Book Club for Incarcerated Youth and Adults

“The feeling of being unloved and built up anger; looking for love in all the wrong places...” - Free Minds member AR, expressing some of the ways that he related to the memoir Free Cyntoia by Cyntoia Brown-Long

In the face of the ongoing pandemic with the highly contagious Delta variant and the lockdowns that persist in prisons across the country because of it, Free Minds members have continued to connect through creativity and persevere with strength. Their essays, poetry, and artwork reveal a strong sense of tenacity and community found through the healing power of the arts. Our members’ minds soar to new heights everyday, releasing their most vulnerable emotions and greatest ideas, all of which have had a profound impact on our community. We thank you for your generous support that continues to allow our members to connect with one another and beyond the prison walls!

Connect: Accountability

For our latest issue of our bi-monthly newsletter, the Connect, we asked Free Minds members, staff, and friends to share what accountability means to them. Suggested by one of our thoughtful members, VC, this theme felt particularly relevant in this period of racial reckoning. Members of our community shared their personal experiences, revealing the complex nature of accountability. As Free Minds Co-Founder and Executive Director Tara Libert shares in the issue, “Accountability is the Free Minds way!” Supporting and uplifting one another are essential to accountability, and our team and members’ inspiring contributions to this latest issue reflect that:

• Craig, our Co-Congressman John Lewis Fellow, shares his journey with accountability and how it has allowed him to succeed today (p. 15) 
• Free Minds member AC shares his thoughts on the relationship between balance and accountability. He writes, “I truly believe that when we make mistakes in judgement, when we humans cause harm, we should be held accountable. I want us to be held accountable in order to bring order to our chaos, light into darkness, love amid hatred, peace during war — a yin to a yang… [A]ccountability is something we need in high quantities in order to bring balance to this declining world. We need everyone to be responsible for our communal future.” Check out AC’s essay in the issue for his full thoughts on this complex subject (p. 24).
• Deandrea, a Free Minds friend, shares how she has been able to co-parent and maintain a beautiful relationship with her partner Johnny who is incarcerated (p.6)
• Free Minds member DA shares words of encouragement with fellow Free Minds member WH who is missing human connection (p. 10)

Write Night

Despite our Write Night events moving online during the pandemic, our community has only continued to grow! On the Same Page: Write Night brings together volunteers from all over the world to directly respond to the inspiring poetry our members send us. Each expression of praise and encouragement our volunteers share on a member’s poem serves as a powerful reminder that they are not alone. Our hundreds of members cherish each and every colorful comment that encourages them to continue sharing their voices and allows them to create community beyond the prison walls. This past July, at one of our many community gatherings, over 100 volunteers joined together virtually to celebrate the wonderful work of our members and listen to the stories of two of our Poet Ambassadors, Zach and Warren. Their words served as a testament to how meaningful it is for our volunteers and members to connect with one another. 

“Never in my life have I ever felt like a person or people would be so interested in my writing. If it weren't for FREE MINDS, I may have never known.” -Poet Ambassador Zach

Book Across the Miles

Thanks to your gracious support, we are able to send a book a month along with discussion questions, writing prompts, poetry feedback, personalized letters, and postcards to each of our members located in prisons across the country. The books they receive are tailored to their specific interests and requests. Our members also all receive the same book to discuss together. The shared book is determined by a democratic ballot with all members voting. Our members tell us that engaging in reading and writing is even more of a lifeline during the forced isolation in their cells because of COVID-19. The book club frees their minds from prison confines. 

For the current book club read, members chose Free Cyntoia by Cyntoia Brown-Long. Brown-Long details her journey from surviving human trafficking, receiving a life sentence, building a life of meaning and purpose, and finally achieving freedom. Cyntoia’s story has resonated deeply with our members, and they have found hope in her harrowing tale which has highlighted the power of education and community.

“I enjoyed Cyntoia’s story and was excited to see her outcome. A beautiful ending, but a horrible beginning for her - similar to me, the feeling of being unloved and built up anger; looking for love in all the wrong places. But God had a better plan for my life, like her’s.” - Free Minds member AR

We cannot thank you enough for your continued support of our members!

Links:

• Read the Free Minds Connect
• Upcoming virtual events with Free Minds
• Like us on Facebook

• Connecting with the community through poetry (PDF)