Our Impact Thus Far: SawariMedia's advocacy work is focused on preserving democracy for the most marginalized, dehumanized and disenfranchised people in the US: citizens incarcerated in federal prisons, state prisons, jails and detention facilities across the country.
SawariMedia has been publishing prisoner newsletters featuring prisoner authored content and developing prisoner engaging programming since 2016. SawariMedia's current Right2Vote Report publishing more than 100 articles and poetry authored by people in prison across hundreds of prisons in 33 states. The focus of our print media is engaging populations disenfranchised by mass incarceration with state and federal legislation as well as with a larger network of scholars and advocates.
SawariMedia's past prisoner newsletter distributions include NoShackles ( Fall 2016 – Fall 2017), Solid Black Fist (Summer 2018 – Fall 2018), and Motivate Michigan ( Fall 2019 – Fall 2020) Programs that SawariMedia has participated in developing and/or facilitating include distributing Corona CarePak funds, creating pathways for EIP Access, production of Seeing Through the Bars documentary video series as well as creating space for people in prison to document and share their experiences as testimonials for legislative change.
We believe it's essential that legislators are aware of the dilapidated conditions of those facilities within their jurisdiction and do everything in our power to advocate on behalf of people in prison.
What Your Contribution Will Support A national print community and media network humanizing the experiences of and encouraging civically engaged incarcerated citizens, distributed in print and digitally at no cost to themselves or the facility with practical guidance on reentry centering the voices of impacted citizens themselves.
Your dollars will help us to
- Increase the number of facilities in new states in contact with SawariMedia
- Increase the number of publications being sent to incarcerated subscribers to SawariMedia at no cost to them
- Increase the amount of prisoner produced content (articles and poetry transcribed) published and circulated by SawariMedia to wider audiences
- Allow for the digitization of more prisoner produced artwork (pencil drawings, paintings, pen sketches, etc.)
- Allow for SawariMedia to provide more stipends to incarcerated contributors providing submissions of articles and artwork for publication
- Allow for the development of more prisoner support and civic engagement programs
- Enable more incarcerated men and women to have their narratives shared with larger networks
- Extend SawariMedia's capacity to correspond with more incarcerated men and women with resources, reentry support and referral service contacts
We're grateful for your consideration and support!
Show your support for this campaign by endorsing it and sharing why!
November 22, 2023
Magazine Pilot Issue JUST Released
Prisonality Magazine is a bridge for subscribers seeking to have a deeper understanding of social justice policy with opportunities to engage in social justice movements while being exposed to relatable transition tips for returning citizens.
This issue was mailed to SawariMedia's incarcerated subscribers earlier this week
July 25, 2023
Working with Yale Bulldog Interns on Reader Submission Archive
Since the beginning of the Summer SawariMedia has been working with Yale's Summer Bulldogs Internship for another year in order to continue to develop our newsletter archive. Last year we were able to identify over a hundred submissions to preview as well as find new ways to illustrate our impact in time for Black August. This year we're taking those submissions and more to consolidate even more pieces of artwork, poetry, oped articles and exposes to help incarcerated contributors share with even more audiences.
March 20, 2023
SawariMedia Launches Weekly Talk Show Series to Spotlight Incarcerated Reader Experiences
This past week was the 2nd of Amani's reading reflections featuring a handwritten letter from a beautiful woman who has spent too much of her life trying to communicate with the outside world in order to share her story. Her mail has been censored for decades and decades by prison officials trying to keep her from sharing her story, so I share this letter as an amplification of Naomi’s perspective.
Please take a moment to listen, share and you’re welcome to look into her case, the invitation is outlined within her letter that we’ll take a very deep look at this week.
Following that I’ve got some special artwork to show, possibly THE MOST influential piece drawn for SawariMedia’s Right2Vote Report newsletter. I was off-site for this one, next recording I’ll make sure to have my microphone handy, if you have trouble hearing let me know in the comments as well as any other reflections you have on the narrative and/or artwork that I’m sure my readers will look forward to. TEN in the PEN aims to establish a two-way dialogue between inside readers and outside viewers for the benefit of all those impacted by PISC.
September 11, 2022
Black August Issue Developed with Yale Intern Support Well Received by Incarcerated Readers
Reginald Lewis out of MDOC shares from earlier this week,
"Got your July August 2022 newsletter. Everyone should read and support. It is truly amazing your collaboration with those brilliant Yale University interns and digitalizing our work!"
See those digitized works at SawariMedia's Online Showcase at: https://sawarimedia.press/subm...
Reginald is deeply concerned with and passionate about the issue of good time credits in Michigan. Learn more about the campaign to Repeal TIS here and follow this contributor on IG @reginald.s.lewis
October 19, 2021
1/3 Subbies Supplied So Far
This September/October Issue only made it to less than a third of our incarcerated subscribers, simply due to lack of funds. Fortunately we were able to get the full newsletter produced and distributed before the end of October, it's also available online to download at https://right2vote.report/2021...
September 18, 2021
Will the newsletter make it to every subsciber next month?
Last month we pushed out hundreds of newsletters to over 1,000 readers across the 32 states where we have incarcerated subscribers depending on our reporting. We made sure that our readers had access to the information that they needed in order to fully participate in BlackAugust and Jailhouse Lawyers' Speak's #ShutEmDown demonstrations for 2021. In the previous report we included updates for prisoners continuing to seek out EIP payments that they have yet to receive. Along with that we also informed readers about the following introduced peices of legislation:
- Federal death penalty abolition Act, HR 97
- To regulate monitoring incarcerated person's electronic communications, HR 546
- Enhancing oversight to end discrimination in policing, HR 3732
- Vote at Home Act, S 136
- To repeal the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, HR 36
- Extending the right to vote to citizens sixteen years of age, HJ Res. 23
- To establish the Election Integrity Commission, HR 607
Next month we hope to be able to supply all of last month's readers with another report, the Spetember/October issue, but we ar struggling, be able to do so we need your help!
Please share this campaign page to extend our reach!
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