VBW Research Network

Sunday, August 9, 2015

VBW Justice Archive: ((Keep Your Head Held High))

For more information on ((Keep Your Head Held High)) please view the track information at the Soundcloud post: click here

About the VBW Justice Archive

The Voices Behind Walls (VBW) Justice Archive is a collection of audios, artworks, photographs, and writings archived on the following:

VBW Research Network Blog: vbwresearch.blogspot.com
VBW YouTube: youtube.com/voicesbehindwalls
VBW Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/vbehindw
VBW Website: voicesbehindwalls.blogspot.com

The purpose of the archive is to document VBW program history, specifically the creative expression of its participants and program partners. Files of the VBW Justice Archive are resources for educators, youth, and the public to share. We hope these files inspire new ideas and other creative expressions in all learning spaces. The archive is especially to acknowledge the existence of its participants, a majority incarcerated youth, who recorded into the VBW microphone between the decade of 2004 to 2014. Hopefully you all find your way back to our page to reflect on your contribution to the VBW program.

The VBW Justice Archive began documenting its program history in 2014. Audios will be posted periodically. Updates will be posted at the links above including twitter.com/vbehindw.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((Mysterious Minds))

For more information on this track featuring VBW participant Sam aka Mousey, please view the track information at the Soundcloud post: click here

About the VBW Justice Archive

The VBW Justice Archive began documenting its program history in 2014. Audios will be posted periodically. Updates will be posted at the links above including twitter.com/vbehindw.

Monday, December 8, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((Honey))

For more information on the ((Honey Instrumental)) by Avoid the Lyricist please visit the Soundcloud and read the track information: click here

About the VBW Justice Archive

The VBW Justice Archive began documenting its program history in 2014. Audios will be posted periodically. Updates will be posted at the links above including twitter.com/vbehindw.

VBW Justice Archive: 'Wordsworth'

VBW Justice Archive: 'Wordsworth' by Carlos Andrés Gómez
VBWJA-audi0-20141207-CG1

VBW Justice Archive ((Audios)): click here

When Mr. Acosta aka Groove asked for recommendations of poetry, song, or literature related to tone & mood for his class at Jefferson High School, the first recording that came to mind was one I recorded years ago with award winning poet, actor, and writer Carlos Andrés Gómez. The recording was conducted over a lanline phone at Cervantes Village for rotation on KRUX 91.5FM at New Mexico State University.

I got the opportunity to do the recording thanks to poet activist & journalist, Monte Smith. Having also conducted recordings & interviews with Monte, he had an army of other voices to recommend for our radio program. As we continue to archive, recordings & interviews with Monte Smith will also be posted. Much respect and thanks to Monte for his support during our radio dayz.

We've archived the 'Wordsworth' poetry recording on our VBW YouTube which you can listen to by clicking on the embedded player above, or the links.

For more information on Carlos Andrés Gómez please visit carloslive.com.

About the VBW Justice Archive

The VBW Justice Archive began documenting its program history in 2014. Audios will be posted periodically. Updated will be posted at the links above including twitter.com/vbehindw.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((4 A.M. Cody Brown Remix))

VBW Justice Archive: ((4 A.M. Cody Brown Remix)) by Cody Brown
VBWJA-audi0-20141101-CB1 ((mp3)) | Download

Original Post / Cody Brown Soundcloud: click here

Cody Brown is an alumni of Voices Behind Walls. He brought a lot of creative ideas to VBW with his knowledge of music production, not only as a Hip Hop beat maker, but also someone who knows how to play instruments. He's also a brilliant song writer and lyricist MC/poet. In many ways, like key players before him, he changed the course of our workshop and opened up the technical possibilities for how we recorded and what we could do with the limited equipment and software we had available. Through Cody we were able to dream big in what was our goal for the youth themselves to have input along with others on the development of a studio inside of the detention center.

Upon his release from incarceration Cody continued with his music including the instrumental project featured above that Cody produced and uploaded onto his Soundcloud. It is a remix of the Melanie Fiona single 4 A.M. off of The MF Life released in 2012.

Along with our own recordings, the VBW Justice Archive will feature audio downloads from participants and affiliates of the program. You can download the 4 A.M. Cody Brown Remix by clicking on the links above or by clicking on the following: MP3.

About the VBW Justice Archive

The VBW Justice Archive began documenting its program history in 2014. Audios will be posted periodically. Updated will be posted at the links above including twitter.com/vbehindw.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Young People’s Experiences in the CJ System

In Their Own Words: Young People’s Experiences in the Criminal Justice System
and Their Perceptions of Its Legitimacy

More Information including Download Report: click here

"While there is a growing consensus that the country needs to re-examine the criminal justice system’s prosecution of serious young offenders, there is little documentation of how this population experiences and perceives the laws, policies, and practices that are intended to hold them accountable.

To address this shortcoming, the John Howard Association, Illinois’ only non-partisan prison watchdog, has completed a provocative new report, In Their Own Words, (PDF) that chronicles six young serious offenders’ journey through Illinois’ criminal justice system, from arrest to incarceration.

Based on this work, JHA's report offers four steps that policymakers should take to improve the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system’s response to youth prosecuted for serious crimes:

1. Empower judges to determine whether serious young offenders should be tried in juvenile or criminal court, regardless of the crime they are accused of committing.

2. Provide young offenders with greater access to counsel during police encounters and pre-trial custody.

3. Ensure that attorneys and judges who deal with this population are trained in adolescent brain development and how to effectively communicate with young people.

4. Establish separate correctional facilities, treatment programs, and a sentencing scheme that takes into account young offenders’ mental immaturity and ongoing development.

Alongside these specific policy recommendations, In Their Own Words focuses on the root causes of violence that plague some of the country’s poorest minority communities, from parts of Chicago's South and West Sides to Ferguson, Missouri. Instead of over-relying on severe criminal penalties, JHA argues that the justice system must build the kind of civic trust that will promote safer communities by meeting people where they are and listening to them in their own words."

John Howard Association of Illinois (JHA). "In Their Own Words: Young People's Experiences in the Criminal Justice System and Their Perceptions of Its Legitimacy." John Howard Association of Illinois. (2014). Web. 9 Oct 2014. http://thejha.org/words

U.S. Attorney to ID Wrongful Convictions

Washington U.S. Attorney Sets Up First Unit to ID Wrongful Convictions

Full Article: click here Posted by Reuters

Notes from the article:

"The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington has set up the first federal unit in the nation to identify and investigate cases that ended in wrongful convictions..."

That unit is called the Conviction Integrity Unit.

"The unit will review cases in which defendants convicted of violent felonies can offer new evidence, such as DNA testing, that may establish innocence."

A quote from U.S. Attorney Ronald E. Machen, Jr. "This new unit will work to uncover historical injustices and to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

Who is U.S. Attorney Ronald E. Machen, Jr.?

There are prosecuter's offices that have created similar initiatives. Two of those referenced in the article include the Dallas County District Attorney's Office click here and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office click here.

The story of Donald Gates

"The U.S. Attorney's Office is sharing its results with defense lawyers and the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, a nonprofit at George Washington University Law School in Washington which fights wrongful convictions." More information on the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project visit exonerate.org.

This article was published on September 12, 2014 and accessed October 9, 2014.

Search VBW Research Network

Sunday, August 9, 2015

VBW Justice Archive: ((Keep Your Head Held High))

Sunday, December 21, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((Mysterious Minds))

Monday, December 8, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((Honey))

VBW Justice Archive: 'Wordsworth'

Saturday, November 1, 2014

VBW Justice Archive: ((4 A.M. Cody Brown Remix))

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Young People’s Experiences in the CJ System

U.S. Attorney to ID Wrongful Convictions

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