About

Our Series is Named after the groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration at DePaul Art Museum in Chicago, Illinois, where these conversations took place.

Our Story

What do successful alternatives to policing, prosecution, and prison actually look like? And how would they work? A group of Chicago’s leading public safety, health, and justice innovators gathered in 2022 to provide much-needed clarity on these crucial questions.

Artists, survivors of violence, entrepreneurs and business leaders, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, and system-impacted people sat down for a series of conversations while exploring Remaking the Exceptional, a groundbreaking exhibition on torture and incarceration. A collaboration between Teen Vogue, Truthout, and Zealous, this series was filmed on location at the DePaul Art Museum.
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We don’t need to imagine the future. The future is now.

The Innovators

The series features a team of artists, survivors of violence, entrepreneurs and business leaders, public defenders, policy experts, restorative justice practitioners, system-impacted people, and more.

Bella BAHHS

artist and activist

Bella BAHHS (Black Ancestors Here Healing Society) is a Chicago-based raptivist and revolutionary, nationally known for making sedition irresistible through her art, activism and advocacy for prison industrial complex abolition.

Briana Payton

advocate and policy expert

Briana Payton is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. Briana previously worked at the Chicago Community Bond Fund, and is a member of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, which led the historic campaign to abolish money bond (or cash bail) in Illinois. Briana received her Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Princeton University, and her Social Work master's degree with a focus on policy, trauma informed care, and legal system reform from the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

Chez Rumpf

Love & Protect member

Chez Rumpf is a member of Love & Protect, an abolitionist collective that supports criminalized survivors of gender-based violence. Her scholarship and community-based work focus on carceral systems, gender-based violence, post-incarceration experiences, higher education in prison, and qualitative and visual research methods. Her recently published book Recovering Identity: Criminalized Women's Fight for Dignity and Freedom is available through University of California Press.

Jenny Viets

restorative justice practitioner

Jennifer Viets (she/her/hers) has worked as a Restorative Justice Practitioner for the past 15 years. She is currently the Alternative Resolution Pathways Specialist in the Office of Student Protections for Chicago Public Schools and for the previous four years worked as a Restorative Practices Coach in the Office of Social Emotional Learning. Her work in the community involves training community Circle Keepers and supporting restorative processes. She is also a very proud mother and grandmother.

Johnny Page

entrepreneur and trauma specialist

Johnny Page is the Executive Director at ConTextos. He is a formerly incarcerated professional, speaker, author, anti-violence educator, and advocate. He’s committed to creating caring spaces where we all can find time and space to unpack, sort through, and reflect on the stories that often shape who we are. Johnny is the Co-Founder of C.A.V.E. (Community Anti-Violence Education) an intergenerational community-based support system for those who are affected by trauma.

Sharlyn Grace

public defender

Sharlyn Grace is the Senior Policy Advisor at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender. She most recently served as Executive Director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund and a Regional Organizer at the National Bail Fund Network.

Takenya Nixon

public defender

Takenya Nixon is an Attorney Supervisor at the Office of the Cook County Public Defender.

Tanya Lozano

health advocate and entrepreneur

Tanya Lozano is an activist, health advocate and community architect battling the many challenges affecting black and brown communities. As founder of Healthy Hood Chicago, Tanya leads a robust portfolio of programs aiming to engage, educate, and empower youth and families in personal and community health, wellness and social justice initiatives. In 2020, Tanya was recognized as Chicagoan of Year.