Bringing Down the New Jim Crow

Series produced by Chris Moore-Backman

Series image
Image by: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout 

Inspired by Michelle Alexander's groundbreaking book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," the Bringing Down the New Jim Crow radio documentary series explores and gives voice to the continuing struggle for racial justice in the United States during the era of mass incarceration. Weaving together incisive analysis, candid interviews and artful music, the series makes visible the human face of those most directly impacted by the systemic oppression of our nation's drug war and prison industrial complex, and captures the emergence of the growing national movement working to dismantle them. The series is produced by Chris Moore-Backman, in collaboration with the Chico Peace and Justice Center and KZFR Community Radio in Chico, California.

Episode 1: A Bitter Harvest: California, Marijuana, and the New Jim Crow

Episode 2: On the Other Side of the Myth: A Conversation with Michelle Alexander and Tim Wise

Episode 3: Children of the Same Sorrow: The U.S./Mexico Caravan for Peace Takes On the Drug War

Episode 4: A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad: Making a Break for Freedom During the Era of Mass Incarceration

Episode 5: The Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People's Movement: The Struggle for Freedom and Transformation Continues

Episode 6: Some Thoughts On Mercy: An Essay on Race and Redemption, written and read by Ross Gay

Episode 7: From Reform to Transform: California's Prop 47 and the Movement to End Mass Incarceration


7 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
From Reform to Transform introduces listeners to passionate racial and social justice advocates in California who crafted, promoted, and saw throug...

Bought by WUAL and KGNU Community Radio


  • Added: Jul 13, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
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In this provocative radio essay, a commonplace encounter with racial profiling opens the door to the vast and painful reality of racism in the Unit...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio and WYAP


  • Added: Feb 04, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
This radio documentary highlights the voices of nine men and women who have experienced the workings of the US criminal justice system from the ins...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, KVMR, WVAS, KUNM, WORT and more


  • Added: Apr 22, 2014
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 8
Piece image
Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, points to A New Way of Life Re-Entry Program in South Los Angeles as a model for the kind of bold i...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, KUNM, WDSE, WCSU-FM, NPR Illinois and more


  • Added: Jun 04, 2013
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 6
Piece image
This moving and provocative documentary chronicles the historic journey of the “U.S./Mexico Caravan for Peace,” which from August 12th to Septembe...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, and WDSE


  • Added: Sep 26, 2012
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
This second installment in the series titled Bringing Down the New Jim Crow features the first ever dialog between legal scholar Michelle Alexander...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, KFOK-LPFM, and WDSE


  • Added: Jul 02, 2012
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
This documentary views Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" through the lens of California's ma...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio, 90.5 WSNC, KFOK-LPFM, WDSE, and WZEN.org


  • Added: Mar 02, 2012
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 5