On March 31, Free Minds and the PEN/Faulkner Foundation hosted the second annual poetry reading and community dialogue at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital in DC. The house was packed with community members, friends of both organizations, family members of the Free Minds members and other panelists, and the youth of Project Create.
Free Minds Poet Ambassadors (members who are home and participate in community outreach) shared some of their own original poetry as well as poems by other Free Minds members who are still incarcerated.
After the poetry reading, Executive Director Tara Libert moderated a panel discussion on the causes of youth incarceration and ways the community can work together to generate solutions. The panel featured Free Minds members Alisha and Gary, as well as FM mentor Sherman Justice, Flikshop founder Marcus Bullock, and author Michael Mattocks (Unlikely Brothers), all of whom are returning citizens.
Alisha and Gary spoke eloquently about the powerful effect of reading and writing, and Gary shared with the audience how the Harry Potter series helped him survive two years of solitary confinement.
Alisha, who recently won the Best Poem Award from BleakHouse Publishing for her poem “Colors” (published in Tacenda literary magazine), said, “I didn’t ever write to be a poet. We never set out to be poets. I just wrote because it was a way of expressing myself and getting relief.”
Perhaps the most powerful moment that evening was when an audience member asked the panelists what someone could have said to them to prevent them from going down the road to incarceration. Alisha explained that it wasn’t that simple: “There is nothing anyone can say to keep me from going down this path,” she said. “You have to show me a better way. Show me you care. Show me that violence is not the answer. Show me that there is a world where I have options and opportunities. Show me.”
What this event showed is that there is a caring community out there, willing and ready to help the incarcerated youth.
(Photo credit Jia Imagery)