New Exhibit Launches This Month!
Painting Ourselves Into Society opens 9/21, plus 16 new stories
ARTWORK: Detail, Alvin Smith, Outside The Rusting Decay Of Confinement, 2024
We are thrilled to head into fall with a brand-new exhibit in partnership with the Berkeley Art Center. Painting Ourselves into Society is co-curated by Orlando Smith AKA “O. Smith” from inside San Quentin Prison and our co-founder Rahsaan “New York” Thomas. It features the works of eight currently and formerly incarcerated artists nationwide exploring what it means for incarcerated people to stay connected to the larger community and to challenge the idea of what healing looks like together.
It will run September 21st, 2024 through January 12th, 2025, with the opening reception on Saturday September 21st, 2:00-5:00 P.M., at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut Street, Berkeley. Bay Area friends — come say hi, see the work, and get a live, screen-printed poster! Details on future public programs are on our website.
Congrats to artists Alvin Smith, Cedar Annenkovna, Corey Devon Arthur, Jared Owens, Jessie Milo, Joanna Nixon, and Mark A Cádiz.
Keep reading for the 16 new stories published in August, awards and honors, podcasts, and as always — speaking out about liberation and freedom.
Our Latest Work
Elizabeth Hawes writes about caretaking from prison, for Prism1: “In the state of Minnesota, incarcerated people are only allowed to attend one of the following: a deathbed visit or a funeral visit.”
Tony Vick published three stories with Filter2 in August! Read them all: Veterans in Prison, Cut Off From Support, Try to Make It on Their Own, When the Prison Grievance Process Is Worth the Risk, and To See the US Prisons Crisis, Look at the Books We’re Trying to Read.
Tony Vick also penned an essay for Shado Mag3 reflecting on lessons from growing up in 60s Tennessee and new ones he’s learned in prison — from his cellmate being a neo-nazi, to finding a safe haven in an older man who he taught how to write.
For The Appeal4, Chris Blackwell writes that to visit your loved ones while incarcerated, strip searches and humiliation are the price of admission.
Lyle C. May wrote an op-ed for NC Newsline5 about death row prisoner’s pleas for access to a GED program, and a broken promise by the government and prison officials.
Heather Jarvis, who came home this year, wrote a beautiful piece for Truthout6 about Post Incarceration Syndrome: “Although not recognized yet, PICS is a very serious issue for returning citizens. I am a testament to that.”
C. Dreams has another powerful story up for Filter: “Sex Workers Are ‘Trafficking Victims’ Until Cops Don’t Want Them to Be.”
What is it like to experience elections from prison, especially in a battleground state? Phillip Vance Smith writes for Zocolo7 about the experience, with an illustration by Alvin Smith.
Alvin Smith’s painting about censorship graces the latest issue of Paper Chained Magazine8. Check out the digital copy here.
For MerionWest9, Antoine Davis writes about the hidden obstacles of parenting from prison: “I have been a better father in prison than I ever was on the outside. That is not because prison officials make it easy to parent from behind bars but, rather because of what I have learned about myself, parenting, and society since being incarcerated.”
For his latest On The Fence Line column for International Examiner10, Felix Sitthivong answers a reader question: “What do you watch on TV in prison, and why do you enjoy watching it?'“
For Scalawag11’s Abolition Week, Michael Ray writes a deeply researched essay about “the thread that binds” Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the U.S. prison system.
Also for Scalawag’s Abolition Week, E. Paris Whitfield writes about the felony murder law as a legal form of genocide: “It is subtle. It is misunderstood. And its evil passes for legal routine.”
We are excited to bring back our book review partnership with Study and Struggle! Corey Devon Arthur kicks it off with a review of Tip of the Spear.
Talk about an Empowerment Avenue collab! EA volunteer Abigail Glasgow coordinated as-told-to testimony from EA writers Sara Kielly, April Harris, Mithrellas Curtis and Bobbi about the importance of makeup in prison, for The Cut.
Artist Spotlight: Cedar Annenkovna
Cedar Annenkovna, a new artist to EA, has been working with the team for about one year and will have three incredible paintings included in the Painting Ourselves Into Society exhibition. On view here is a detail of California Burning—her reflection on watching the devastation of California burn from behind bars and wishing she could be there to help.
After serving over 5 years in prison for a wrongful conviction, Cedar was suddenly released by the Supreme Court a few months ago with only 30 minutes' notice. She is now rebuilding her life with amazing dreams and projects ahead. Her journey is truly inspiring and she needs our support to invest in the essentials and pursue her passions.
Please consider donating to her GoFundMe HERE.
Inside/Outside Insights
ADVOCACY: Jeremy Busby, who has been facing retaliation and censorship from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, spoke with Project Censored about the challenges and risks of his work.
PODCAST: Tariq MaQbool is featured on the podcast One Minute Remaining, discussing his innocence and issues with his case following 9/11. Here’s Part One and Part Two.
MORE PODCASTS: Thank you Aaron Olson for featuring Empowerment Avenue an the Writers Development Program on your latest podcast!
AWARDS: "In the Hole," a group memoir of solitary confinement by Chris Blackwell, Aaron Olson, Ray Williams, Antoine Davis and Jon Kirkpatrick, published by Jewish Currents, is a finalist for a Media for a Just Society Award for media by an incarcerated person!
MORE AWARDS: The Emancipator won an Edward R. Murrow award for its Prison Banned Books Week series, with Kwaneta Harris as a contributor!
FREEDOM CAMPAIGN: Our friends at Study and Struggle launched a campaign to Free the Mississippi Five. Corey Devon Arthur created a powerful solidarity piece for their campaign:
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Prism is an independent, nonprofit newsroom led by and for people of color that launched the Right to Write Project to feature and pay incarcerated writers. They pay .50 per word.
Filter’s mission is to advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy, and human rights. They pay $300 per essay.
Shado Mag, based in London, is a social justice publication that pays about $100 for essays.
The Appeal covers criminal justice issues from a progressive lens and pays $1/word.
NC Newsline is a North Carolina digital news publication. They do not pay for op-eds.
Truthout is a nonprofit news source publishing on a wide range of social justice issues. They pay around $300-$375 for essays.
Zocolo Public Square is a digital nonprofit news entity connecting people to new ideas. They pay $150 for essays.
Paper Chained Magazine is journal of writing and artistic expression from individuals affected by incarceration, based out of Australia.
MerionWest is an online magazine of politics and culture.
International Examiner is a Seattle publication focusing on the Asian-American experience. They pay $100 for essays.
Scalawag works in solidarity with oppressed communities in the South to disrupt and shift oppressive narratives. They pay several hundred dollars for articles and essays.