Continuing with the theme of how the arts serve to catalyze and support movement-building, I would like to share a terrific resource.

In 2008, artists from around the country created powerful images inspired by the Prison Industrial Complex. This project was created on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Critical Resistance.

The images that were created by the artists were assembled into a portfolio and then were sold on behalf of a number of prison reform groups. However the Just Seeds artist collective also uploaded all of the images onto their website and they encourage anti-PIC groups to use these images on their materials and in other ways that can further the cause of prison abolition. You can check out the portfolioVoices from Outside here.

It is always important to be reminded that real young people are living their lives behind bars. Some are metaphorical but too often they are actual bars behind prison walls. We rarely hear young people’s thoughts about the subjective experience of being locked up. A terrific program called the Free Write Jail Arts & Literacy Program www.freewritejailarts.org/about.html works with incarcerated youth in Chicago. They provide them with a chance for expression and for a sense of agency even within the oppressive walls of the jail.

You can listen here to a powerful poem written and read by a young man who is incarcerated but has been given a chance through Free Write to share his feelings and thoughts. If you have an extra $25, please consider sending it to Free Write so that they can continue their powerful and important work.
my_minds_playing_bricks_on_me

I am not going to comment on this. I will just say thanks to soothsayer99 over at DailyKos for posting this today. It reminded me of what an important role music plays in movement-building. We all need a little Public Enemy every day. Enough said!