Beyond the Now

Copaganda
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Mainstream media is dominated by “copaganda,” or police-centered news coverage and propaganda, that amplifies misleading stories around crime and violence at the expense of community health and safety. But journalists and media consumers alike can challenge conventional narratives by investing in better stories about people, communities, and neighborhoods that are impacted by policing, surveillance, and resource scarcity.

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Criminalization of Trauma Survivors
People who cause harm are often survivors of violence themselves. But instead of trauma-informed resources and care, people are often subject to a criminal legal system that only further traumatizes and criminalizes them, fueling the cycle of violence. Non-carceral alternatives are needed to break this cycle.
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Violence Interruption

There’s no doubt that violence is a symptom of our failed carceral system, but police, prosecutors, and prison interests continue to invest in and sustain harmful practices that cannot protect the communities that are most impacted by violence. Violence interruption breaks this cycle and encourages investments in real solutions that address root causes, including poverty, heavy substance use, and community health.
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Restorative Justice

Our current punitive approach to harm and violence and our failure to make transformative investments in public health and safety have resulted in devastating consequences for individuals and communities alike. But restorative justice offers a path forward for true healing, accountability, and justice.
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Abolition

We know that our criminal legal system is not working. The movement for prison and police abolition offers us a powerful blueprint for a better future, challenging conventional understandings of harm, violence, crime, punishment, and justice. Requiring a willingness to move beyond the status quo, abolition also has the potential to transform individual lives and communities, ensuring actual and sustainable public health and safety.
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This project — a Gold Anthem Winner in News & Journalism — captures conversations between a group of Chicago’s leading public safety, health, and justice innovators, who came together to discuss the failures of our current investments into health and safety, but most importantly, the incredible success of lesser-known solutions already happening now. A collaboration between Teen Vogue, Truthout, and Zealous this series was filmed on location at the DePaul Art Museum during their powerful exhibition, Remaking the Exceptional.
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We don’t need to imagine the future. The future is now.
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