Race: Are We So Different? examines how systemic racism has created disproportionate outcomes in criminality and incarceration for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. The following videos are part of a series of conversations held by, and at, the Science Museum of Minnesota, to engage the topic of incarceration. Folks were invited to have long-form discussion about the impacts of incarceration on them and others.

Facilitated by Gwen Jones, this conversation with families impacted by incarceration centers on how the incarceration of individuals impacts families and the people who love them. This conversation includes perspectives from Sherrell Griffin, Alissa Washington, and Nakisha Armstrong-Ferguson.

Facilitated by Gwen Jones, this conversation with people who have been previously incarcerated touches on topics like the misconceptions that society holds about people who have been incarcerated, the factors that contribute to incarceration, and how the “justice” system might be improved to provide better outcomes for all. This conversation includes perspectives from T. David Starks, DeJiohn Brooks, Jason Sole, and Antonio Williams.

Facilitated by Raj Sethuraju, this conversation with transformative justice advocates focuses on the power of transformative justice to reimagine our relationship to the system of incarceration and the people who have been affected by it. This conversation includes perspectives from Gwen Jones, Maura Williams, Russel Balenger, and Michael Kleber Diggs.

In conversation with David Valentine, Ebi, Jeff, and Kennedy share some of their insights about common misconceptions about incarcerated people, what they’ve learned about themselves through their experiences in the carceral system, and what their visions of accountability might look like.