Matthew Solomon ‘21

Matthew Solomon at Jody Armour screening.
Matthew Solomon at Jody Armour screening

Matthew Solomon’s ‘21 (Online, BS) first documentary feature, Reimagining Safety, will have its Official West Coast Premiere on Friday, February 3, 2023, at the San Pedro International Film Festival. In Reimagining Safety, ten experts—including LA County District Attorney George Gascón, USC Law professor Dr. Jody Armour, and law enforcement expert Alex S. Vitale—discuss the false premise that more police and more prisons make us safer while providing practical and actionable solutions toward achieving systems of safety that work for everyone.

The film is already receiving very positive feedback and support from social justice organizations and newly elected progressive leaders. The film had a screening with Critical Resistance LA on January 7, 2023. It has had requests to provide screenings for Scripps College, El Camino College, Portland State University, Buffalo State University, and more, while also organizing events with BLM Los Angeles and several organizations in the NYC area. The West Coast Premiere will include a screening, panel discussion, reception, and red carpet. The event will be free to attend.

Reimagining Safety Movie Poster
Reimagining Safety Poster

Synopsis:
Worldwide protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd included calls to defund or abolish the police until a sharp rise in crime gave politicians and police supporters the fuel they needed to suppress the movement. Unfortunately, a detailed conversation about transforming public safety was never had. In this film, 10 experts discuss how policing and incarceration create more harm than good, why the system persists, and what changes can be made to make everyone safe. 

Interviews include:

  • LA County DA George Gascón
  • USC Law Professor Dr. Jody Armour
  • Dr. El Jones – professor and co-author of “Defunding the Police – Planning the Way Forward for the HRM”
  • Alex S Vitale – professor, law enforcement expert, and author of “End of Policing”
  • Gina Viola – former LA Mayoral candidate who ran on an abolition platform
  • Nikki Blak – Sociologist, anti-racism educator, and Inglewood born and raised
  • Hawk Newsome – co-founder of Black Lives Matter NY and Black Opportunities
  • Jose Gutierrez – Licensed social worker, therapist, and Restorative Justice practitioner
  • Hadiya Kennedy – former LAPD detective
  • Sennett Devermont – “Mr. Checkpoint,” police auditor and founder of the AFTP Foundation

Read more about “Reimagining Safety” on the film’s website here.  Learn more about the film and the San Pedro International Film Festival on their Facebook page. 

You find tickets to view his film here. 

View Notes by Type

View Notes by Campus

Lem Watson

Lem Watson, EdD, Core Faculty and Professor of Inclusive Leadership and Change in the PhD in Leadership and Change program, has recently published two articles: “How to Make the Most of Intergenerational Diversity” in Higheredjobs.com and “Understanding the Work of DEI in Today’s World” for the Institute for Organizational Mindfulness on Medium. He was also profiled by his alma mater Ball State, where he received his master’s degree in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education: “Lemuel Watson and His Passion for Positive Change.”

March 27, 2023

Sarah Harpster ‘08

Sarah Harpster ‘08 (New England, MS) was profiled in The Keene Sentinel. She has accepted a new position as Executive Director at The Community Kitchen where she began 10 years ago as their first gleaning and outreach coordinator gathering surplus crops or food from local farms. Through her work at The Community Kitchen, she began to see how to combine her background in anthropology and theology and degree in Environmental Studies with her enthusiasm for food, “I started to see that, in how we manage our food systems and how we manage agriculture, there’s a social justice aspect of that,

March 24, 2023

Rick Brackett ‘09

Rick Brackett ‘09 (New England, MS) was featured in a profile story for The Keene Sentinel. The article titled, “For Brackett, environmental stewardship began at home,” highlights his 14 years with the Monadnock Conservancy in Keene, his career shift to becoming a natural resource specialist and ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and how his upbringing influenced his education and eventual career in working in the environment. In his new role, he will be involved in environmental stewardship, recreation and flood risk management. His responsibilities include computer mapping and improving trails and habitat—some of the same skills he

March 24, 2023

Harmony Kwiker ‘07

Harmony Kwiker ‘07 (Seattle, MA) has released her latest book, Align: Living and Loving from the True Self. In this remarkable exploration of the human condition, she provides a clear and comprehensive map to rediscovering how to live and love from the True Self, including how to come back to wholeness by accessing your subtle energy body, how to embody your alignment in all of your relationships and how to explore sexual intimacy in a sacred way. Kwiker is a psychotherapist, author, and professor at Naropa University, where she teaches transpersonal counseling. She is also the founder of the Institute

March 23, 2023

CFT Faculty and Students Present at Conference

Three of New England’s MA in Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) faculty, as well as seven CFT doctoral students, have been invited to present their workshop, “An Exploration of Deliberate Practice in Online and In-person Graduate Education” at the upcoming International Conference on e-Learning and Innovative Pedagogies which will be held in Malta. Presenters will include Dr. Lucille Byno, Dr. Kristi Harrison, Dr. Markie Twist, Jessica Fountas, Alisha Bachman, Lydia P. Perry, Noemi Correa, Marissa Zerby, Danielle Samuel, and Dawn Wilson. This workshop presentation is based on an innovative deliberate practice model that was used by CFT faculty, as well

March 23, 2023

Carol V. Davis

Carol V. Davis, Poet and Adjunct Faculty in the Los Angeles Undergraduate program’s Creative Writing concentration, has published her fourth poetry collection, Below Zero (Stephen F. Austin University Press).   In Below Zero, Davis explores Siberia, an area in Russia largely unknown to Americans. Flying into Ulan-Ude, capital of Buryatia Republic, where she had never been, she mutters a prayer that her plane will be met. On a trip to Lake Baikal, she and her colleagues drive past trees strung with Tibetan prayer flags and stop to drop rubles in the lap of a Buddha.  In Irkutsk, when her host dips

March 22, 2023
Antioch University

Since our founding 1852, Antioch University has remained on the forefront of social justice, inclusion, and equality – regardless of ethnicity, gender, creed, orientation, focus of study, or ability.

Antiochians actively reflect these shared values to inspire positive change in the world. Common Thread is where we document the stories that showcase our communities actions, so the change we work for can be shared widely.  

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