Transcript is available here

In this episode with David, We talk with him about the work he has been doing since leaving the prison system. We cover his work at the Freedom Project and The Black Rose Collective.
Access part one and two of this series.

David Heppard is the Co-Founder and Director of Vision and Values at The Black Rose Collective: www.theblackrosecollective.org

 Excerpt from the episode: There is no allyship without relationship. Folks be like, well, how can I help?, Well, how can I be supportive? Well, I think you're thinking about it wrong. I think you want a 10 point plan on what it looks like to, to, to be viewed as helping you if you want to really and genuinely help you get in relationship.

That that's going to tell you how to be there for me. You're going to know how to be there for me. Cause we're in relationship and how you be there for me is going to be different than how you'd be there for somebody else who just might happen, look like me.

I believe that accountability with relationship feels like love and accountability without relationship feels like abuse. There's this way of folks who care about you, can hold you accountable when you caused harm or when you've done wrong. I think that we've navigated through a society that have constructed these systems that have always had this messaging of a lack of care.

The systems don't feel like accountability. They feel like punishment. Right. I think that me doing my work and, and healing and being able to show up for the community and add the value that I, whatever value I could add is important in the sense of trying to heal the wrongs.

I know some of the wrongs I could never heal and I have to sit in that. And I think that's just a reality. And I hope that folks would lean in a little bit, or at least close enough to see how I'm showing up now and who I am.

- David