For decades, we’ve known that our criminal justice system hasn’t been fair or just for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. On top of interactions with law enforcement never having been in our favor, the U.S. Government has significantly undercounted the number of people who die in law enforcement custody each year. Deaths resulting from interactions with the U.S. criminal legal system are a public health emergency, but the scope of this issue is intentionally ignored by the very systems that are supposed to be tracking these fatalities.
“Official Ignorance: The Death in Custody Podcast” – hosted by Dr. Roger Mitchell and Prof. Jay Aronson – shares the stories of individuals who died in custody and chronicles the efforts of activists and journalists to uncover the true scope of deaths in custody. Through their accounts and interactions with special guests, Mitchell and Aronson outline a practical, achievable system for accurately recording and investigating these deaths.
“Official Ignorance” is a project of the Hip Hop Caucus. Learn more about Hip Hop Caucus and its Good Trouble Dept. campaign work at HipHopCaucus.org.
