How We Breathe

In this episode, we speak with Rukia Lumumba, Executive Director of the People's Advocacy Institute in Jackson, Mississippi.  Lumumba's worldview is shaped by revolutionary struggles for equal rights, self-determination, and community healing.  She is the daughter of the late Chokwe Lumumba - the radical attorney and Black nationalist leader who served two terms as Mayor of Jackson. In her work, she is molding a vision of community-led governance, justice and transformation born from these legacies. 

In this episode, Zach Norris, the Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the author of Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons and Punishment, shares his story. Born and bred in Oakland, California and trained as a lawyer, Zach shares personal insights on collective efforts to dismantle California's oppressive carceral system. We hear challenges and victories over 20 years organizing inside and outside of California prisons and working with youth, families and lawmakers. He centers a deep commitment to his hometown and a vision of love, liberation, and healing over fear and criminalization. 

In this episode, we hear from Kandace Montgomery, co-founder of  Black Visions Collective, a group working to shape a political home for Black people across Minnesota since 2017. Kandace shares her pathway to organizing as well as the challenges and pitfalls of being thrust into the limelight as a young organization. She tells us of her experience organizing around the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and where she and Black Visions are headed in the future.  We also hear from police misconduct attorney, abolitionist, and organizer, Andrea Ritchie. 

In this episode, we hear from Richard Wallace, a Chicago native and organizer with Equity and Transformation (EAT), working with system-impacted individuals in the informal economy. He shares his journey, from incarceration to poetry to leadership. We gain insight into how young Chicago leaders like Richard, Fresco Steez and Charlene Carruthers are building on the legacy of Black freedom fighters like Mama Akua and Fred Hampton - while finding new political tactics to meet this moment. 

On the first episode, we hear from Jonathan Stith, National Field Organizer for BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity), as he gives as a preview of this upcoming podcast. How We Breathe  will share intimate conversations with organizers from around the nation, looking into power centers of movements for justice in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, Oakland, and Jackson, Mississippi. We explore how young leaders are building on the legacy of Black resistance while finding new political tactics to meet this moment. We reflect on powerful gatherings that reveal how we see the past, present and the future - sometimes differently.  We share the rituals, practices, and ancestors that have carried us forward. Listen as we breathe.