Ashoka in Brief - Racial Bias and Police Accountability

Van Jones, now a CNN commentator, but selected as Ashoka Fellow 20 years ago for his work to address racial bias and bring accountability to policing, contrasts the Rodney King verdict of 1992 with this week’s verdict in Minneapolis, and how the latter signals to young Black people: “We CAN make this system work for us. It isn’t fair & we have to fight harder than we should - but we’ve got a shot.”

Contributing to opening this opportunity are dozens of Fellow-led teams working from different angles on criminal justice and legal reform. From participatory defense to lawyers supporting social movements and alternatives to prison, from correcting bias in algorithms to combatting discriminatory surveillance, from prison doulas to ending money bail and clearing records, and much more. It’s all these solutions together that show us a better future is possible.