Since May of 2020, Empowerment Avenue writers have published hundreds of stories in dozens of publications: literary journals, local newspapers, publications focused on criminal justice and social justice, and major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald.
Here are some standouts:
Reading While Incarcerated Saved Me. So Why Are Prisons Banning Books? | Christopher Blackwell for the New York Times
Life While Incarcerated is Dehumanizing. Crotchet Has Made a Difference. | Kunlyna Tauch for Harper's Bazaar
The Everglades Experiment: Florida’s First ‘Incentivized’ Prison Redefines Punishment | Ryan Moser for The Crime Report
I’m Trapped In a Women’s Prison During a Pandemic | Michele Scott for Elle
“Left in the Dark” | Covid Behind Bars | numerous Empowerment Avenue contributors for The Drift
As COVID-19 Raged, Journalists Fought Isolation and Illness to Expose Abusive Conditions | Empowerment Avenue contributors for Shadowproof
The Complex Bargaining Process of Googling from Prison | Heather C. Jarvis for Slate
My Pen Uncovers the Real Me | Corey Aurthur
2021 Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize | Demetrius Buckley
What It’s Like to Experience Solitary Confinement as an Incarcerated Trans Woman | Jessica Sylvia for INTO
Op-Ed: In prison, the work of journalism is challenging but essential | Juan Haines for the Los Angeles Times
After Incarcerated Organizers’ Two-Year Fight for Food Justice, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Finally Reopens Hot Kitchens in the OC Jails | Jose Armendariz for The Voice of OC
Let Everyone Vote, Even If They’re Incarcerated | Patrick Stephens for The Progressive
My Life Sewing T-Shirts for 26 cents an hour | Wesley Williams for The New Republic
How the Justice System Denies Trans Identities | Jessica Sylvia for Dame Magazine
Prisons Said It Was COVID Isolation. The Incarcerated Describe Torture | Christopher Blackwell and Jessica Shulberg for HuffPost
Department Finally Reopens Hot Kitchens in the OC Jails | Jose Armendariz for The Voice of OC
Post-Covid, Kent State’s Child Development Center is financially secure and enrollment rising | Michael Ray for The Portager
The War on Drugs Persists for Older Incarcerated People in Florida | Tony Cobb and Khawla Nakua for Prism
‘I don’t have the funds’: a diabetic prisoner pleaded for insulin supplies before his death | Felix Sitthivong for the Guardian
In Solitary Confinement, Banned Books are a Lifeline | Kwaneta Harris for the Boston Globe
Before Rahsaan founded Empowerment Avenue, he had published eight stories in outside publications. Within the first two years of Empowerment Avenue, he published over 30 stories and earned nearly $30,000, with bylines in numerous publications and a contributing writer role for Current. Much of his writing career has informed our larger vision of Empowerment Avenue.
Here are some of his standout pieces:
How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority | Marshall Project
Incarcerated people are telling their own stories more than ever before. It’s about time | NBCU Academy
A prison reckoning with remorse | Boston Globe
At San Quentin, Incarcerated People Organize for Safety as Prison Transfers Spread Covid-19, | Shadowproof
The Struggle Prepares You For Your Purpose | The Inevitable
First-ever International Prison Radio Conference shows potential of ‘story power’ to effect change | Current
San Quentin’s Rolling Lockdowns Are Not Keeping Anyone Safe | Type Investigations and The Appeal
Santa Rosa council member Mark Stapp on his decade of basketball with San Quentin prison’s sports exchange program | Press Democrat
