Gibran's Podcast: Episode 19 - Designing Justice with Deanna Van Buren

Gibrán's Podcast

We live in a punitive culture. The United States incarcerates more of its people than any country in the world. Turn to twitter at any point of the day and you see cancel culture in full display. What makes us think we can throw people away? We are wired for connection. We need structures of belonging. This is how we signal a culture of safety and well being. Punitive culture makes us anxious. It makes us afraid. It makes us feel alone. What happens when you take a stand for restorative justice? What if we take back our architecture, our institutional space, to foster love and forgiveness instead? Meet my friend Deanna Van Buren. The founder and executive director of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces. She is an artist running an architecture and real estate development firm that works to end mass incarceration. Can you imagine? This is a conversation full of heart and insight. Deanna is not just an architect and an artist. She is a committed spiritual adept with a passionate commitment to the power of women of color. Get a feeling for her wisdom. Her TED Talk has been viewed more than a million times (https://www.ted.com/talks/deanna_van_buren_what_a_world_without_prisons_could_look_like?language=en). And she was just featured in the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/arts/design/prison-architecture.html). I am thrilled to know the world is paying attention to her work.