From Chains to Change

In this Interview, Voters Organized to Educate sat down with Rep. Barbara Carpenter, Louisiana house representative for District 63 along with our very own Policy Director Checo Yancy. Filmed via zoom at our main office  in New Orleans, LA and our chapter office based in Baton Rouge, LA on October 19, 2023, for a conversation with our deputy director Bruce Reilly to discuss her time in office, the...

In this Interview, Voters Organized to Educate sat down with Shaun Mean, candidate for Louisiana House District 23 in the 2023 election. Filmed at our main office in New Orleans, LA on October 18, 2023, for a conversation with our deputy director Bruce Reilly to discuss his candidacy and his priorities if elected. 

In this Interview, Voters Organized to Educate sat down with Britt Gondolfi, candidate for Louisiana Senate District 12 in the 2023 election. Filmed at our main office in New Orleans, LA on October 12, 2023, for a conversation with our deputy director Bruce Reilly to discuss her candidacy and her priorities if elected. Learn more and stay up to date! Website: www. VotersOrganized.org Facebook: @Vo...

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director, Bruce Reilly sit down with VOTE member and the director of the Light of Justice Program Calvin Duncan to discuss his wrongful conviction and his journey back home as well as the changes seen within criminal justice system in Louisiana, the impact of life sentences, his experience completing law school and more.

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director, Bruce Reilly sit down with our Executive Director Norris Henderson, and Leon Roche candidate for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court - Section A. We discuss Leon’s experience as a public defender and his plans for the court if he gets elcted. Election Day is Saturday, April 29th and early voting goes from April 15th to Apri...

In this special episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director, Bruce Reilly sit down with our Director of Political Operations Devin Davis, and Davante Lewis our endorsed candidate in the LA Public Service Commission (District 3) race. We discuss Davante’s experience thus far along the campaign trail and if elected, what his priorities would be going into office. We also touch on...

In this episode of From Chains to Change , our host and deputy director, Bruce Reilly sit down with our Policy Director Checo Yancy, our videographer Charles Amos who just returned home, Ronald Marshall our Policy Analyst, and our office manager Anthony Hingle, to discuss there own lived experience as well as the recent release of the Visiting Room Project which follows along the journeys of peopl...

In this special episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director Bruce Reilly sits down with Rose Murray, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative , and Homero López, the legal director and co-founder of Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy (ISLA) to discuss there work providing services and aid to the immigrant community in Louisiana...

In this episode of from chains to change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with two special guests, Professor Andrea Armstrong from Loyola College of Law and Professor Ashley Wennerstrom from LSU School of Public Health to discuss their work studying deaths in Incarceration, lack of adequate healthcare while incarcerated and the challenges accessing to medical services upon release in Louisiana. 

In this special episode of From Chains to Change we pay tribute to the life and legacy of our brother Robert Goodman Jr. who was a beloved leader of his community, an organizer with VOTE and Safe Streets. Sadly, Robert was called home at the beginning  of the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 6, 2020 but his life, love, and legacy lives on in the community of friends and family he encountered along the w...

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director Bruce Reilly sits down with VOTE member and community organizer Alfred Marshall where they discuss his lived experience coming back home, how he got inspired to engage in the work of organizing and advocacy and how going forward, his continued commitment to helping build up the next generation of leaders that will aid in sustai...

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with state representative Royce Duplessis to discuss his ongoing legislation around addressing long sentencing, crime prevention and parole reform along with other priorities he’ll be working on throughout this current legislative session.

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with state representative Mandie Landry to discuss her ongoing legislation around bettering medical care for people currently incarcerated, implementing term limits for sheriffs amongst many other priorities she’ll be working on throughout this current legislative session.

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with state representative Candace Newell to discuss her ongoing legislation to legalize and regulate cannabis as well as other legislative priorities being championed throughout this legislative session.

In this special episode of From Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with a number of special guest including our executive director Norris Henderson, Jamila Johnson, attorney with the Promise of Justice Initiative and state representative Matthew Willard to discuss the continued fight around non unanimous juries, than later joined by Earl Hagans to discuss equal opportunity in housin...

In this special episode of From Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with Birmingham City Council member LaTonya Tate, discussing her experience running for office as a black woman in the Deep South, having recently been elected and since taking office, the work she’s engaged I within her community and chairing the councils Public Safety Committee. Our discussion also delves into LaTo...

On this week's episode of from Chains to Change, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with Tulane Ph. D. student and FIP Jarrod M. Wall on his lived experienced, the impacts of the school to prison pipeline as well as discussing his research around Post-Secondary Prison Education, Stigma & Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records.

(PART II) In this special 3-part episode of From Chains to Change, we take you into the Grand Opening of VOTE’s new building in New Orleans. Formerly incarcerated people reflect on the road to this realization, and the power it represents”  

(PART I) In this special 3-part episode of From Chains to Change, we take you into the Grand Opening of VOTE’s new building in New Orleans. Formerly incarcerated people reflect on the road to this realization, and the power it represents”

(PART III) In this special 3-part episode of From Chains to Change, we take you into the Grand Opening of VOTE’s new building in New Orleans. Formerly incarcerated people reflect on the road to this realization, and the power it represents”  

In this episode of From Chains to Change, our host and deputy director Bruce Reilly and our executive director Norris Henderson sit down with a special guest and the newly elected, Orleans Parish Sheriff-elect, Susan Hutson to discuss her recent victory over 4 term incumbent Marlin Gusman in the December 2021 runoff election and how she envisions the upcoming transition process as well as her prio...

In this episode, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with Norris Henderson, our executive director, Nziki Wiltz, our chapter organizer and Devin Davis, our political coordinator to discuss the results of the recent December 2021 runoff election in New Orleans and recapping our victory in the race for Orleans Parish sheriff.

Our host Bruce Reilly sits down with VOTE co-founder Biggy Johnson who retells his expereince of being stranded in OPP during Hurricane Katrina and other insightful tales from our executive director Norris Henderson along with a special guest.

In this episode, our host Bruce Reilly sits down with Ronald Marshall discussing his lived experience along with his journey reconnecting with his family and community after 24 years in Angola and the urgent need for parole and release reform. Bruce then does a closer breakdown of the Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office over the years and its shady financial dealings under the watch of Sheriff Marlin G...

In this episode, our host Bruce Reilly and Executive Director Norris Henderson sit down with Susan Hutson candidate for Orleans Parish Sheriff, and Troy Glover candidate for New Orleans City Council District D about their experience throughout the primary election and recapping their victories in making it to the runoff. We also discuss with the candidates, the road ahead to the December 11th runo...