Case Study - Until We Are All Free is a Movement founded with the goal of supporting, empowering, creating alternative pathways to success, and advocating for systemic change in the criminal justice system.

The core question of this episode: God, what is it that you’re working on in my life? What do you do when this is the answer you get—build a bridge of people and be a bridge through and with people?

In this episode we continue our case study of the Until We Are All Free Movement, a human rights organization led by formerly incarcerated criminal justice experts. Their focus is on building capital, resources, and support to provide pathways to civic and economic liberation for individuals disenfranchised by mass incarceration.

Welcome Kevin Reese: We are blessed to have a conversation with Kevin Reese, Co-Founder/Co-Executive Director of UWAAF and Co-Founder/CEO of Until We Are All Free Consulting Group. Kevin grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He spent 14 years incarcerated inside of the criminal justice system. During that time, he founded the BRIDGE, a grassroots group of directly impacted criminal justice experts whose mission is to abolish mass incarceration and to find a path to true transformative criminal justice. Being a bridge and connector is important to Kevin. It’s his way of honoring people, specifically the people who have walked with him along his journey. Growing up, Kevin had a narrow view of community and self-value, but that broadened once he understood the power of relationships.

"I created The BRIDGE while I was in prison,” said Kevin. “I named it that Rewriting Destiny because I was lying in my cell, on my bunk and I asked God, ‘What is it that you’re working on in my life?’ And sure enough, he told me, ‘I want you to build a bridge of people and be a bridge through and with people." 

Watch: https://youtu.be/XMWRBdDVk5s 

Episode giveaways:

• Until We Are All Free Movement https://uwaaf.org
• What Came Looking for Me: Academy of American Poetry – Kevin Reese https://poets.org/poem/what-came-looking-me
• Luckily Fish Don’t Need Raincoats by Kevin Reese https://www.amazon.com/Luckily-Fish-Dont-Need-Raincoats-ebook/dp/B096L6G9F8
• Darkness and Light Kevin Reese and the Creation of the BRIDGE partnership https://www.bushfoundation.org/stories/darkness-and-light/
• What Is The First Person Act And How Does It Affect The Justice System? https://www.firststepact.org/first-person-act-and-justice-system/
• CTA: Join the conversation on the IPP Private Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/groups/inflexionpointpodcast