Media Archives

Is It Time To Go Beyond “The New Jim Crow”? The Limits of Alexander’s View of Mass Incarceration

May 7, 2025

Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle’s Dayvon Love and Lawrence Grandpre reflect on Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, arguing that despite the author’s intentions, it has been used to focus reform on non-violent drug offenders at the cost of more substantive criminal justice reform. The failure of the text to use the lessons of political prisons and the Black radical tradition and affirm a bottom up political movement to empower Black controlled solutions to crime has led to largely symbolic reforms, technocratic, non-profit driven reforms and failed to address the fundamental pathologization of Black people as inherently violent that continues to drive policing and prisons.

AUDIO: 10th anniversary of Freddie Gray’s death: Dayvon Love Breaks Down Protest, Policy, and Political Power

April 22, 2025

Dayvon Love, Director of Policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, reflects on how protest movements have evolved since the Baltimore uprising that followed the death of Freddie Gray.

VIDEO: Progress, unfinished work since Freddie Gray died

April 21, 2025

Community leaders reflect on measurable progress made in the past decade since the death of Freddie Gray as they look ahead to a long way to go. In Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, tensions rose to extremely explosive levels in April 2015 after the so-called “rough ride” in a police transport van that resulted in Gray’s death, caused by neck and spinal cord injuries, while in police custody.

Freddie Gray: A Decade of Struggle

April 19, 2025

In this special 10-year anniversary documentary, TRNN reporters Stephen Janis and Taya Graham asked Baltimore organizers, activists, teachers, and residents for their reflections on Freddie Gray’s death, the subsequent uprising, and where the city is now.

A step toward justice: Maryland legislators approve reparations commission bill

April 13, 2025

During the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session, members of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland (LBCMD) led an effort to establish a reparations commission in Maryland to address the harms of the enslavement of African Americans in the state. On April 2, the LBCMD succeeded.

10 years later: Leaders speak on death of Freddie Gray and Baltimore’s struggle for change

April 12, 2025

It’s been 10 years since 25-year-old Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12 by Baltimore police and suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in custody. His April 19, 2015 death cast a national spotlight on Baltimore, sparking citywide protests. On the day of his funeral, April 27, riots broke out. The movement fueled a growing call for police accountability.

VIDEO: Panels at museum, University of Maryland help community reflect on Freddie Gray’s death

April 11, 2025

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum and the University of Maryland Frances King Carey School of Law hosted panels reflecting on events surrounding Freddie Gray’s death.

‘An unwanted sacrifice’: Community reflects on nearly 10 years since Freddie Gray’s death

April 10, 2025

An event at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum Thursday night allowed the community to reflect on the decade that has passed since Freddie Gray’s death.

From the Streets to the Statehouse – Ep. 23 (3/09/2025) – Live from Sine Die MDGA 2025 Wrap Up

April 9, 2025

The 2025 Maryland General Assembly session has ended. In this episode, Dayvon Love of LBS breaks down key takeaways from Annapolis — including the limits of HB 1222, the continued support of the Legislative Black Caucus, and the failures of the Democratic Party establishment.

HJC and CAIR hold press conference to demand protection of students from federal agencies

April 7, 2025

Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle hosted a panel discussion to discuss a ballot question that would reduce the Baltimore City Council from 14 districts to eight, with opponents arguing that it would usurp political power from Baltimore’s Black communities.

Media