Justin Maffett is a lawyer and activist living in Yorkville on the Upper East Side of New York. Here's his story of growing up as a Black kid in predominantly white spaces, becoming an activist, and how a protest in his local community helped him find his voice in the recent and ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the horrific police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. ***BLACK LIVES MATTER - TAKE ACTION!*** Get a list of NEXT STEPS and RESOURCES below this episode on our website: https://arthumanityaction.com/ep-14-justin-maffett -- OUR HOUSE Credits: Speech audio from Carl Schurz Park via @ justinmaffett on Instagram. Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro.

Jennifer Bartlett has long been using her voice to advocate for people with disabilities: first as a poet and a writer, and later as an activist in New York City. Here’s her story of how speaking up for disabled people at a Rise and Resist activist meeting led her to her current role within the MTA President's Office for Systemwide Accessibility, where she works on changing the culture around disability access. Support Jennifer’s work at zoeglossia.org: a community for writers with disabilities. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks and Jeff Rose. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro.

As an undocumented immigrant from Mexico growing up in the US, Jazmin Chavez learned at a young age that she would need to work especially hard to achieve her goals. Here’s her story of how she did exactly that, while organizing to help others in the immigrant and undocumented community as well. Keep up with Jazmin at @ jazminchavez on Twitter. And check out the Center for Popular Democracy and sign up for their emails at populardemocracy.org. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

John Proctor is a teacher at Manhattanville College who started a volunteer creative arts program on Rikers Island. Here's his story of why he started the program, the myriad challenges to getting it off the ground, and how you can get involved with criminal justice reform and supporting the incarcerated population. Follow John's work @ johnproc on Twitter, and get involved with Court Watch at https://www.courtwatchnyc.org/. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

Liuba Grechen Shirley, mother of two, made history during the 2018 midterms by successfully petitioning the FEC to use her congressional campaign funds for childcare. Since the election, she's used her experience running for Congress to launch Vote Mama: the first PAC to mentor and financially support moms running for office at all levels of US government. Learn more about Vote Mama and get in touch about running, or to support other moms who are running, at www.votemama.org, or email [email protected]. Follow @ VoteMamaUS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

Paola Mendoza believes in the power of art to move people to a place of action. That belief led her to becoming artistic director of the Women’s March. And this past November, it took her to Mexico to tell true stories from the immigrants and refugees in the caravan headed to the US. You can see Paola's stories from the caravan on Instagram: instagram.com/paolamendoza. Find her on Twitter at twitter.com/paolamendoza To get involved in the fight to help immigrants and refugees, follow and support the organizations mentioned in this episode including: -Families Belong Together: www.familiesbelongtogether.org -RAICES: www.raicestexas.org -United We Dream: www.unitedwedream.org -Informed Immigrant: www.informedimmigrant.com -Texas Civil Rights Project: www.texascivilrightsproject.org Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com. OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

Back in July 2018, we hosted a live storytelling show featuring stories about "taking power back" to raise money and enlist new volunteers for Swing Left to help flip the House. Here are two stories we heard that night, from Swing Left political director Adrienne Lever; and award-winning storyteller Mark Pagán. Keep up with Swing Left at www.swingleft.org Get tickets for our next live show, Art, Humanity & Action: We're BACK, a fundraiser for Indivisible, on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, at www.arthumanityaction.com/2019-indivisible Find Art, Humanity & Action on Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

Jay W. Walker first got into activism after the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998; and again in 2016, after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. And while his strongest calls to act have come from moments of horrific violence, the one defining thread throughout his work is joy. Today Jay is an organizer for the groups Gays Against Guns (www.gaysagainstguns.net), Rise and Resist (www.riseandresist.org), and the Reclaim Pride Coalition (www.ReclaimPrideNYC.org). You can often hear him singing along with Sing Out Louise (and perhaps at the VERY end of this episode). Keep up with Jay at @ jaywwalker on Instagram and @ jaywwalker1 on Twitter. And check out www.singoutlouisenyc.org for more fantastic tunes. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks and Nate Lineback. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

Malia Brown is a climate activist and all-around lovely human who believes in the power of one individual to make a difference. Here’s her story about how getting involved with the Obama ‘08 campaign gave her confidence to talk to voters, and led her to her current roles as Climate Reality Leader and Charter Member of The Climate Reality Project, and State Climate Lead for Organizing for Action New York. Find and follow Organizing for Action (OFA) at www.ofa.us and on social media @ OFA_NY. Follow Climate Reality Project on social @ ClimateReality. Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Music by Audioblocks and Nate Lineback. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.

While at Berkeley, Princess Manuel took a class that opened her eyes to her Filipino activist roots, to discovering the activist spirit within her immediate family — and all the way up to her work today as co-founder of AF3IRM and Women of Color for Progress. In her leadership roles at Women of Color for Progress and AF3IRM, Princess spends her time exposing and dismantling patriarchy, racism, and class oppressions via collective holistic healing practices, transnational feminist activism, and electoral politics. (Yes, she’s a total badass.) Follow Women of Color for Progress and AF3IRM on Instagram and Twitter at @ woc4progress and @ af3irm; and on Facebook at facebook.com/woc4progress and facebook.com/af3irm Find Art, Humanity & Action on Instagram (instagram.com/arthumanityaction), Facebook (facebook.com/arthumanityaction), Twitter (twitter.com/arthumanityact), and www.arthumanityaction.com. OUR HOUSE Credits: Production and editing by Jeff Rose. Hosted by Nicole Ferraro. PR by PKPR.