Listen: The Final Episode of Move It Forward Is Out Now

In the final episode of Move It Forward, we conclude our conversation on community violence prevention with an episode that explores alternatives to policing and prisons: Getting to the Roots of Violence. We sit down with young people from Philly, as well as youth advocates, to hear what kinds of programs are working to address the conditions that give rise to violence.

Throughout this season, we’ve heard from people impacted by gun violence and homicide about the influences of the overlapping crises of poverty and wealth inequality. Decades of divestment from education, health care, and community spaces have occurred alongside the expansion of policing and mass incarceration. What would this crisis look like if we changed course and shifted our investments toward the vital resources our communities actually need?

Amistad’s Executive Director, Kris Henderson, sits down with young people involved at YEAH Philly, along with Kendra Van de Water of YEAH Philly, Kempis Ghani Songster of the Youth Art and Self Empowerment Project (YASP), and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Our guests share stories of addressing mental health challenges as a matter of collective care, such as YEAH Philly’s program that offers weekly therapy to kids in their program. We hear from Ghani about restorative ways of responding to violence—programs that help young people explore accountability and give them the support they need to repair harm.

We also feature a conversation with the organization Day One Not Day Two, highlighting their Ascension program which is focused on combating gun violence by transforming the culture of Hip Hop. Throughout the show, we feature the music of various artists from Day One Not Day Two’s album Ascension Volume 1.

As we’ve heard throughout this season, the crisis of gun violence is too complex for us to believe it can be solved with responses we’ve already tried: increased policing and longer prison sentences. We need to imagine new possibilities. The guests we interview in this episode aren’t just imagining new solutions—they’re building them.

Listen to this episode below or on Apple, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.