Culture

Patti’s Feb. 12 “Inside New Gloucester” column

Reform advocate addresses group

A subset of the group New Gloucester United Against Racism conducts discussions based on media sources, such as books, podcasts and videos. On Jan. 27, their members held a Zoom conversation on the podcast episode “Mass Incarceration is Solvable,” where prison reform advocate Insha Rahman, of Brooklyn, New York, talked about the racist roots of America’s mass incarceration and prison privatization and what steps can be taken to resolve the crisis.

Rahman is the director of strategy and new initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice, where she focuses on prosecutorial reform, bail and decarceration, with an emphasis on developing advocacy-related strategies and accountability.

As luck would have it, NGUAR member Nick Planson is a friend of Rahman from his days of residing in New York. He invited her to join the media group on a Feb. 3 Zoom call to explore reform strategies more thoroughly. Nine people joined the 75-minute call.

The 21-minute podcast produced by Pushkin Industries can be accessed at pushkin.fm/episode/mass-incarceration-is-solvable/.

For Patti Mikkelsen’s complete column in the Lakes Region Weekly, go to https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/12/inside-new-gloucester-feb-12/