In this issue:
Butch Lewis Community Conversation Events
Katal Member Ricky Forde on Criminal Justice Reform Panel
Katal in the Media
Katal is co-sponsoring two community conversation events in Hartford next week to honor Butch Lewis, a long time mentor of community organizers and social justice activists across the state of Connecticut. Butch didn’t just mentor and coach people in self determination, he was also a committed environmentalist. At these events on April 10 and 11, we will honor and support the continuation of Butch Lewis’ committed work with conversations with Shirley Sherrod, Tony Hernandez, John Davis, Laura Settlemyer and more.
You can find more information here.
katal member ricky forde on criminal justice reform panel
Last week, Katal member Ricky Forde was on a panel to speak about criminal justice reform at his own College of Staten Island. The panel, moderated by Move Forward Staten Island, was titled “Dismantling Injustice and Challenging Incarceration.” Ricky spoke about the incarceration of his brother and the impact our broken criminal justice system has had on his family and his community in Brooklyn. Ricky is a poet, activist, journalism student, speaker and writer.
Thank you Move Forward Staten Island, and all of our fellow co-sponsors, for your partnership!
katal in the media
Keith Brown, Katal’s Director of Health & Harm Reduction, responded to President Trump’s misguided proposal seeking the death penalty for some people who deal drugs in a letter to the editor in Times Union this week. Keith argues in this piece that the proposal is not only unlikely to achieve the desired results, but will make prevention, treatment and recovery less likely to occur. Instead of failed carceral approaches, there should be an investment in effective and meaningful public health and safety resources. Read Keith’s piece here.
Mo Farrell, Katal’s Policy Strategist based in NYC, was interviewed last summer by an artist about Katal’s efforts to close the jail complex on Rikers Island and pass speedy trial reform to reduce the number of people held in pretrial detention across the state. The artist, Kazimir Lee, created a comic that gives an overview of why Rikers needs to be closed, and what has been done to make closure a reality. The comic was released last week and features Mo! Check it out here.
