Profits and Prisons

Sam Heath is joined by Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises and Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs of Franklin Community Church to discuss mass incarceration and CCDA's Locked in Solidarity Week [https://ccda.org/justice-initiatives/mass-incarceration/locked-in-solidarity/]. They discuss the profitability of prisons, stories of people behind bars, and ways that we can get involved in this work. Bianca Tylek is one of the nation's leading experts on the prison industry, the author of The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits [https://worthrises.org/theprisonindustry], and the Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises [https://worthrises.org/aboutus], a national non-profit dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs (Pastor Kevin) has been the Senior Pastor of Franklin Community Church [http://www.franklincommunitychurch.org/] for more than thirty years. He is also the founder and Executive Director of Franklin Community Development [http://www.franklincommunitydevelopment.com/] and the Williamson County Homeless Alliance [http://www.wilcohomeless.com/]. All three organizations are located in Franklin, TN. Sam Heath spent ten years teaching high school history before moving into the organizing and advocacy world with Equal Justice USA, a national nonprofit doing work on death penalty repeal, restorative justice, and community safety. He is the founder and Executive Director of The Commonwealth Justice Coalition [https://www.commonwealthjustice.net/]. He and his wife Rachel have three energetic kids and still live in Charlottesville, VA. Learn more about CCDA's Locked in Solidarity Week and how you can get involved at ccda.org/lis [https://ccda.org/justice-initiatives/mass-incarceration/locked-in-solidarity/]. References made in the episode: * PPI's Follow the Money article: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money2026.html * Read Today! - The Best Day of My Life [https://www.amazon.com/Today-Best-Day-My-Life/dp/B0DBJNP92T] * Learn about the End the Exception campaign [https://endtheexception.com/] Learn more about CCDA and how you can get involved at ccda.org [http://ccda.org/]. Connect with CCDA on Instagram [http://www.instagram.com/iamccda], Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/iamccda], Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/iamccda], and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/christian-community-development-association-ccda-/]. Follow CCDA on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/iamccda].