Online/Virtual Event
Monday, June 10th from 7:30pm to 8:30pm
Want to learn more about prison abolition? Looking to explore the role of information in the prison industrial complex? Excited to discuss ways we can collectively offer resources to address violence caused by mass incarceration? Join the club (literally!). The Prison Library Support Network is collaborating with METRO to host Abolitionist Futures: A PLSN Discussion Group, which will meet quarterly on the second Monday of the month at 7:30pm.
In 2024, we will continue to curate a rotating calendar of media resources for discussion, including: books, podcasts, videos, zines, and more! We’re also re-committing to the “futures” part of our discussion group by intentionally building in time during each meeting to share actionable steps for practicing everyday abolition.
Also new in 2024! We’re aiming to be joined by special guest facilitators (authors, librarians, and more) with a range of experiences relating to prison abolition. More details to come!
If you’re on our PLSN listserv, you’ll receive information throughout the year on how to join each discussion group, who our featured guest will be, and which materials we’d like you to engage with before joining. As a reminder, both upcoming discussion content and past years of discussion materials can be found on this doc.
In June, join Abolitionist Futures for a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and producer Maggie Freleng. Dive into her reporting on wrongful convictions, the criminal legal system, and other social issues via podcast episodes, articles, and more. Together, we will discuss the evolution of Maggie’s work, the important yet challenging task of highlighting the lived experiences of incarcerated individuals from the outside, and how journalism is a key component of abolition.
As always, our discussion materials are free to access and contain a variety of media formats. Before joining the meeting please read, listen to, and explore these materials:
- LISTEN Buried Abuse (38 min)
- READ Shackled: The Devastating Reality of Childbirth Behind Bars
Optional:
- LISTEN Suave (7-episode podcast series)
- READ In Search of Safety: An Investigation of Abuse at an Immigration Facility (Rewire.News article accompanying Buried Abuse podcast)
- EXPLORE More of Maggie's reporting and podcast work
About our guest:
Maggie Freleng is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and producer based in New York City reporting on wrongful convictions, the criminal legal system and social issues. She is the host and producer of the Signal and Anthem award winning podcast “Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng”, as well as “Murder in Alliance” and “Unjust & Unsolved.” She is also the host and producer of the Pulitzer Prize winning podcast “Suave” on PRX. “Suave” also won the 2022 International Documentary Award and Maggie was nominated for the 2022 Livingston Award for National Reporting on “Suave”.
Maggie is an Adjunct Professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and formerly the Producer-at-Large for NPR’s Latino USA. She was an NPR Next Generation Radio fellow and 2019 Ford Foundation “50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism” fellow. In 2023 she was honored during “World Woman Hour” by the World Woman Foundation for “breaking the role” as a female change-maker. Maggie is also a Webby and iHeart nominee for “Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng.”
Maggie graduated with an M.A in Journalism focusing on Health & Sciences and Radio Broadcast from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in December 2015. She earned a B.A in Journalism and English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2011. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, The LA Times, The Atlantic, Spin, The Observer, Democracy Now!, MSNBC, NPR, Vulture, People, HLN, WNYC, NPR’s Code Switch, NBC New York, WHYY, Dr. Phil, Dr. OZ, Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, and Voices of New York.