On Thursday, March 27th, several Free Minds members were recognized at the annual BleakHouse Publishing Awards Ceremony. BleakHouse Publishing is an independent, non-profit press dedicated to writing and art focused on social justice themes; the most recent of their literary journal, Tacenda, features Free Minds poetry.
Alisha Carrington was one of the members honored, and was also the recipient of one of five Best Poem awards for her poem, “Colors,” which she performed at the ceremony. “Colors” is a heartfelt reflection on the struggles, both new and continued, that Alicia has faced since returning home to the community, as well as on the opportunities for growth that lie ahead. “How much blood must seep/Before my heart stops bleeding/Before I stop seeing these spots of color?” she read. “I painted the key orange/The key to freedom is in my mind/And the world is my new door…”
Alisha’s father, Robert Carrington, was in the audience, and afterward he expressed how proud he was of his daughter’s accomplishments. “It does my heart real good to see my daughter expressing herself,” he said. “Writing gives her confidence.”
The other Free Minds members who contributed to Tacenda are Arthur Johnson, D.C., and Chavez Myers. Chavez’s family members attended the ceremony in his place, and later they spoke about the significance of writing and of spreading Chavez’s voice.
“Only after a year he’s a totally changed person,” said Chavez’s sister, China, about how writing has helped him. “I think the pen and paper really help keep him from becoming this hard person.” When asked about how Chavez felt about being published in Tacenda, she said, “He’s very excited. He just wrote three more poems in one day. He’s in a place where he has to be tough all the time, but through writing he can better express himself, which he can’t do in there.”
Tonique Farmer, Chavez’s mother, said writing helps Chavez “know he’s not forgotten about, that he has a voice, that he’s not just a number,” and has allowed him to “say what he wanted to say without any regret.” On his inclusion in Tacenda, and on sharing his poetry, she said, “This will be a way for him to write more, to possibly write a book.”
At the same ceremony, Free Minds received one of two Social Justice Advocacy awards for their work. Robert Johnson, the editor and publisher of BleakHouse, said he chose Free Minds for this award because he felt it was a “kindred spirit” whose work furthered BleakHouse’s own goal of sharing the voices of people who might not otherwise be heard.
The second advocacy award went to Mark Strandquist, the director of the Windows from Prison Project, which asks inmates what place from their pasts they would most like to see if they could have windows in their cells, and then sends them photographs of that place. Mark has previously worked with Free Minds to fulfill these requests for its members.
The night of the awards ceremony was an exciting night for Free Minds members and for the extended Free Minds family. The most recent issue of Tacenda is available to read on the BleakHouse website and for purchase on Amazon.
That’s my man known him since I was like 14 if you gotta address so I can write I would appreciate