Welcome to the De-Bug the System Podcast!

This episode "The Discrimination Playbook: Hiding and Arresting Poverty in San Jose for the Super Bowl & World Cup" dives into what the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area means for the most vulnerable in San Jose in 2026. We reflect on San Jose's iteration of the common-used playbook that uses public resources and police to hide and arrest poverty locally for the up-scale appearance for our wealthy guests coming to town. We are in solidarity with all the local communities that experience the force and cruelty that is paired with international sporting events and reflect on how we, in San Jose, are going to protect our people.

On this episode of the De-Bug the System podcast, De-Bug organizer Ana sits down with participatory defense organizer Laila Aziz. Laila and her fellow organizers at Pillars of the Community, a San Diego based organization, held the San Diego County District Attorney accountable for racial disparities in sentencing. How did they do this? They held a People's Tribunal, inspired by movement leaders of the past.

With the People's Tribunal, they served their own subpoena to the District Attorney's Office and demanded their attendance to the Tribunal where they laid out the qualitative findings of racial disparity in sentencing in the county, the room filled with pictures of all the young men who were sentenced to die in a California prison.

In this conversation, hear where the idea came from, how it went down and what Laila and Pillars thinks is next.

Protect Your People!

Fighting for Racial Justice from Legislation to Law: A Webinar on the Implementation and Future of the California Racial Justice Act

Watch our webinar from Thursday, April 24th, a dialogue on the Racial Justice Act (RJA), featuring a discussion with practitioners from different vantage points who are all fighting for the promise of the Racial Justice Act to be realized. The discussion gives insight as to what is happening in courtrooms for pre-trial and post-conviction relief efforts, what challenges have arisen, and what communities, attorneys, and those incarcerated are doing to overcome these obstacles.

We also be launched our https://www.rjaction.org/ -- a landing page by participatory defense organizers, impacted families, and the incarcerated, chronicling how the Racial Justice Act is being implemented, and strategies and stories from across the state on how to fight for racial justice in the courts.