Author Bios

Ericka Persson is a member of Survived & Punished NY and the digital strategist for the Working Families Party's criminal justice program.

Amanda is a member of Survived & Punished NY and a co-founder of the Dollar Bail Brigade. Her organizing and other local mutual aid work focuses on prison-industrial complex …

Juli Kempner is a member of Survived & Punished NY and other local and national collaboratives working to end gender-based violence and the incarceration of women and girls.

Diana Colavita is a member of Survived & Punished NY, as well as other groups fighting to end incarceration and involuntary confinement. Her organizing centers on the connections between …

Dean Russell is a science reporter covering health and the environment.

Diana Kennedy is a junior at Hunter College majoring in Women and Gender Studies with the goal of pursuing a career in labor law.

Kayla Hui is a freelance journalist covering health, policy, social justice and climate change. Her work appears in the Pulitzer Center, Anti-Racism Daily, Verywell Health, Healthline and more. Follow …

Aysha Akhtar, MD, MPH, is a double-board certified neurologist and preventive medicine specialist, and is the president and CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences, which is catalyzing the …

Yara M. Asi is a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the University of Central Florida.

Denita Jones is a single mother and organizer with the Poor People’s Campaign in Dallas.