After being released from prison, they were eager to find employment and get their lives back on track. But on countless job applications, one simple question stood in their way.
More than 70 million American adults, or 29 percent of the U.S. adult population, have a criminal record. And these conviction histories can haunt the formerly incarcerated for the rest of their lives. In this video, filmed at and made possible by the William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a group of New Yorkers who spent time incarcerated share the far-reaching impact their records have had on their lives.
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Equality Equation, a producer on this project, is a digital media lab based in NYC that catalyzes seismic social and cultural change by harnessing the power of art, activism + media. Yaara Sumeruk, who edited this project, is a director and editor based in Brooklyn, New York.
Amy Vilela lost her daughter when she couldn’t afford the medical bills. When her Congressman told her he wouldn’t support universal healthcare, Amy said, “I’m running.”
Cori Bush is a registered nurse, a pastor and a mom. After taking to the streets to protest police killings, she looked in the mirror and said, “why not politician, too?”
“The Boss of the Queens Machine” hasn’t faced a primary challenger in 14 years. But an underfunded upstart is suddenly giving him a run for his money.
Paula Jean Swearengin has seen West Virginia’s land exploited, its people fall ill, and its politicians do nothing. So she decided to do something herself.
The coalminer’s daughter. The bartender. The police brutality activist. The grieving mother. Each looked at the man representing her in Congress and said, “I can do better.”
As Mark McKinley puts it, “no collector ever says, ‘I’ve gone too far.'” After 27 years and an official Guinness World Record, he stands by that statement.
Three young Spaniards are reviving the farming tradition that flourished in their grandparents' generation.
“Who would look after him if I wasn’t here?” and other questions this mom asks herself every day.
Meet a teenage actor-singer-comedian with absolutely no doubt that his tumultuous adolescence will soon give way to Hollywood fame.
We humans are far more complex than the news headlines and clickbait would have you believe. Let the Narratively newsletter be your guide.
