Building Justice

Listen in as Dr. Araceli Feliz, Dr. Elvia Ramirez, and Dr. Heidy Sarabia, professors at Sacramento State, analyze the influence of Latino voters in the 2024 election. The significance of Latino voters has become a highly debated yet frequently misunderstood topic in the context of the 2024 presidential elections. This discussion provides insights into Latino demographics, voting patterns observed during the 2024 election, and the key issues that resonate with Latino voters.

Listen in as Victor Rodriguez Tafoya shares a conversation with Joshua “Gunner” Johnson, Director of the Underground Scholars Program at UC Davis and a key founder of Project Rebound at Sacramento State. Project Rebound provides critical educational resources and support for formerly incarcerated individuals, offering counseling, mentoring, academic services, and career development to help them transform their lives. Gunner shares his personal journey, including his 18 years of incarceration and how that led him to his work helping formerly incarcerated students succeed in higher education. Join us as we learn about the growth of these vital programs and the profound impact they have on students navigating the challenges of reentering society.

In this episode, Victor Rodriguez Tafoya interviews Coach Paul Casey, the owner of Better You Fitness in Hayward, California, who has transformed his own life after spending time in prison. Coach Paul is dedicated to helping others—particularly moms—develop strong mindsets, boost metabolism, and build healthier bodies so they can create better environments for their families. Join us as we explore Coach Paul's mission and the impactful work he is doing to transform lives, one client at a time. 

Listen in as Anthony Jones, Ari Uzzle, and Victor Rodriguez Tafoya discuss the critical topics of social justice, activism, and criminal justice. Communities of color experience unique challenges within the criminal justice system. For instance, Black communities in California face incarceration rates 9.5 times higher than those of white individuals. This podcast follows the journey of an individual who transitioned from adolescence to adulthood while incarcerated and shares his experiences adapting to society.

The Serna Center and Dreamer Resource Center at Sacramento State are home to various resources for Latine students. In this episode, we speak with Juana Zaragoza and Kimberly Gomez, program directors of the Serna Center and Dreamer Resource Center, respectively. 

Listen in as Associate Professor of Political Science Danielle Joesten Martin talks with Rana McReynolds, Sac State alum and Assistant Professor of African American Studies at San Jose State, about her research on how mass media stereotypes of Black women shape evaluations of Black women candidates in the United States. They discuss Rana's academic journey, her intersectional research, and the implications of her research for the 2024 presidential election in which one of the major party candidates is a Black, Asian American woman.

Listen in as Sacramento State Professor Elvia Ramirez interviews Dr. Marisela Martinez-Cola about her book, The Bricks Before Brown: The Chinese American, Native American, and Mexican Americans' Struggle for Educational Equality.  In her book, Dr. Martinez-Cola examines the many legal cases that preceded the well-known 1954 school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. Tune in to hear Dr. Martinez-Cola talk about the ways that Chinese Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans bravely fought against school segregation and helped pave the road to Brown. 

In this episode, Communication Studies student Victor Tafoya and Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Lina Rincon interview the Associate Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO), Stephanie Cruz. Stephanie discusses her work to build awareness on how to prevent sexual assault. She offers insights on the global history of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She also shares details on how to get educated and join the movement to prevent sexual assault.

Sacramento State's 2023 Model United Nations cohort joins the Building Justice podcast in a special episode to discuss their recent participation in both domestic and international National Model United Nations (NMUN) conferences, experiences in the MUN program, and the impact of international relations in their undergraduate studies.

In this episode Political Science graduate student Veronica Mozqueda and Environmental Studies Department Chair Dr. Wayne Linklater talk about air pollution research in Sacramento's environmental justice zones. 

Sacramento State Political Science undergraduate Mai Lam talks with ASI President Natalie Dominguez and Vice President Veronica Boulos about the role of student government on Sac State's campus. They focus on key agenda points such as Title IX, changes in FASFA, and basic needs provision.

Sacramento State Professor Tristan Josephson interviews legislative and policy advocate Evan Minton, a trailblazer for the trans community, to talk about Evan's campaign, trans political representation, healthcare access, and anti-trans legislation, as well as how trans social justice visions can make connections across a range of progressive social and political issues

Sacramento State Political Science faculty and IMESC director Sahar Razavi talks with Associate Professor of Sociology Sahar Sadeghi about her research on the experiences of Iranian immigrants in the United States and Germany. Sadeghi's recently-published book discusses the intersection of race, immigration, and power in the wider context of immigrants' perception of social belonging. Transcript S3E16

As the importance of a college degree has increased so has its cost. Within this context, a growing share of students in college struggle to make ends meet and some experience food and housing insecurity. However, there is wide variability in the response to student homelessness and housing insecurity across institutions of higher education in the United States. In this episode, Sac State professors Susanna Curry and Arturo Baiocchi sit down with two experts on this issue, Dr. Rashida Crutchfield and Professor Jessica Wolin, to talk about how colleges and communities across the nation are approaching the issue.

Sacramento State students in Photo 175 headed out into the fields of California's Central Valley to learn about relationships to land, stewardship, and environmental justice. They recorded interviews with various people living in and around the Central Valley for audiences to hear.  Students co-produced this episode with Professor Eliza Gregory. 

Listen in as Sac State photography undergraduates Evalina Carrillo, Angelo Hinojosa, and Jonathan Wong talk with Sacramento photographer Kachiside Madu about photography as activism and how the camera can be used to advance social justice.

The three professional theatre companies in Sacramento work hard to provide diversity in their programming but fall short from time to time. Theatres of Color, Sacramento, fills the gaps offering opportunity for performing artists to thrive artistically in our region while presenting stories not often presented to audiences of color.

Listen in as Sac State alumni Ryan McMurray, M.A., and Dr. Tonmar Johnson talk with San Francisco-based artist Christopher Burch about the need for more equitable representation in children's literature. The three speakers are publishing an upcoming book series featuring African American protagonists through their media company, 7th Gap Media. They will further explore their journey in writing such a book, creating a space for other writers and artists to do the same, and the path forward for equity in the arts.  Transcript S3E11

Listen in as Sac State sociology alumna Maria-Elena Pulido-Sepulveda discusses the family as an agent of political socialization and civic engagement in the context of parenthood with three recent graduates of the Sacramento Parent Leadership Institute: Crystal Harding, Fienishia Wash and Zainab During 

Creating and supporting working and learning conditions that are equitable and just are the core of social justice union organizing. Listen in as Sac State Social Sciences Librarian Melissa Cardenas-Dow discusses social justice union organizing with key members of the Sacramento chapter of CFA: Anne Luna, CFA Sacramento chapter President, Margarita Berta-Avila, Immediate Past President of CFA Sacramento chapter, and Andrea Terry, Sacramento chapter Political Action & Legislation Committee Chair. 

Listen in as Sac State political science professor Anna Daily talks with Sac State history professor Rebekkah Mulholland about the lives and experiences of Black trans* women, language choice, story-telling and key figures in history.

Listen in as Sacramento State sociology major Tejhasvi Jaikumar interviews political science major Michael Lee-Chang, a student intern with Students for Quality Education (SQE) at Sac State. Michael discusses his experiences with campus organizing for affordable, accessible and quality education. 

Listen in as Sacramento State sociology student Moon Martinez talks with three guests about gender disparities in incarceration, rehabilitation and re-entry services in the California state prison system.

Listen as Amreet Sandhu, a librarian and candidate for Sacramento City Council who would be representing the Sac State Campus, talks with Sac State Professor Monicka Tutschka about human rights and her work to make Sacramento a more livable city through a focus on affordable housing, investments in social infrastructure, access to information and justice, and becoming a climate resilient community.Find the transcript and more info about 'Building Justice' here: www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Within the field of mathematics, there is a broad under-representation of many groups of people, especially LGBT+, people of color, undocumented people, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Listen in as Sac State mathematics alumna Brianna Davis leads a group of math undergraduates through a discussion of how current students perceive this issue. The episode highlights some of the work already done at Sac State and what changes would make mathematics accessible and inclusive to all groups.Find the transcript here: www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Sac State alumna and licensed psychologist Dr. Corrine McIntosh Sako talks with filmmaker Matthew Solomon about his documentary “Reimagining Safety.” The film features ten experts discussing how policing and incarceration create more harm than good, why the system persists, and what changes can be made to make everyone safe. A free community event on Friday, September 22 at 4pm at the Hinde Auditorium in Sac State's Union will screen the film and be followed by a discussion panel with local community experts who are working to transform public safety.

Listen in as Sac State alumni Víctor R. Rodríguez Tafoya talks with Sac State Professor Heidy Sarabia about  gender roles, power dynamics, education, and the importance of building social and political participation  Spanish edition.

Listen in as epidemiologist, local community advocate, and mayoral candidate Dr. Flojaune Cofer (Dr. Flo) talks with Sac State Professor Monicka Tutschka about how progressive policies, when created by political elites and policy experts in collaboration with the public, are more likely to have lasting positive effects, as they work to preserve, protect, nourish and empower diverse communities across Sacramento. Dr. Flo also uplifts the value of various forms of political engagement.  T

Listen in as Monicka Tutschka, Building Justice Podcast Committee Chair and Professor of Political Science at Sacramento State, invites listeners and episode creators to complete a podcast feedback form. Find the form here: https://forms.office.com/r/Ta1H6wZjR6.    You are also invited to reach out to Monicka if you would like to create a podcast for Season 3 (tutschka@csus.edu).  Building Justice is taking a short break over the summer. Season 3 will launch in late August or early September.  We thank everyone who contributed to the production of episodes in Season 2 and thank you listeners!  

As incidents of violent police encounters in communities and on campuses have increased, so have demands for alternatives to campus policing. Reimagining campus safety is one step towards that change. Listen in as Alexa Sardina, a Sac State Professor in the Division of Criminal Justice and faculty rights co-chair of CFA's Sacramento Chapter, speaks with Dr. Eddie Cole, a professor of Higher Education and History at UCLA, about the history of and alternatives to campus policing. Transcript S2e31

Listen in as Sacramento's Democratic Socialist of America co-chair and Sac State alumna Margot Rinaldo talks with community organizer Paul Andrews about the role of mutual aid in meeting community needs when systems of governance fail to effectively serve our most vulnerable neighbors. Transcript S2e30#mutualaid, #sacramentostate,#csus, #crisjsacstate,#stingersup, #ssis, #sacramentocounty, #pointintimecournt, #dsa,#socialjustice #toeachaccordingtotheirneed, #distributivejustice#sacramentocitygoverment, #affordablehousing, #stopthesweepts, #housingjustice, #unhousedneighbors, #destigmatizepoverty, #communityorganizingSacramento, #fightpoverty 

Listen in as Sacramento State Professors Wendi Yamashita and Tristan Josephson discuss Tristan's recently published book on trans migrants and U.S. immigration law and policy as a jumping off point into a larger conversation about doing academic research on immigration detention in the United States. How should academics be accountable to immigrant justice grassroots activists? What can academic research on immigration detention contribute to political and activist efforts to challenge the incarceration of immigrants? Find the full transcript at www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Professors Arturo Baiocchi and Susanna Curry talk with the Executive Director of Wellspring Women's Center, Genelle Smith, to discuss how she deploys an explicit social justice perspective when working with unhoused women sleeping on the streets of Sacramento. Learn how social workers can, and should, pursue advocacy, resiliency, and human dignity in their daily practice with individuals facing personal crises but also multiple, and intertwined, social injustices (e.g., inequality, historical traumas, sexism, racism etc)Find the transcript at www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice#homelessness, #socialwork #socialjustice #unhoused women, #service providers, #housingaffordability, #sacramento, #sacstate, #californiahousingcrisis, 

Listen in as 'Building Justice' podcast committee members tell you a little something about the 'Pitch your Podcast' competition.  Full details here: www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice  .  We want you to participate! 

Listen in as Political Science Professor Kristina Victor talks with Political Science Graduate Student George Harris about the impact of restrictive voter ID laws, focusing on photo ID, in the past two presidential elections in the United States.

Listen in as political science major, Mai Lam, discusses with ASI Executive Vice President, Laura De la Garza Garcia, and ASI Graduate Director, Justin Hurst the need to have the diversity of faculty be reflective of the student body, and how the lack of it affects the education process for many students. They discuss their own experiences and how it is most damaging for students who come from marginalized communities.  Transcript s2e25#diversityandinclusion, #representation, #ethnic background, #being seen, #feeling heard, #highereducation, #descriptiverepresenation, #tokenization, #sacstate, #socialjustice, #empowerment, #stingersup, #csus, #ASI, #crisj, #sacstatecrisj, #mentorship, #graduationrates, #belonging, #alienation, #exclusion, #powerstructures, #studentvoices, #showupforsocialjustice

Farmworkers are perhaps the most essential workers, responsible for providing the nation's food supply. Yet their experience of poverty, hunger, pesticide exposure, sexual assault, and illness describes an exploited population of discardable human beings. Listen in as Dr. Ann Lopez, Executive Director of Center for Farmworker Families talks with Sac State Sociology Professor Manuel Barajas about why farmworkers' lives don't matter.  #Social Justice, #Environmental Justice, #Inequity, #farmworkers, #crisj,#stingersup, #sacstate, #csu,#csus, #Modern Day Slavery, #Injustice, #Cruelty,#pesticides, #sustainability,#california,#salinas, #salinas valley, #immigration, #farming, #agriculture, #exploitation,#primitiveacculmulation, #racism, #precarity, #precariouslabor, #injustice, #deportation, #deportability, #undocumented, #fairwage,#livingwage,  #comprehensiveimmigrationreform, #sacramento, #santacruzcounty, #santacruz, #basicneeds, #legalreform,#50milelaw

Listen in as Sac State Photography & Social Practice Professor Eliza Gregory leads Sac State students through a process of examining, critiquing, and building new antiracist narratives around photographs. What is an antiracist photo history? How can we locate or write one? How might reshaping our collective photographic histories help us reshape our society?#photography #design #photos #photo #photo15 #antiracism #pictures #students #class #classes #art #artists #images #maker #makers #racism  #stingersup #sacstate #sacramento #csus #socialjustice #crisj #empowerment 

Listen in as three Sac State undergraduates---Zoya Altabaa, Amar F., and Vasiliy Derebenskiy---discuss the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. The earthquakes killed over 50,000 people, destroyed over 84,000 buildings, received scant Western media attention, and garnered minimal financial support from powerful states. Students also describe what we can do to support Syrian and Turkish peoples during this humanitarian crisis.   Here are links where you can support earthquake survivors.  AEmergency Campaign-Earthquake Response Donation Link: https://molhamteam.com/en/campaigns/439The White Helmet Donation Link:https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/ UNHCR Donation Winter Kit:https://give.unrefugees.org/230206emer_quake_d_3000?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=donate.unhcr.org&utm_campaign=US_PS_EN_TEQ___230206&utm_content=RF1267610&SF_onetime=7011K000002O188QAC&SF_monthly=7011K000002O18IQAS 

Listen in as Sac State Sociology Professor Heidy Sarabia talks with sociology major Maria Elena Pulido-Sepulveda about Heidy's multiple research projects with transnational activists, deportees living at the U.S.-Mexico border, and undocumented and DACAmented students-- highlighting how people find and create different ways of belonging in the context of exclusion.#sacstate #stingersup  #csus #crisj #sacstatecrisj #social justice #immigration #socialjustice #marginalization #transnationalactivism  #sacramento #immigrationreform #belonging #undocumented #DACAmented #DACA   #Durkheim #belonging #DACAmented #heretostay #Maslow #commUNITY #comUNIDAD  #Latinx 

How does education transform when we center culture and other ways of knowing? Listen in as Sac State Anthropology Professor Megan Raschig talks with Desiree Rosas and Juan Gomez from the MILPA Collective about Telpochcalli, their grassroots community education program, and how it builds racial equity in this Chicanx-Indigenous context. #MILPACollective#MILPACollective#CommunityBasedResearch#RacialEquity#RacialEquityInEducation#SpencerFoundation#SchoolsNotPrisons#LaCulturaCura#sacstatecrisj#sacstate

Listen in as Eric Guerra talks with Sac State Political Science Professors Monicka Tutschka and Kristina Flores Victor about economic development and displacement, the root causes of Sacramento's housing problems, how we can secure dignity for our unhoused neighbors, and the need to provide housing for every income bracket.  For a full transcript and more info about the podcast or CRISJ, go to www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Vice Mayor and City Councilmember (D6) Eric Guerra talks with Sac State Political Science Professors Kristina Flores Victor and Monicka Tutschka about how he made the most of his college experience, and what we can do to improve conditions for working class and first generation students on campus.

Listen in as Sacramento State Political Science Professor Sahar Razavi talks with University of Colorado-Boulder Professor A. Marie Ranjbar about the challenges Iranian women face as they engage in local and global activism around issues of gender equity. The conversation also touches on the ways that even supporters of feminist causes sometimes reinforce the obstacles Iranians face in their struggles for justice. 

Listen in as United Latinos Community Organizer Richard Falcōn talks with Janaki Anagha from the Community Water Center about the way rural farmworker communities are disproportionately impacted by polluted water, and their efforts to change water laws to provide clean water accessibility.

Listen in as Sac State Ethnic Studies Professor Maria Vargas and Criminal Justice Professor Danielle Slakoff interview Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela. This conversation serves as a follow-up to the March 2022 on-campus event focused on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across the Americas, in which Katie served as the keynote. She will discuss how and why she became an advocate on this issue, and her path to city council. For more information and the full transcript, go to www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Sac State Political Science-Journalism major Mackenzie Norton interviews CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Jodi Hicks and Sac State Pride Center Program Coordinator Trahn Pham about the fight for women's and LGBTQ+'s rights to abortion and reproductive healthcare.For a full transcript and more about upcoming episodes: www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Margot Rinaldo, co-chair of Sacramento's DSA and a Sac State alumna talks with Political Science Professor Monicka Tutschka about the importance of organizing and the challenges progressive political organizations like the DSA face in the city of Sacramento.

Listen in as Professors Mark Brown and Ted Lascher discuss the ballot initiative process in the USA, focusing on the impact on minority rights and other social justice topics.For a full transcript and more information about 'Building Justice' go to www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D6) speaks with Professors Chris Towler and Kristina Flores Victor about education policy, police and criminal justice reform, environmental protection, and how students can begin a career of public service.Find the full transcript and more information about CRISJ here: www.csus.edu/crisj/buildingjustice

Listen in as Dr. M.L. Mallare interviews Sac State Sociology student,  Moon Martinez on his more than year journey within the CA prison system. Other guests: Dr. Emma Hughes, Ph.D CSU Fresno, Criminology; Dr. Patricia Morris, Ph.D., Project Rebound.