News

In October, the Free Minds team (staff and Poet Ambassadors Terrell, Roderick, and Nokomis) hit the road to participate in a conference in Philadelphia, PA,…

On a Thursday afternoon at the DC Jail, a group of men arranged chairs in a circle on the floor of the unit, surrounded on…

By Mbachur Mbenga This spring, teenagers in our Book Club at the DC Jail had the incredible opportunity to learn from two talented and generous…

In 2017, Free Minds was honored to receive the Renewal Award for Ingenuity from the Atlantic and Allstate. Free Minds was one of five winners…

“When you are in a poor environment, you go into survival mode. Like me, you’ve all been to hell. But you came back!” Emmanuel Jal,…

By Aubry Ellison, Free Minds Intern Every year, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) offers the largest literary conference in the nation with…

Guest post by Karen Lausa, Executive Director of Words Beyond Bars and Friend of Free Minds We pulled into the parking lot of the M.V.…

Now my hours feel longer, I’m just trying 2 make it 2 another spring That means goodbye winter, my days are getting warmer I’m getting…

In 2015, Free Minds launched a pilot course in African American Literature for a new project called Free Minds University, a non-accredited correspondence course for…

On two separate days in July, Free Minds shared its message of hope with groups of eager young students from Reach Incorporated and Encounter the Gospel…

22 16- and 17-year-old boys sat transfixed as author, advocate, and community activist Tony Lewis, Jr., told them the story of his journey that could…

Free Minds offers a month-long paid Job Readiness and Personal Skill Building Apprenticeship for young men returning from jail or prison. The Apprenticeship is a…

Free Minds, PEN/Faulkner, and Shout Mouse Press presented a poetry reading and discussion on an innovative tool to end violence. 

Congressman John Lewis and his Policy Advisor and co-author Andrew Aydin visited the juvenile unit at the DC Jail to discuss their graphic novel March:…

The Free Minds “We Can Be the Change: Working to End Violence in Our City” event was a tremendous success, and was featured on ABC7/WJLA-TV’s…

Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely met with the eager young readers in the Book Club to discuss All American Boys, the young adult novel they co-authored about…

DC author George Pelecanos and filmmaker Stephen Kinigopoulos, who met on the set of HBO’s The Wire, visited the Book Club at the DC Jail…

On Thursday, January 14, Free Minds members, staff, family, and friends gathered to recognize the lives lost to violence in Washington, DC, and to pledge…

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On October 27th, Executive Director Tara Libert accepted the “Best Practices in Literacy” Award from the Library of Congress, and joined other honored literacy organizations…