In Their Own Words

On this edition of Prison Pipeline: In Their Own Words.

Advocates nationwide are using remote communications technologies, which have become more widespread since the pandemic, to help people in prisons testify before legislative committee hearings, public commissions, and agencies. Incarcerated people have been central to developing and passing impactful reforms aimed at ending the use of solitary confinement, ending life without parole, reducing mass incarceration, and more. These testimonies are a powerful reminder that incarcerated people are not voiceless; they are silenced.

The Prison Policy Initiative recently held a webinar to discuss these developments and to debut a new part of their advocacy toolkit, entitled In Their Own Words: Organizing Legislative Testimony from Incarcerated People. On this edition of Prison Pipeline we hear from Emmett Sanders, Policy and Advocacy Associate at the Prison Policy Initiative; Jesse White, Policy Director at Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts; and Christopher Blackwell, an award-winning incarcerated journalist and co-founder of Look 2 Justice.