I am happy to report that, as of May 8th, my first article was published at the Prison Journalism Project website. It is an organization that gives prisoners a platform to develop their writing skills and eventually publish articles about several aspects of their lives in prison. I chose to write an article about how I fell in love with drawing despite hating it prior to prison. We are in the developmental stages for a second article that deals with mass punishment in prison from a personal perspective.
I was introduced to Prison Journalism Project (PJP) by Justin, my British pen friend. It has given me a life line that I didn’t have while I was in other FCI’s. At both FCI-Tallahassee (FL) and Waseca (MN), I was fortunate to be involved in the hobby craft program. I gained many skills and developed my talent for drawing, painting, crochet and knitting. The facilities themselves also allowed for the pursuit of these skills by giving the inmates a place to go to perform these crafts. Aliceville has the smallest program out of all the facilities I’ve been to and does not allow the inmates to bring their crafts to rec unless they’re mailing them out. Thus, crafting is not a viable option except in one’s cell. The opportunity to pivot and turn to writing has been an enormous relief. I think about the advice from the Prison Professors Talent Newsletters about finding a way to turn disappointment into opportunity and see PJP as just that.
Writing for PJP has also spurred me into considering other prison advocacy programs or organizations. I am reaching out to several of those to see if they are interested in anything from inside prison walls with which to press their issues. Michael Santos described in his book, Earning Freedom, how he had to write countless letters to colleges and professors and book publishers until finally he began to crack the door, to wedge his foot through the door jamb and then the light began to shine through. It lit the way and allowed him to help society and his fellow inmates at the same time. Educating himself in prison and then helping to craft textbooks to educate others must’ve been a huge accomplishment for him. It must’ve felt grand! I look at my first article and can only hope my future leads me down a similar path.
