prison
November 17, 2009
- The North Korean capture and Clinton-assisted release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee brought a compelling human element into a conflict that many Americans know little about. I’m a Korean-American novelist who also paid scant attention to the North Korean regime until Ling and Lee’s 140-day arrest brought the cloistered dictatorship to national consciousness once again. After the two ...
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November 5, 2009
- Kenneth E. Hartman’s is the third book to come out this fall written by men doing time. I’ve written before about Dwayne Betts’ A Question of Freedom and Jarvis Masters’ That Bird Has My Wings, and now I want to share a few words about Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars by Kenneth E. Hartman. Hartman has done twenty-nine years in five California prisons. The years ...
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November 4, 2009
- As Samantha (Josephine's cell mate) had said, the guard opened their cell door at chow time and the two women walked to the cafeteria. No sooner had they sat down when they were confronted by a very stern looking inmate. “Regardless of what anyone has told you,” the woman said, as she glanced at Samantha, “I’m the Bitch in charge in this ...
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October 31, 2009
- Phyllis Kornfeld – whose Cellblock Visions is a powerful and beautiful collection of art made by people in prison – has begun the Inside/Outside Envelope Project. As Phyllis describes: “Envelope art is a long-standing tradition in prison art. Beautiful envelopes sent to loved ones communicate a deep connection. The Inside/Outside Envelope Project is expanding that connection. Incarcerated ...
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October 24, 2009
- This sounds a bit weird despite its tragic resonances. One can imagine that in Guantanamo Bay some kinds of music might be considered torture simply because of their quality. Here we are talking decibel levels to “help break uncooperative detainees”.Musicians have joined the coalition that is backing Barack Obama’s shut down plan for the camp for terrorist suspects. The group is depending ...
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October 10, 2009
- That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row is Jarvis Jay Masters’ second book, and it comes with endorsements by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Van Jones, author David Sheff, and many others. Although Masters writes of the crimes he’s committed, as well as those he’s innocent of though convicted – and although he writes some about his life on San Quentin’s Death ...
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October 7, 2009
- On Friday, September 25, I spent the afternoon in prison – and it really made me rethink the lucky breaks I’ve had in life, and others who were not so lucky. And one thing we just about all have in common is….children. That Friday afternoon, I made the hour drive out to Lockhart State Prison, with a dozen other women and a couple of men. We were there on behalf of a program called Truth Be ...
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October 3, 2009
- Imagine if you will, Heathrow International Airport in virtual silence. That was the scene August 10th, 2006 as thousands of travelers stood in line to catch flights home to various parts of the U.S. There was no carryon luggage or purses allowed, just clear plastic bags holding passports, wallets and boarding passes. The passengers appeared overwrought, but not a single passenger was irate ...
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September 23, 2009
- The two-person memoir Spoon Jackson and I have written will be out April, 2010. We're happy, and both working hard. You can read about By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives here (and sign up to be notified when the book comes out)
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September 18, 2009
- It's hard to know exactly what went on those last few months in prison. My dad and stepmom only sometimes took phone calls from my brother, stating that it was too expensive and often he was not lucid anyway. As I mentioned before, his letters were hard to decipher and in one of his last letters, which for some reason my stepmom scanned and sent to me, he stated multiple times that he felt like ...
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