Into the Mix

A new season of Into The Mix, a Ben & Jerry’s podcast about joy and justice, is back! Hosted by Ashley C. Ford, we’re bringing you inspiring stories from unexpected heroes. People who didn’t set out to be activists, but found themselves stepping up for something bigger than themselves. Like a singer/songwriter whose music headlines protests; an award-winning journalist whose story of being undocumented is changing how journalists discuss immigration; a WNBA champion who is using her influence to fight cannabis injustice and so much more. Tune in weekly to experience  these amazing stories of courage, creativity, joy and justice.

Antonio and other business owners in Florida sued the state after the Stop WOKE Act was signed, and won. What does that mean for the future of the act, and for business owners in the state? In our final episode of the season, we’re taking a deep dive into the fraught conversation of D.E.I., the “war on woke,” and what it really takes to dismantle white supremacy.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is on a mission to curb conversations about race, diversity, and inequity of all shades. He’s banned books, trainings, and classes. He’s introduced laws and attacked businesses of all sizes. But why? What is the motivation behind the so-called “War on Woke” and where do we go from here?

According to Antonio McBroom, a day without dessert is a disaster. So it makes sense that he’s now an ice cream entrepreneur, slinging scoops of Ben & Jerry’s up and down the Florida coast. At the core of Antonio’s business model is leadership training and mentorship for all of his scoop shop managers. So when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis introduced the Stop WOKE act in 2021, he had two options: immediately halt training on diversity, equity and bias, or face potential legal action from the state. In the final mini-series of this season, we’re heading to Florida to learn how the Stop WOKE act has censored businesses, chilled critical conversations about equity, and spurred business owners like Antonio to fight back.

We'll be back in November with our final mini-series of this season which delves into Florida's War on Woke and the ongoing fight to protect diversity, equity and inclusion programs. In the meantime, listen to some of our past episodes of Into the Mix. To learn more about how to support communities in Florida impacted by hurricane Milton, visit HERE.

Ms. Livvy’s heroic efforts to protect voting rights have come at a cost. Her health has suffered, and she’s tired. But she knows there’s more work to do, especially with the November election on the very near horizon. In our final episode from Georgia, we’re diving into why your vote matters, why it’s a fundamental right, and the key ingredient to sustaining the fight for voting rights: joy. Learn more at benjerry.com/vote and get involved with Black Voters Matter here.

Ms. Livvy has watched as Georgia has become ground zero for voter suppression efforts. Laws that wipe people from the polls are popping up left and right, all claiming to curb so-called voter fraud… even though studies have shown over and over again that rates of voter fraud are between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. Here’s what is a real issue: voter suppression. And as we get ready to cast our votes in November, the best way to make sure our election is representative of the country is to ensure that everyone who’s eligible can vote. Here’s how you can help. Learn more at benjerry.com/vote and get involved with Black Voters Matter here.

Voters in Coffee County, Georgia have another name for this place: Crooked Coffee, where elections officials have waged war on voters of color for decades. So residents weren't shocked when their tiny community made national headlines following the January 6th attack on the Capitol, after members of the GOP there allegedly allowed Trump associates to copy software and other sensitive digital elections materials in the days following the 2020 election. It was the latest chapter in the long story of so-called voter fraud in this small, majority-Black county – and Olivia Coley Pearson is tired. Ms. Livvy, as she’s known in the community, is the descendant of a local voting rights hero, and she’s committed her life to furthering her mother’s legacy of fighting back against intimidation and suppression of voters of color, even as those attacks grow more personal. We’re headed to Georgia to meet Ms. Livvy in action, and to learn how she fought back against bogus voter fraud charges. Learn more at benjerry.com/vote and get involved with Black Voters Matter here.

Ms. Sharon never thought she’d be the one to take down the industry harming her community. But as her fight gains momentum, she’s scoring wins that are making big impact. And Jo Banner never thought she’d own a plantation. But it’s a powerful way to protect the past, while defending her neighbors from the petrochemical industry. In the final episode of our series from the River Parishes, what happens when you dare to re-imagine a better future for your community, your family, and your home.

The violent history of Cancer Alley began long before the petrochemical industry arrived in the 1960s. Prior to being dominated by plastics plants, this land was home to plantations. To understand how this stretch of the Louisiana River Parishes became a “sacrifice zone” – a place where plastic is more important than people – we’re taking a look back at the violent legacy of this land. Here’s how Ms. Sharon and Jo Banner, a neighbor from nearby St. John the Baptist Parish, are working to honor the past as they fight for their future. Learn more about the Descendants Project here.

The beautiful stretch of Louisiana where Ms. Sharon Lavigne lives goes by many names: the River Parishes, The Great River Road, The Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, and, worst of all... Cancer Alley. This 85 mile stretch of riverbank houses over 150 petrochemical plants. The majority of these plants neighbor predominantly Black communities, many of which are historical free towns created by formerly enslaved people in the wake of abolition. And now, Ms. Sharon’s schedule is filled with funerals for their descendants, who are falling dangerously ill as the industry chokes out the community. In this three-part series, the evolving harm of environmental racism, and how Ms. Sharon and her neighbors are rising up against it. Learn more about Rise St. James here.

How do you close a jail that’s as old as your city? Step one: gather your people. In the final episode of this series from St. Louis, we’re talking to the politicians, disruptors, and rabble-rousers who joined Inez’s fight to close the Workhouse. Here’s how they did it, and how you can do it, too. Want to close the jail or pre-trial detention center in your town? Learn more HERE. And check out the Bail Project’s resources on bail reform HERE.

More than half a million Americans are sitting in jail awaiting trial. And 60% of them are there because they can’t afford not to be. That’s why the Workhouse jail in St. Louis stayed so full for so long. Some people jailed there were pulled over for speeding, others learned they had outstanding warrants for probation violations. All of them owed something to the courts. In the second episode of this series, we’re taking the courts to court, to understand how the system kept The Workhouse jail full for over a century, and how Inez and the community of activists around her emptied it for good.

Inez Bordeaux needs you to know three things: she’s a mom of four, a Scorpio, and she always gets her lick back. So when a court error sent her life into a seven year tailspin, she came out swinging on the other side, and set her sights on justice. How? By closing the jail that symbolized the system that nearly buried her: The Workhouse. In this three-part series, we’re taking you to St. Louis to meet Inez and the community of activists, lawyers, and politicians that joined together to close a notorious jail that’s almost as old as the city itself. Please take care, as this episode discusses domestic violence. You can learn more about ArchCity Defenders here.

Into the Mix is all about joy and justice in action, and this season, Ben & Jerry’s is bringing you four multi-part stories that take you beyond the news headlines, and introduce you to the real people at the heart of some of today’s greatest fights for justice. Host Ashley C. Ford is taking you to meet activists who fought to shut down a notorious jail in St. Louis, a community rising up against the destruction of their health and home in a part of Louisiana dubbed Cancer Alley, and leaders protecting voting rights and inclusion efforts in the south. Let’s get into it, beginning July 10th.

Johnny Perez worked hard throughout his 13 year prison sentence. He sewed sheets and facilitated classes, met demanding quotas and helped other men prepare for life on the outside. The highest wage he was ever paid was 34 cents an hour. Meanwhile, prison labor generated $14 billion last year. So why do so many people like Johnny leave prison empty handed? In this Season Two finale, we’re going back to 1865, to understand how a key exception written into the 13th Amendment paved the way for the modern prison industry. From convict leasing to prison plantations, exploited labor is part of the DNA of this country, and more than two-thirds of people behind bars in America labor throughout their incarceration. Their average day wage? Just 86 cents. But: there’s a growing movement to end the exception, and end slavery once and for all in this country. Learn more about the movement to End the Exception here, and be sure to check out Worth Rises’ incredible study on prison labor, and UNICOR’s phone bank video. You can also learn more about Johnny’s work for NRCAT here.

When Flo was arrested in 2016, he did not expect to be wrapped into the predatory bail industry. $7,500: that was the amount the judge set for his pretrial release. “$7,500 might as well have been a million dollars to me.” As a result, Flo spent two months in jail even though he was legally innocent. Half a million Americans are in pretrial detention at any given moment, and more than 60% of them are there because they can’t afford bail. In theory, bail is supposed to be one way out of jail. So how did it become a way to trap so many people in, even when they're still legally presumed innocent? Learn more about the Pretrial Fairness Act, and support the Coalition to End Money Bond.

Priscilla Robinson says the Southside neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina was once a thriving, tight-knit community. She describes fruit trees and multigenerational homeowners, booming small businesses and neighbors who looked out for one another. But that all changed in 1968, when the city approved plans for “urban renewal” and displaced more than fifty percent of Asheville’s Black residents, including Priscilla and her family. Decades later, in 2020, Asheville became just the second city in the US and the first in the south to approve reparations for its Black population, and Priscilla is making sure that the harms of urban renewal aren’t forgotten as a community Reparations Commission shapes its plan. To see photos of the Southside prior to Urban Renewal, and to explore Priscilla’s research, click here. You can also learn more about the Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville here, and join us in calling for President Biden to establish a federal Reparations Commission here.

When 3rd year med student Megh Kumar told a mentor she’d decided to go into OB GYN, she got an unexpected piece of advice: don’t. It’s been more than a year since the Supreme Court revoked constitutional protections for abortion rights with their Dobbs decision. Since then 13 states – including Megh’s home state of Kentucky – have banned nearly all abortions. Some states have criminalized performing or abetting abortion. The effect has been chilling not only for patients who need them, but for doctors who feel it’s their medical duty to provide them. As the next generation of doctors like Megh enter this field of medicine, many are asking themselves if it’s worth it. Abortion providers are often targets for harassment and violence, and studying in a restrictive state might limit training opportunities. Data show a more than 10% decrease in residency applications to OB GYN programs in restrictive states. If fewer doctors are training to be OB GYNs, what does that mean for the rest of us? Learn more about how to advocate for abortion rights at WeTestify, and visit SisterSong.net for more information about reproductive justice.

On a cold night in 2002, Chrissy Isaacs watched yet another logging truck loaded with old growth trees hurtle past her home in the Grassy Narrows First Nation, down the only road into the reserve: built by and for the logging industry. Enough was enough. That night, she dropped a tree in the road to block the loggers, and changed her community forever. This is the story of land back, and the fight to correct the long, long history of colonizers claiming indigenous territories as their own for economic benefit. But for millions of Indigenous people around the world, land back is about a lot more than ownership. It’s about relating to the land as more than just a resource, a commodity extracted, traded, owned, and controlled. Land back is about relationships, and what happens when we reconnect to the lands and waters that shape us. Please take care when listening: this episode discusses suicide and self harm. Learn more about how mercury poisoning has affected Grassy Narrows, support the community as they fight logging and mining claims in their traditional territories, and get to know Indigenous Climate Action here.