Hey, this is Durey and welcome to Batsay of the People.

On this episode we have Alakonon, we have Michael Badajale, the former drugs are in the

bottom administration who led all of the work around their drug policy.

We also have some of the cast and the director of the new incredible film, Crown Heights.

We have Namdi Asamwa, who is both in the film and produced it.

We have Matt Ruskin, who is a director and we have Colin Warner, who the film is about.

And we also have Ranna Woodfin, who is running to be the next mayor of Birmingham.

And as usual, it's the news with me, Brittany, Clint and Sam.

Now before we jump in, I'm reminded that proximity is a key characteristic of the most effective

leaders, activists and organizers.

That you have to be close to the work and close to the people that you say you serve if you want to be effective.

I recently came from a visit of the Cook County Jail, the largest single site jail in the country.

And I say that because it was one of the ways that I tried to be closer to this work around mass incarceration in my own space.

As we work to de-carcery, as we work to end mass incarceration across the country, I realized that I actually hadn't seen the

inside of a jail before.

So I went to Angola and Louisiana, I went to Cook County Jail and it's helped change the way that I think about how

systems and structures impact people.

So my question to you and my push to you is how close are you to the work?

How close are you to the people that you think you say you serve?

You need to be as close as you possibly can be so that you can do your best work.

Let's get to it.

And now, the conversation with some of the cast and the director of Comhite,

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