Ep. 72 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 2: Atlanta & #CloseTheJailATL ft. Denise Ruben

BrownTown chops it up with Denise Ruben as they discuss the
#CloseTheJailATL campaign and coalition. The Atlanta City
Detention Center (ACDC) was built in preparation for the 1996
Summer Olympics as the "extra jail" in Atlanta and previously was
divided into two sides — the "city side" and the ICE side. The
campaign won legislation in May 2019 to close and repurpose the
jail through a community-led taskforce but is still fighting to
repurpose the facility into a Center for Wellness & Freedom,
reallocate $32.5 million back into the community, and
decriminalize the "broken windows" offenses that populated the
jail.


Denise shares her experience being system-impacted and starting
her work with Women on the Rise. Her and BrownTown discuss
coalition-building across identities and the importance of
investing in communities on the front-end of social issues versus
on the back-end with incarceration, punishment, and
criminalization. Now summer 2021, Denise updates BrownTown on the
current struggles with the campaign as Mayor Lance Bottoms of
Atlanta who initially championed #CloseTheJailATL is not running
for re-election this fall and the County makes plans to utilize
the jail as an overflow facility.


GUEST
Denise Ruben is a lead organizer with Women on the Rise -
Georgia. Women on the Rise is a grassroots organization led by
women of color who are targeted and/or impacted by the legal
system. Women on the Rise works to educate, heal, and empower
themselves, one another and our communities to demand justice,
dignity, and liberation for all.


THE COLLECTIVE FREEDOM PROJECT
This episode is Part Two in the Collective Freedom Project
four-part series with Bourbon 'n BrownTown. The Collective
Freedom Project (CFP) is a movement media and resource hub that
tells the stories of the local and regional efforts where people
— both U.S. citizens and non U.S. citizens — are coming together
to fight unique campaigns against criminalization in their
communities. From Chicago to California, Atlanta to Texas,
activists, organizers, and communities are rising up to fight
against criminalization and violence in varied yet connected
forms.


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Follow the Collective Freedom Project on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and YouTube.


Follow Women on the Rise on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter. Support the #CloseTheJailATL effort at
CloseTheJailATL.org.


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CREDITS: Intro/outro music by Genta Tamashiro
with excerpts from the Atlanta CFP video; outro song
Better by ALAZ. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro and
Kiera Battles.


This series is sponsored by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
(ILRC) and the Four Freedoms Fund (FFF).


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