Prisons as an integral method of our justice systems were invented in the United States around 200 years ago and imported to South Africa and the rest of the world through colonisation and globalisation. In the United States and in South Africa the prison systems developed alongside institutionalised racial discrimination. Now we are amidst a global pandemic and it is important to explore the problems and perils of incarceration during a time of contagion. What are the collateral effects of failing to decarcerate? What are the uniquely harsh impacts of the Coronavirus on prison populations? What are some of the progressive policies that we are seeing from around the world during this time? At the same time, are we potentially seeing a system of re-incarceration/regressive policies? What are some of the regressive/progressive measures we will carry into the future?

The Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity and Nelson Mandela Foundation will host a conversation to explore these questions and others, featuring:

• Prof. Baz Dreisinger, Executive Director of the Incarcerations Nations Network (INN) and founder of the Prison-to-College Pipeline program which offers college courses and reentry planning.

• Justice Edwin Cameron,  a former judge and Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

• Devon Simmons, an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, 2019 Soros Justice Fellow, International Ambassador for the Incarceration Nations Network (INN), and the first graduate of the Prison-to-College Pipeline Program.

• Kofi Danso, a student of the Prison-to-College Pipeline Programme South Africa

TO JOIN: www.youtube.com/CentreofMemory