Create action steps towards envisioning a more equitable
future with our bi-monthly webinar series.
Previous Justice Talks
Justice TalksSeptember 21, 2022, 7PM: "Justice Talks: Social Activism and Restorative Justice - A Conversation with Jo Kreiter and Partners"
Join us for a conversation about the importance of restorative justice and the creative process in healing and as an alternative to the prison system. We’ll also explore Ms. Kreiter’s process of integrating personal narratives and lived human experience into the choreography and presentation of Apparatus of Repair. We will also hear from those who participated in a first ever, restorative circle with five men currently in Sing Sing Correctional Facility and a group of individuals who have been harmed. 
This Senate Bill, sponsored by New York State Senator Julia Salazar, ensures gender identity respect, dignity, and safety in prisons. The bill addresses the needs of incarcerated individuals whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex at birth. This panel discussion features Senator Salazar and a representative from the NYCLU who helped craft this bill as well as individuals who have directly experienced the lack of respect and danger of the system as it currently functions.
In this webinar moderated by Board Member Lithgow Osborne we focused on the extraordinary career of Osborne's Executive Director Elizabeth Gaynes and her activism, advocacy, and action which have helped build Osborne into one of the nation's leading providers of family related services for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.
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Justice TalksDecember 15, 2022, 6pm: "Justice Talks: From Love - The Transformative Work of the Sing Sing Family Collective."
Many formerly incarcerated folks and their loved ones made it through the long haul of “serving time.” But what happens after incarceration? How do they and their loved ones adjust to this new way of living? This month’s webinar focuses on these important questions and how to foster relationships after being released from prison. The panelists will share their personal stories and insight about the challenges and triumphs of rejoining loved ones after incarceration. Join us for this discussion and gain insight on how not to isolate, alienate, and separate but rather how to include and support rehabilitation and redemption.
A conversation with founder and Executive Director Katherine Vockins and others from Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Founded at Sing Sing in 1996, RTA works with professional teaching artists to lead year-round workshops in theatre, dance, music, creative writing, and visual arts. Participants in RTA programs have an astoundingly low recidivism rate making it one of the most successful rehabilitation programs in New York State. But more importantly, the organization restores a sense of dignity and fosters the creative spirit of women and men who are in the most degrading and dehumanizing environment.
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Ossining's Black community often overlooked because of Sing Sing Prison's presence. This month we take a look at this rich history. Join Village of Ossining historian Joyce Cole for an engaging look at the stories of Black residents in this Westchester County (NY) town.
Who was Reverend Henry Duers, the formerly enslaved community leader? What's the story of Natalie Jackson and her mother Carrie Hoffman, the prison's only Black matrons? What does the story of Hunter Street tell us about people employed by the prison nearby? 
Learn how the Oakland-based architecture and real estate development non-profit Designing Justice+Designing Spaces (DJDS) is working to end mass incarceration by building infrastructure that addresses its root causes.
Deanna Van Buren, co-founder, executive director, and design director discusses her studio's work countering the traditional adversarial and punitive architecture of justice by creating spaces and buildings for restorative justice, community building, and housing for people coming out of incarceration. 
For 38 years a women's prison operated at Sing Sing Prison. At the time of its closing, it was considered a failed experiment, but time has shown that it was influential in reforming how the incarcerated are treated.
Our guest is Dr. Jennifer Graber of the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Graber works on religion and violence and inter-religious encounters in American prisons and on the American frontier. This program was funded in part by Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. 
Watch a short screening of Conviction, the 20 minute documentary by Jia Wertz, about the wrongful conviction and incarceration of Jeffrey Deskovic.
This is followed by a moderated discussion featuring Jeffrey Deskovic, Jia Wertz, and Professor Brandon Garrett. Sing Sing Prison Museum Board member and Ossining High School teacher Sam North is slated to moderate. Watch a short screening of Conviction, the 20 minute documentary by Jia Wertz, about the wrongful conviction and incarceration of Jeffrey Deskovic. This is followed by a moderated discussion featuring Jeffrey Deskovic, Jia Wertz, and Professor Brandon Garrett. Sing Sing Prison Museum Board member and Ossining High School teacher Sam North is slated to moderate. |
The Attica Prison Uprising in 1971 was a significant event in the Prisoner’s Rights Movement that produced major change in the New York corrections system. Based on the incarcerated men’s demands for better living conditions and political rights, the 5 days of rebellion are pivotal in contemporary conversations about prison reform. In this program we examine racial justice activism, civil rights, and the significance of the 50th Anniversary.
An informative look at the use of solitary confinement in New York State as well as current efforts to restrict or eliminate its use. The New York State Legislature passed the HALT legislation this year. The Humane Alternatives to Long-term Solitary Confinement Act was signed into law by Governor Cuomo, but not without an “approval memo” which demanded amendments to the legislation. This raised questions about Cuomo’s commitment to the implementation and enforcement of this historic legislation.
This installment of Justice Talks will take an intimate look at prison visits and the families who depend on them. Through heartfelt conversation, we'll hear stories of loved ones triumphing over difficult circumstances to keep families united and foster connection. Guests will share the positive impacts of visits, and the success these interactions have for both incarcerated individuals and those visiting.
Join the Sing Sing Prison Museum and Kunhardt Film Foundation for a moderated panel discussion of the film "True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality." Featuring criminal justice experts and producers, this talk will explore the death penalty's impact on the past and present. 
The crisis of COVID-19 has impacted the nation’s incarceration facilities, placing confined populations with limited personal protection resources in a vulnerable situation. Learn what is occurring on the federal and local level, the realities and history of disease inside prisons, and what the lived experience of being incarcerated under these circumstances means.
Watch a recording here: |
