Darren Mack
Co-Founder / Co-Director (he/him)
Brandon Holmes
Co-Founder (he/him)
Sarita Daftary
Co-Founder / Co-Director (she/her)
NYC’s Budget Does Not Make Policing Safer for those with Mental Illness [by Member-Leader Peggy Herrera]
City Limits
I am the proud mother of a young man who has lots of promise and potential and also struggles with mental health concerns. I have seen over and over again the ways that an inadequate mental health system has failed him, and where law enforcement has stepped in to do a job they should not be doing.No one belongs on Rikers Island. Ever. [by Member-Leader Natasha White]
Queens Gazette
I am an advocate, and a formerly incarcerated woman who was raised in Queens. As a woman who has been to Rikers 26 times, I have watched with horror and sadness as the coronavirus has spread like wildfire through the jails there.Truly Equipping New York City to End Mass Incarceration and Close Rikers [by Co-Director Brandon Holmes]
Gotham Gazette
On October 17, the New York City Council held a historic vote on the future of Rikers Island. This vote, and the organizing that influenced the Council to improve upon the mayor’s proposed plan, was passed alongside upwards of $260 million of investments into community-based solutions and resources outside of the justice system.Rikers Island To Close Thanks To Advocacy Of Victims And Survivors
BET
“I've been going to Rikers Island for six years, every weekend, visiting my son who was in prison there waiting for trial. He was denied his constitutional rights and, of course, he never got a trial.” - Member-Leader Anna PastoressaHere’s How The Plan To Close Rikers Island Is Supposed To Work
CBS News
The closure of Rikers Island was a big win for Darren Mack. Not only did he advocate for it as part of Just Leadership USA, he was an inmate when he was 17. “You either become a predator or prey,” Mack said.The Unending Urgency of Closing Rikers [Op-Ed by Co-Director Darren Mack]
City Limits
We have already begun to dismantle this system that brutalizes people every day. Due to directly impacted leaders’ advocacy of the past three years, the de Blasio administration lowered the proposed bed count from 5,750 to 4,600 citywide (with capacity for 4,000 people). The reduction of more than 10,000 beds— will be the most significant decarceration in the history of the United States. This will solidify New York City as the most decarcerated metropolis in the country.