In this episode, Race Forward’s Director of Root Solutions for Public Safety Alex Frank talks with John Pineda — Deputy Director and founding member of the MILPA Collective — about how communities from Minneapolis to Los Angeles are redefining public safety. Together they reflect on the lasting impact of state control, surveillance, and militarization, and the ways communities have responded through cultural organizing, resilience, and healing. As the nation confronts renewed attacks on racial equity, this conversation highlights the power of intergenerational leadership and storytelling to challenge dominant ideas of safety. In the end, guest John Pineda and host Alex Frank remind us that true safety means more than the absence of harm — it’s the presence of trust, connection, and imagination to build something better together.