Hi, I'm Anna Marie Cox. This is with friends like these. For a few months now, we've been

looking at good intentions. Why people have them? What happens to them? Where they lead?

One of the stories I've been most excited to tell is this week's, which I found literally

in a footnote, in a book about mass incarceration. It's a story of good intentions, and pride, and

politics. And I'll warn you now, it has a not great ending, also a suicide is involved. So

keep that in mind when you decide whether to listen through right now or save it for later.

But I hope you listen now. In observance of Black History Month, we're going to start a segment

highlighting organizations that are Black-led or primarily concerned with issues directly affecting

Black people. This week's organization was suggested by our guest, Heather Ann Thompson. Just

leadership USA stands out because it's not just advocating for incarceration, but it was founded

by a formerly incarcerated person, continues to bring formerly incarcerated people into the organization,

and works directly with those who are incarcerated or have been impacted by incarceration. Your

money will be an investment in the leadership of the organization as well as the cause itself. And

you can donate at their website, www.jlusa.com slash donate, that's www.jlusa.com slash donate. And if

you can't donate right now, you can amplify them on Twitter by following and retweeting at just

leaders USA, that's not leadership, but just leaders USA. And maybe other people you know have money.

You can ask just leadership USA for help planning a fundraiser large or small, and they also do

calls for volunteers via Twitter. So keep your eyes open for that. That's www.jlusa.com slash donate.

In the summer of 1979, a man named Robert Martinson committed suicide by jumping out the window

of his 15th floor New York apartment. 20 years before he'd been a civil rights activist, you could

call him a radical. He ran for the mayor of Berkeley as a socialist when it was even more

unpopular than it is today. And in 1961, he joined the Freedom Writers in Mississippi and was arrested

...