Renée Grange is a fourth-year student at UCLA, majoring in Human, Biology, and Society and minoring in Latin American Studies. Renée is a part of the Carceral Ecologies Lab, which researches the environmental injustices of the prison industrial complex. As a part of this lab, Renée works as a student researcher for an Oral History Project that aims to memorialize and understand the experiences of families who have lost loved ones in LA County Jail. The research is a community-generated and collaborative process that is done in partnership with Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles community organization that works with those who are incarcerated, re-entering, and their families. Through this partnership, Renée works directly with organizers, such as Helen Jones, who has been leading efforts for justice in LA for many years. In this project, Renée asks how feminized care work and masculinized law enforcement violence have gendered the work of racial justice-seeking in LA. Furthermore, she examines how this work affects women’s physical and mental health. Outside of research, Renée is passionate about health justice, works as a mentor for youth in Santa Ana with ALMA Science Academy, and writes for La Gente Newsmagazine.
