author, and an activist, fighting for incarceration reform. Marlon and Rachel discuss his book, his work, and the connections he sees between the “skin-peeling work” he had to do to face his own past and the bans on Critical Race Theory that stop us as a nation from facing our past together.Finally, Rachel, Amanda and Jasmine raise a glass to their fun weekend together in Atlanta in this week’s “Toast to Joy.”If you want to join the conversation, head over to theswppod.com! You can share your thoughts with us, find out how to join our Facebook group SWEEP, and more.For a transcript of this episode, please email theswppod@redwine.blue.

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