Poetry, Films, and Community
Plus, 18 new articles from our writers
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This month, we were in community with five women across prison walls and witnessed their responses through poetry to The Only Door I Can Open exhibition at YBCA. Lady Rev set the tone with a piece that wove together the words and stories of each artist, transforming their statements and artwork descriptions into a collective poem and even blessing us with soulful hymns. Tomiekia joined us via video call, reminding the audience of women's ongoing struggles while navigating the complex politics of prison life. The poetry series was unforgettable, and if you missed it, the performances are now on MoAD's YouTube channel.
We also want to give a big shoutout to our EA family member, Antwan Williams Banks, for collaborating with EA and SF State Project Rebound to host a film screening of Every Second and Processing. Antwan created a special edit of his films for this event—combining both projects. Afterward, we brought pizza, a college student essential, and dove into conversations on mental health, trauma, emotion management, and other topics.
We have been grateful for the opportunity to hold space for genuine conversations about what's happening in our country, bringing together people from all walks of life to share and reflect through community creative practices. We're looking forward to the summer and all the ways we'll continue to build community and create together.
Keep reading for 18 new stories—essays, analysis, and investigative reporting—from our writers, a spotlight of one of our artists, and inside/outside insights.
Our Latest Work
For The Appeal1 newsletter, Christopher Blackwell talked with Micaela Romero, a neural systems and behavior researcher who studies the impacts of social isolation. "Bumblebees are quite docile, friendly, and critically important to the well-being of our communities. Yet, they get such a bad reputation ... I have also found incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals to be quite docile, abundantly friendly, and critically important to our communities."
Also for The Appeal newsletter, Aaron Edward Olson and Randy Brennan write about how life-changing a dog training program has been inside their prison. "In this environment of deprivation, a powerful ally has emerged: dogs."
For International Examiner's On The Fence Line column2, Felix Sitthivong delves into the dehumanization of strip searches after visiting loved ones in prison. “If the DOC really cared about reconnecting families, they wouldn’t try to discourage visits by making us go through these dehumanizing procedures just to spend time with our loved ones.”
And for his second column this month, Felix Sitthivong writes about cultural holidays in prison and reflects on the Khmer and Lao New Year. “April does not only bring with it the Spring rains, but with that rain also comes Khmer and Lao New Year.”
Tony Vick writes an incredibly honest take for Filter Mag3 about what it means to be stuck in a private prison in Tennessee: "Those in the CoreCivic prisons are simply left to suffer and die."
The Incarcerated Writers series at Spectre Journal4 continues! Kwaneta Harris writes about the January 6th pardons and the FCI Dublin Settlement. “While January 6 defendants receive presidential pardons after attacking law enforcement, the sexually abused women of FCI Dublin remain behind bars despite winning a historic settlement against their government captors.”
More from Kwaneta Harris: She is a contributor to the poetry anthology Winter in America (Again. In the anthology, poets respond to the 2024 Presidential Election. You can buy a copy here.
And for Cosmopolitan Magazine5, Kwaneta Harris writes about the criminalization of Black hair in prison: "Having an Afro or dreadlocks can mean solitary confinement. Meanwhile, going with mandated hairstyles may be life-threatening..."
“In prison, your spiritual journey is regulated by paperwork,” writes Kwaneta Harris for Sojourners6. Read the full essay here.
John Corley, writing from Angola Prison for Verite News, has commentary up about how it is time to overturn remaining split-jury verdicts in Louisiana. He writes that the state “is now the sole outlier that embraces archaic, race-based jurisprudence.”
For Freedom of the Press Foundation7, Jeremy Busby writes how the Prison Litigation Reform Act severely obstructed the pathways for all incarcerated individuals to obtain justice and crippled incarcerated journalists’ ability to make human rights violations known to the public.
Congrats to Phillip Vance Smith who has published his first feature with Bolts8! It's about people in North Carolina with juvenile life sentences who are hoping the state's new administration believes in second chances.
And for Emancipate NC9, Phillip Vance Smith wrote about co-authoring the Prison Resources Repurposing Act and what it would mean if North Carolina passed it. “Mass incarceration is costing state taxpayers a fortune, unbeknownst to them, and the only logical solution is decarceration.”
For Carefree Magazine10, Lanae Tipton writes about the risk of using makeup in prison, and why it's worth it to her. "There is such a freedom in beauty that prison cannot take away..."
Tony Cobb writes for Miami New Times11 about the growing fear of deportation inside his Texas prison. "First, Trump says those who are criminals, now ICE is grabbing everybody."
The latest from Steve Brooks for Local News Matters12 is about the San Quentin incarcerated fathers dance with their daughters at first-ever ‘Parenting Prom.’ “The prison chapel was converted into a ballroom with huge black drapes, colorful lighting and an illuminated dance floor…Correctional officers, guardians, mothers, and volunteers cheered as each reunion took place. Some people were in tears.”
An excellent analysis from Lyle May for Prism13: "When it comes to the criminal legal system, both the Trump administration and Project 2025 detach from statistics, facts about crime and punishment, and evidence-based corrections."
For The Progressive14, Michael Ray writes about Suboxone, a widely misused drug in prison. He argues that medication assisted treatment programs—known as the ‘gold standard’ of treatment for opioid use disorder—could be the solution.
Artist Spotlight: Mark “Stan-Bey” Stanley
Mark Stanley, or “Stan-Bey”, as he prefers to be called, has been an Empowerment Avenue artist from the beginning—since 2020. At that time he participated in EA’s first art exhibition, Meet us Quickly with Your Mercy: Painting for Justice.
Since then Stan-Bey’s portfolio has grown along with his signature style. More recently he created a “Wild, Wild, West” and ”Military Mite” series which depicts African Americans characters with disabilities that didn't let physical challenges stop them from performing their duties as enforcers of the law.
Influenced by the semi-future Steampunk genre, each character has adapted biomechanical appendages and unique abilities that help them to overcome their disability.
This is Captain Skylar, an innovator of the Aero-Jet who was seriously injured and now uses a biomechanical wing for balance. Skylar also had part of his arm replaced to keep him in the Military mix. He was instrumental in the development of the arm device.
A graphic novel based on some of these characters is in the works. Stan-Bey on his inspiration for this series:
“I was inspired by the idea long ignored in conventional thinking that African American innovation was absent in the Americas. Contrary to popular belief African Americans contributed to America's Victorian and Industrial era inventions. The current shape of the common ironing board, and the cotton gin are examples. Additionally, many innovations used today have their roots in African culture.”
Inside/Outside Insights
FUNDING: Emily Nonko and D. Razor Babb are grateful for a grant from the Fund for Investigative Reporting to continue their co-reporting across prison walls to cover toxic water contamination at Mule Creek Prison, where Razor is incarcerated.
BOOK LAUNCH: Jewish Currents hosted the book launch for Ending Isolation, by Christopher Blackwell and Deborah Zalesne. It featured a panel of anti-solitary activists, on zoom and in-person in Long Island City, NYC. Pre-order the book.
VOLUNTEER WORK: Abigail Glasgow wrote for The Cut about what it is like being trans and incarcerated in this political moment. Sara Kielly, a writer we support incarcerated in New York, is featured.
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The Appeal covers criminal justice issues from a progressive lens and pays $1/word.
International Examiner is the oldest and largest nonprofit, pan-Asian Pacific American publication in the Northwest. They pay $100 for an opinion piece.
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.
Spectre Journal is a new Marxist journal that understands anti-oppression struggles as constitutive of class struggle. They’re paying $50 per essay.
Cosmopolitan is an American quarterly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published in 1886.
Sojourners is a progressive monthly magazine and daily online publication of the American Christian social justice organization Sojourners, which arose out of the Sojourners Community.
Freedom of the Press Foundation is an American non-profit organization founded in 2012 to fund and support free speech and freedom of the press.
Bolts is a digital magazine that covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.
Emancipate NC supports North Carolina's people as they free themselves from mass incarceration and structural racism.
Carefree is a Black women's magazine that believes in the power of storytelling and it’s ability to heal. For the wanderers, late bloomers, and dreamers who aspire for happiness and peace of mind.
The Miami New Times is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida.
Local News Matters is a nonprofit site bringing community coverage to the San Francisco Bay Area region so that the people, places and topics that deserve more attention get it.
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.
The Progressive covers grassroots progressive politics, civil liberties, human rights, economic justice, a healthy environment, and a reinvigorated democracy. They pay $150 for essays.