Johnny Perez worked hard throughout his 13 year prison sentence. He sewed sheets and facilitated classes, met demanding quotas and helped other men prepare for life on the outside. The highest wage he was ever paid was 34 cents an hour. Meanwhile, prison labor generated $14 billion last year.  So why do so many people like Johnny leave prison empty handed? In this Season Two finale, we’re going back to 1865, to understand how a key exception written into the 13th Amendment paved the way for...

When Flo was arrested in 2016, he did not expect to be wrapped into the predatory bail industry. $7,500: that was the amount the judge set for his pretrial release. “$7,500 might as well have been a million dollars to me.” As a result, Flo spent two months in jail even though he was legally innocent. Half a million Americans are in pretrial detention at any given moment, and more than 60% of them are there because they can’t afford bail. In theory, bail is supposed to be one way out of jail....

Priscilla Robinson says the Southside neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina was once a thriving, tight-knit community. She describes fruit trees and multigenerational homeowners, booming small businesses and neighbors who looked out for one another. But that all changed in 1968, when the city approved plans for “urban renewal” and displaced more than fifty percent of Asheville’s Black residents, including Priscilla and her family. Decades later, in 2020, Asheville became just the second...

When 3rd year med student Megh Kumar told a mentor she’d decided to go into OB GYN, she got an unexpected piece of advice: don’t.  It’s been more than a year since the Supreme Court revoked constitutional protections for abortion rights with their Dobbs decision. Since then 13 states – including Megh’s home state of Kentucky – have banned nearly all abortions. Some states have criminalized performing or abetting abortion. The effect has been chilling not only for patients who need them, but...

On a cold night in 2002, Chrissy Isaacs watched yet another logging truck loaded with old growth trees hurtle past her home in the Grassy Narrows First Nation, down the only road into the reserve: built by and for the logging industry.  Enough was enough. That night, she dropped a tree in the road to block the loggers, and changed her community forever. This is the story of land back, and the fight to correct the long, long history of colonizers claiming indigenous territories as their own...

Andrea Phillips loves her job. She works at an elementary school as a reading interventionist, teaching struggling readers to love books. When she was told by her district to pack up her classroom library earlier this year, she was devastated.  In 2022, Florida lawmakers passed HB 1467. This new law mandated that every book in Florida public schools be cataloged and reviewed for “harmful content”, and that schools create a system for parents to petition the removal of books they found...

Most kids in the U.S. go to a school that’s patrolled by police officers. They’re supposed to keep students safe, but after decades of increased surveillance, in-school arrests have skyrocketed for kids of all ages. And most of the kids arrested at school are students of color. A group of students in Des Moines, Iowa didn’t need data to know that police in their school district were harmful, so they set out to do something about it. Here’s how they worked with their community to build a...

We’ll be back in August with more episodes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In January 2021, Zahra Shaheer had to get out of Afghanistan… fast. So when she had the rare opportunity to secure safe passage for herself and her two children, she made the heartbreaking decision to flee, even though it meant leaving her mother behind. Now, Zahra and her mother remain separated by thousands of miles, and insurmountable policies that are designed to prevent her mother from reuniting with her family in the new home in the UK.  David Miliband from the International Rescue...

As lawmakers consider more than 500 anti-trans bills nationwide, experts warn that these efforts will increase already-high rates of depression and suicidality for trans kids. But what happens when these kids are affirmed and supported in their transition? When their communities welcome them with open arms?  Hear the story of Oli Oski, who, when he was just seven years old, helped convince an LGBTQ resource center to start offering play groups for trans and queer kids under 13. Oli is 19 now,...

Did you know that without migrant farm workers, the price of dairy would be twice as expensive? Dairy farming is one of the most challenging jobs in agriculture, and like a lot of farmwork has notoriously weak legal protections for workers, leading to long hours, poor pay, and unsafe conditions. Host Ashely C. Ford tells the story of how a group of farmworkers came together after a senseless tragedy to demand change – and together built a safety net to protect their most vulnerable...

Back in the day, Michael Thompson was a local legend in Flint, Michigan. He brought acts like Aretha Franklin to town, and did incredible work to ease vicious gang violence in his community. So when he was sentenced to 42 to 60 years in prison, Flint was shocked, and devastated. His crime? Selling marijuana to a police informant.  Michael was still serving time while recreational dispensaries began popping up all over his hometown, and he ended up serving the longest sentence for a nonviolent...

Today, over 4.5 million people can't vote in the United States because of a mistake they made in the past. Desmond Meade is one of them. He's a "returning citizen" who understands the devastating impacts of having your civil rights stripped away, and the redemptive power of second chances. So, he set out to do something about it, and brought about the greatest expansion of voting rights in America in half a century. It’s that work that just earned his organization a Nobel Peace Prize...

Ben & Jerry’s is back with another season of Into the Mix, a podcast about joy and justice. Hosted by Ashley C. Ford and produced with Vox Creative, this season will bring you stories of struggle and success from the everyday people at the heart of our greatest fights — from voting rights, to cannabis justice, to dignity for migrant workers — today.  Season 2 begins with a conversation with the man who brought about the largest expansion of voting rights in half a century. Let’s get into...

Ava DuVernay was a total film nerd growing up in Compton, CA; now she’s a bonafide Hollywood icon. Before making it big with films like Selma, 13th, and A Wrinkle in Time, Ava made her mark exploring themes and characters inspired by her own life. Join host Ashley C. Ford to learn how Ava uses her influence to make the film industry more inclusive, in front of, and behind, the camera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Erika Alexander started out as a child actor in Philadelphia before landing the iconic role of Maxine Shaw, Attorney at Law on the hit sitcom Living Single. Today, the veteran of screen and stage uses her storytelling skills to advocate for reparations for Black Americans. Host Ashley C. Ford interviews Erika Alexander about her career, family, and efforts to uplift Black voices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laci Jordan was always a very serious student. When the time came to choose a career path, she decided to study criminal justice. But she soon found that her calling was not in law enforcement, but art. Host Ashley C. Ford interviews Laci about her journey from interning at the FBI, to using her art to envision a world free of police brutality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the beginning, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield wanted their company to be about more than just ice cream; they knew they could leverage their popularity to advance progressive causes. Host Ashley C. Ford talks to them about their decades-long friendship, how they found early success combining ice cream with social values, and what they’re working on today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Phil Agnew first became an activist in 2006, after learning about a Black teenager who had been killed by guards in a Florida youth detention center. He became an organizer a few years later when he co-founded the Dream Defenders, a grassroots movement for prison abolition and more. In this episode, Phil talks with Ashley C. Ford about the nuances of activism and organizing, as well as the wins and losses he’s experienced on his journey toward a better future. Learn more about your ad...

Tackling climate change can feel so overwhelming, but the featured guests in this episode approach their climate justice work one event at a time. Punk icon Patti Smith, along with her friend, writer and activist Bill McKibben, stage inspiring events that use music, poetry and letter-writing (yes, letter-writing, in the middle of rock concerts) to mobilize against climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The online civil rights organization, Color of Change, has used many different tools to push for change: ads targeted to corporate leadership, fax machines sent to lawmakers, Twitter hashtags, and online petitions. Ashley C. Ford sits down with the head of the organization, Rashad Robinson, to talk about their innovative approach to improving Black lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Into the Mix, Ashley C. Ford talks to Jeffery Robinson, who has spent the last decade trying to correct the history books. Jeffery is a criminal defense lawyer and founder of the Who We Are Project, an effort that aims to uncover the hidden history of America’s anti-Black racism, the deep roots of white supremacy in our country, and how this impacts so many aspects of our society today—from book banning in schools, to housing segregation, to who is allowed to enter the...

In this episode of Into the Mix, Ashley C. Ford talks to Big Freedia, the performer who brought bounce music from the streets of New Orleans to the world. Join Freedia as she tells us how she got her start, how she faced personal tragedy — and how she’s continuing to show up for her community, using her platform to speak out against, and help reduce gun violence in New Orleans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join host Ashley C. Ford in conversation with political aide Andrew Aydin, whose idea for a thrilling new retelling of Congressman John Lewis' life and role in the Civil Rights struggle is helping a whole new generation of students and activists connect with their past. Dive into the power of writing, of storytelling — and the magic that happens when you shine a light on the ongoing struggle for justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices