Register now for the sixth annual Understanding and Responding to Mass Incarceration conference on Friday, April 12, 2019 at Metropolitan State University.

This student-centered event with community participation explores the phenomenon of mass incarceration and provides opportunities for organizing and activism.  There is no cost to attend, however, space is limited.  Registration is required at http://urmi2019.eventbrite.com.

#URMI2019 aspires to inform various dimensions of mass incarceration, connect change-makers to each other, and inspire participants to activate strategies that will make mass incarceration a thing of the past.  The 2019 theme, Women in the System, will be explored through featured speakers, women sharing lived experiences of before, during and after incarceration, breakout discussions, performance, spoken word and song.  This year we are pleased to be joined by:

• Andrea Jenkins is a writer, performance artist, poet, transgender activist, and Metropolitan State University alumna.  She is the first African American openly trans woman to be elected to office in the United States and currently serves as Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council.  Jenkins has experience working in community development in North Minneapolis, and in delivering social services in South Minneapolis.  She worked as a staff member on the Minneapolis City Council for 12 years before beginning work as curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota’s Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.
• A member of the Hopi Tribe, Stephanie Autumn has 38 years of local, national, and international AI advocacy and policy work experience, and has presented at various Human Rights forums at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and in New York.  She has worked throughout the country on issues of American Indian adult and juvenile justice, substance abuse prevention, restorative justice, and tribal youth mentoring programs.
• Recognized by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music as a conductor “of exceptional promise and achievement,” Amanda K. Weber is passionate about uniting music, art, and community through her work as an artist and collaborator.  Weber’s recent focus has been the Voices of Hope, a women’s prison choir at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee.  Founded by Weber in October 2015, the choir has grown from 15 to 50 singers and collaborated with over 200 musicians from the Twin Cities metro area.

Pre-Conference Film Screening: Attend a free screening and discussion of the film MILWAUKEE 53206, Thursday, April 11 at 6 p.m. in the Metropolitan State University Film Space at Founders Hall Auditorium.  This award-winning documentary chronicles the lives of those living in the ZIP code that incarcerates the highest percentage of black men in America.  Free and open to the public; no pre-registration required.

#URMI2019 was organized by Metropolitan State University’s Department of Human Services, School of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, and the Institute for Community Engagement and Scholarship.  For more information, contact Therissa Libby at therissa.libby@metrostate.edu or Raj Sethuraju at raj.sethuraju@metrostate.edu.  Follow on Twitter at @URMI_MetroState.