Straight Ahead

A Call to the United Nations to Abolish Death by Incarceration

The following piece was written by Kempis “Ghani” Songster as a speech he planned to deliver to the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Only select speakers are allowed two minutes to share their words before the permanent forum, and Ghani was ultimately not allowed the time to share this speech in …

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This is What Democracy Looks Like

Last week at City Hall, community leaders rallied with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Kranser to deliver a message to Republican legislators moving forward with their attempt to oust the city’s first progressive prosecutor from office. Following the recent PA House of Representatives’ impeachment of Krasner, Republican legislators have moved the process into the PA Senate …

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Survivor Stories: Testimonies of Triumph and Tragedy

This past week we hosted a panel highlighting the voices of survivors, both of street violence and to prisons. We were joined by a few powerful women: Antoinette Kreiselmeier is a justice reform advocate. Movita Johnson Harrell is a retired PA State Rep and former Chief of Victim Services and Restorative Justice at the Philadelphia …

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Unpacking SB 835: Who has a chance at freedom from medical and geriatric parole?

This bill has been introduced in the Senate but is not law. We at Straight Ahead want to see the bill become law, as it would allow the possibility for parole for many older and sick people in prisons, including those who might not be covered by other reform bills. This was written and last …

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