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Thinking Beyond the Bars | The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · 28d

For The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Darrell Jackson writes from Washington State prison:

"While incarcerated, I became a “better late than never” enthusiast for higher education," his essay states.

jbhe.com/2025/09/thin...

How higher education helped a prison inmate develop confidence and rediscover his humanity.

jbhe.com

When Isolation Became the Supreme Punishment - Solitary Watch

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 9

For @solitarywatch.bsky.social, EIC Juan Haines reviews and reflects on "No Human Contact: Solitary Confinement, Maximum Security, and Two Inmates Who Changed the System,” by Pete Earley.

solitarywatch.org/2025/09/02/w...

SW editor-in-chief Juan Haines reviews Pete Earley's book about the unbearable conditions of isolation at the infamous federal ADX supermax.

solitarywatch.org

Kimberly Hricko entered prison in 1999, when inmates still wore street clothes and ordered from JCPenney. In 2025, a piece of cardboard is contraband.

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 8

The latest in our partnership with Black Lipstick, where we highlight essays from women and queer incarcerated writers, is STATE PROPERTY by Kim Hricko:

"In 2025, a piece of cardboard is contraband."

blacklipstick.substack.com/p/state-prop...

State Property

blacklipstick.substack.com

From Dropout to Journalist…In Prison

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 4

For Open Secrets Magazine, @chriswblackwell.bsky.social starts his essay with: "How did I end up a prison journalist? That is a question I’ve asked myself many times."

substack.com/home/post/p-...

How I found my voice as a storyteller while incarcerated and now help others become prison journalists

substack.com

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Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 4

Only about 25 percent of housing units in Florida's prisons are equipped with AC. Incarcerated writer Anthony Cobb and Alex DeLuca of @miaminewtimes.com write what this summer was like in Florida prisons:

www.miaminewtimes.com/news/life-in...

Inside an Everglades Prison Without Air Conditioning

Only about 25 percent of housing units in Florida's prisons are equipped with AC.

www.miaminewtimes.com

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 4

For the @thephilacitizen.bsky.social, @chriswblackwell.bsky.social and Deborah Zalesne share how their love of the Eagles bonded them across difference and prison walls:

thephiladelphiacitizen.org/eagles-fando...

Eagles Fandom Builds Unlikely Friendships

Being an Eagles fan is about more than just rooting for a team. It's a bond that can build friendships between outwardly unalike people

thephiladelphiacitizen.org

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Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 3

Latest from Tony Vick, incarcerated in Tennessee:

Filter | harm reduction journalism @filtermag.bsky.social · Sep 2

"Illiteracy has a profound impact on almost anyone. But in prison it has direct and immediate consequences for family connection."

The Barriers to Learning to Read in Prison

Illiteracy has a profound impact on almost anyone. But in prison it has direct and immediate consequences for family connection.

filtermag.org

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Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 3

In conjunction with @chriswblackwell.bsky.social + Deborah Zalesne's upcoming book release of ENDING ISOLATION, Zeke Magazine has a dedicated print issue about solitary confinement.

View it here: www.yumpu.com/en/document/...

ZEKE Magazine: Special Summer 2025 Issue

The Solitary Confinement Issue. Window into Solitary Stories of solitary confinement by 17 formerly  incarcerated

www.yumpu.com

Opinion | Finding Beauty in a Prison Yard

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 3

Big congrats to Robert Lee Williams, who has a moving story about the power of trees in prison for the @nytimes.com.

"Beyond the chain-link fence that separates the yard from the rest of the prison, I saw not one but three towering, majestic black walnut trees..."

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

These trees were the only living beings that I could touch without fear.

www.nytimes.com

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Sep 2

"California’s REPAIR Act shows there’s a better way to manage restitution, for both incarcerated people and survivors."

Steve Brooks for @fastcompany.com:

www.fastcompany.com/91388476/fix...

Fixing restitution laws: Has paying one's debt to society gone too far?

California's REPAIR Act shows there's a better way to manage restitution, for both incarcerated people and survivors.

www.fastcompany.com

The reality of mental health care in prison – Scalawag

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 28

In another contribution to @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social Abolition Week, Lanae Tipton writes about the grim reality of receiving mental healthcare in Texas prisons:

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/the-...

Mental health needs are prevalent in prisons. One incarcerated writer shares their experience with the mental health care system in a Texas prison.

The Gauntlet: Fight Night in a Texas Prison – Scalawag

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 28

Continuing our contributions for @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social's Abolition Week, Xandan Gulley writes about Texas fight night:

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/the-...

In Texas women’s prisons, there is a "Fight Night" custom, where the officers choose inmates to fight each other in what they call "the gauntlet."

Is the New California Prison Model Just California Dreamin’? - Knock LA

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Two years into the California Model — which was implemented to decrease violence and stress inside facilities — violence is up and stress is through the roof."

D. Razor Babb for @knockdotla.bsky.social:

knock-la.com/is-the-new-c...

Two years into the California Model, which was implemented to decrease violence and stress inside facilities, violence is up and stress is through the roof.

knock-la.com

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 27

“Our Commemoration of Black August Transforms These Spaces of Intended Destruction into Laboratories of Liberation” by @kwanetaharris.bsky.social for @solitarywatch.bsky.social.

Read her essay here:

solitarywatch.org/2025/08/22/r...

Remembering Black August from Prison: The Struggle Continues - Solitary Watch

This Black August, Kwaneta Harris reminds us of solitary's oppressive origins and calls us to resist and persist towards liberation.

solitarywatch.org

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Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 27

For International Examiner's On the Fence Line column, Felix Sitthivong writes about the positive and healing impact of gardening while incarcerated:

iexaminer.org/on-the-fence...

On the Fence Line: Gardening in prison brings peace, and a reminder to toil for a better world - International Examiner

It’s a beautiful summer morning in the Pacific Northwest. The sun is cutting through the light morning fog, signaling another perfect day to come. As the sun continues to rise, bringing with it sounds...

iexaminer.org

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 27

Check out a few recent stories from Tony Vick for @filtermag.bsky.social:

Tennessee prisoners who know ICE is waiting: filtermag.org/undocumented...

What the Southern Baptist Church taught me about LGBTQ+ Education: filtermag.org/southern-bap...

"A Shared Dread": Immigrant Prisoners Near Release, Knowing ICE Is Waiting

Mateo estimates at least half the immigrants in this prison are undocumented. No one knows where they'll be taken when their sentence ends.

filtermag.org

A new directive permits prison guards to record strip searches using body cameras – Scalawag

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 27

Corey Devon Arthur writes about a new directive in New York prisons that permits prison guards to record strip searches using body cameras, for @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social Abolition Week.

"Why is the carceral state storing recordings of typical strip-frisks?"

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/a-ne...

Prison policy directs guards to make pornographic movies starring the prison population using their body cameras.

Ain't Sh*t Changed – Scalawag

Empowerment Avenue @empowermentave.bsky.social · Aug 26

For @scalawagmagazine.bsky.social's Abolition Week, E. Paris Whitfield shares the poem "Ain't Sh*t Changed."

Ain 't sh*t changed…

It sits in another toilet,
and we are ass out...

scalawagmagazine.org/2025/08/aint...

Incarcerated writer, E. Paris Whitfield, writes about our present reality and how eerily similar it is to our past.