Our community coalition includes formerly incarcerated people, families affected by the system, and professional advocates, but the power dynamics are recreating the same hierarchies we're trying to fight. The people with lived experience feel talked over by the credentialed advocates, while the advocates feel their expertise is being dismissed, and we're not actually addressing root causes because we can't function as a group.
More people experience this than they realize.
Groups opposing systemic oppression often reproduce the very power structures they seek to dismantle.
“Where Are You with Mass incarceration — causes and critique?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.