By Neely Wester | Program Associate
While federal facilities remain on a nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19, our Prison Book Club members continue to use poetry as a healing tool and a clarion call to the world. Their poetry relays both the anxieties of confinement during a global pandemic as well as the strength and resilience that radiates from our members in the face of the unknown. The passion and determination that shines through in their poetry has impacted readers near and far as our community continues to grow, thanks in large part to your generous support.
Write Night Goes Live and Global
Our monthly Virtual Write Night, an opportunity for volunteers to share encouraging responses to members’ poetry, keeps getting better and bigger! In June, we began broadcasting a live segment where volunteers could hear from Poet Ambassadors and take part in a Q&A. Over 300 viewers tuned in to our July Write Night, listening to Poet Ambassador Gordon’s story, Congressman Lewis Fellow Shannon’s dedication to the late Congressman John Lewis, and special guest speaker Clint Smith (Book Club Facilitator and renowned author of Counting Descent) on the value of providing feedback to incarcerated poets.
Virtual volunteer opportunities have created the space to amplify the voices and poetry of members on a global level. In August, we created a challenge to see how far across the world we could spread members’ poetry. Their voices reached an international audience, spreading to 28 states and 10 countries!
Members never fail to send their “attitudes of gratitudes” after receiving books, postcards, and/or bi-weekly packets with meditations, writing prompts, brain teasers, and puzzles:
"I loved the Free Minds DC crossword puzzle, that joint took me all the way out there. It put the biggest smile of the year on my face. I wanna thank you guys for being there at such a crazy moment. It's been a lot going on but you know we are resilient. Our minds are too strong to let go." - Free Minds member Sadiq
"My brain is a womb and you guys, my Free Minds family, are my doulas. Helping to give a natural birth to my thoughts, ideas, and writing ability. Free Minds has given me a forum to express my thoughts of positivity and hope for a better future for all of us." - Free Minds member Deontae
“These lockdowns have a brother feeling very isolated...you all have been coming through and helping me feel better. ” - Free Minds member Joseph
Connect: Music
Over the years, one of the most popular tips members have shared for dealing with daily stressors is something that mirrors a universal practice: the healing power of music. In our latest issue of the Connect, Free Minds staff, members, and friends come together to share the role of music in their lives.
This issue’s vibrant cover was created by volunteer SF in response to a poem she read by member MH. In its pages you will find:
Books Across the Miles: Kindred
The latest Book Across the Miles vote strayed a bit from our usual genres, but for good reason because members loved it! Kindred by Octavia Butler follows Dana, a young African American woman, who suddenly finds herself involuntarily time traveling between 1970’s California and the pre-Civil War Maryland plantation where her ancestors lived. We have received overwhelmingly positive and thoughtful responses from members grappling with the novel’s messages of race and power:
“I don’t believe any person of African slave descent who ever experiences the extreme depths of physical, psychological, and spiritual degradation that was imposed upon our ancestors during the barbaric institution of slavery can ever be whole again. It’s like Octavia said, to endure that life and survive as Dana did you have to lose a part of who you once were to become who you are now. That’s the price.” - QS
“In one scene on the plantation, a characters says, ‘Why are they still complaining about slavery [a century later]?’ This stood out to me because it is still relevant and you still hear it now. The road has been long and there are still many problems going on.” - MH
“Dana could never really heal after experiencing slavery. We all must look directly at what really happened and recognize that this whole country has a missing part of its body because of what once happened.” - AC
As members continue to share their insight and wisdom through their letters and poetry, we are reminded of the power in supporting each other and strengthening our community. You are a key part of that community. Thank you for your continued support!
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