The Power of Story Telling

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Osanne: For me, coming into this conversation, i don't think of story telling as like a powerful social change move itit kind of feels like it's like entertainment, or even maybe frivolous. And yet, for you, this is really, at times, even like or death. Osanne: There's an impulse within that person and family for their truth to be told. Men, like when you said earlier, people don't even get their day in court. Why? Isn't just because at they want to exonerate themselves or litigate the case. It's because they've never had an opportunity for for the truth to be on a platform.

How would you describe your community? And what if the stories you tell have the power to save someone from injustice? With the popularity and support of movements like Black Lives Matter, it seems the world is reckoning with how we think about the systems and institutions that support mass incarceration. Today’s guest, Raj Jayadev, wants us to focus on “proximate, intimate change” in our local communities and courts. He is the co-founder and coordinator of Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community organizing, media and advocacy organization based in San Jose, California. For over a decade, De-Bug has employed a methodology they call “participatory defense”, an approach where families whose loved ones are facing the criminal court system can use their stories to transform the landscape of power in the courts. Raj and the De-Bug team have expanded their work into the National Participatory Defense Network, with hubs in more than 30 cities. His community organizing and writings have been featured in the New York Times, BBC, and TIME Magazine. In 2018, Raj was selected as a MacArthur Fellow. If you’d like to learn more about participatory defense or get involved, you can start at: https://www.participatorydefense.org/