Prison Voices Project | The Power of Language

Prison Voices Project

The Power of Language

Tune in Thursday, 10:00 AM (ET)

90.7 WGXC.ORG

"Words matter.  They shape perceptions and understanding, both of past and present events and of future possibilities, and, therefore, future events." - Eddie Ellis

Here is the information that was included in the notice that I received from Community Solutions of El Paso.  Thank you Carolyn!  Click on the link above to tune in tomorrow at 10 AM (ET).

What is the the impact of language on people who are incarcerated or who are returning to communities from lock-up? Cory Greene & Whitney Richards-Calathes presented "Coming Home from Lock Up: Community Perspectives for Imagining Re-entry" at the Prison Studies Conference at the Graduate Center at CUNY in New York City. They argue that we should shift away from the concept of re-entry for those returning from lock-up and use the concept of re-settlement. Prison Voices Project producers Dr. Karanja Keita Carroll, Dr. Alexandra Cox and Cory Fischer-Hoffman engage and elaborate on these themes. 

Keywords + Tag = Prison Voices Project | power | language | WGX.org | 90.7 | Community Solutions of El Paso | incarceration | community | Cory Greene | Whitney Richards-Calathes | lock up | re-entry | prison studies | Prison Studies Conference | voices | Voices Behind Walls | CUNY | graduate | undergraduate | college radio | re-settlement | Dr. Carroll | Karanja Keita Carrol | Dr. Cox | Alexandra Cox | Cory Fischer-Hoffman | institutionalized | corrections | Eddie Ellis | understanding | overstanding
 

Louis Armstrong & 'The Power of Mentors'

Louis Armstrong & King Oliver

The Power of Mentors

"At age eleven Armstrong was sent to a home for juvenile delinquents and stayed there for 18 months.  He loved playing various instruments in the marching band, working his way up to the cornet under the tutelage of the director, Peter Davis.  After he left the home he started hanging around older musicians, asking if he could sit in and play with them.  Eventually he knew enough tunes to substitute in a pinch.  Oliver become his idol.  Like Armstrong, Oliver had dark skin, was raised with church music and blues, and had no father in his life.  Oliver noticed his progress and invited him to his house for lessons at his kitchen table, teaching him "the modern way of phrasing on the cornet," as Armstrong described it.  Oliver taught by example and by verbal instruction how to play a strong lead and not get lost in "figurations," how to play second and thus contribute to collective improvisation, how to attack notes with punch and sustain them with fire."

-Thomas Brothers

Citations
Brothers, Thomas. Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014. 5. Print.

Joseph "King Oliver" & Louis Armstrong. ca. 1918. Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans. Web. http://www.knowla.org/image/105/&ref=entry&refID=837.

Voices Behind Walls 2014

Voices Behind Walls 2014

A Message by Lecroy Rhyanes

A few notes on 2014 so far... Since the beginning of the year, we were recognized at the J. Paul Taylor Social Justice Symposium by the NMSU Department of Government with a Social Justice Award.  In so far as web activity, we've started a new twitter handle which you can follow at www.twitter.com/vbehindw. The Spring semester at NMSU consisted of instruction with the Criminal Justice Department for a course I proposed/facilitated called The Beat Within, A Compositional History of Incarcerated Writing.  You can review some of our activities and studies at the TBW Blog: tbwnmsu.blogspot.com.  Currently preparing for a course in the Fall called Criminal Justice & Youth Outreach (CJYO), Creative Expression in Juvenile Detention.  This semester we also completed a mixtape for a VBW participant, titled City of the Crosses (a double disc).  We're currently working on a number of mixtapes for VBW eMCees and are in the process of posting our program's first instrumental project arranged a few years ago that is titled the9Album (for the 9 instrumentals that were produced during the participant's time with our group).  The instrumental project will be posted online for download.  In addition, we're working on The Gomez Composition to publish hopefully by 2015, and are staying connected and up to date with The Beat Within publications and topics.  

The website is currently undergoing updates as we start to focus updates around specific activities and initiatives, including our VOW activities (Voices Outside the Walls), and the volunteers we hope to engage through volunteermatch.org.  A lot of our needs involve taking the the content being created in workshop meetings and displaying them online.  We hope to connect with individuals familiar with graphic design, content creators, editors, etc. in the coming months.  

One final note til' the next post (which should be on a more frequent basis from now on) is our activities through the VBW Research Network.  This will act as our permanent archive for information related to our programs and others, including a referral catalog of books that are available at local public libraries and University libraries for research that is specific to creative expression, justice issues, history, and issues relevant to the contents covered in the course work taught through VBW. 

VBW The Beat Within Vol. 18.41/42

The Beat Within Vol. 18.41/42

Voices Behind Walls

Features poets from Voices Behind Walls.  The Beat Within is a national/international publication of writing & art inside of juvenile detention centers across the country, as well as in other countries.  It was started by a group of incredible justice workers, led by David Inocencio, and the voices of youth who had responded to the tragic death of rapper/MC/actor Tupac Shakur.  I first discovered The Beat Within at the start of my studies towards a degree in Criminal Justice & English when I was participating in the Ronald E. McNair program and doing research for a project I developed called the Violence of Youth, the Presence of the Pen.  Ever since, The Beat Within has been a permanent fixture in each and every workshop and conversation I've had related to our program and issues involving youth outreach, especially amongst high risk populations and incarcerated youth.  I also currently instruct an online course at NMSU's Criminal Justice Department called The Beat Within, A Compositional History of Incarcerated Writing. 

Make Wise Choices / Spice is Not Nice.org

((Make Wise Choices))
by Ruth Rivas feat. Vicente
YouTube click here

In memory of Adam Hernandez, "Make Wise Choices" is a poem written by Ruth Rivas a community advocate & public speaker who runs a non-profit movement called Spice is Not Nice.  Mrs. Rivas recorded the poem earlier this Fall with the Voices Behind Walls program at Aliviane, Inc.'s main office, a non-profit program in El Paso County that provides promotion, prevention, intervention, and treatment services for issues related to substance abuse and mental health.  I first heard about Mrs. Rivas and Adam Hernandez's story through the El Paso Times article titled  "El Paso Mom Campaigns Against Drug Linked to Son's Death".  In September I got the opportunity to attend a forum in which Mrs. Rivas shared a powerful presentation about Adam's life and the importance of raising awareness for drugs that pose life threatening risks for its users and are legally distributed throughout the world.  Mrs. Rivas is a powerful speaker. 

In her poem "Make Wise Choices", I decided to share the audio acapella with a youth named Vicente who is currently incarcerated at the J. Paul Taylor Center.  Vicente started playing trumpet when he was 11 years of age.  In grade school Vicente was placed in the varsity band and promoted to the first chair position and was able to gain a 3rd chair spot for all of New Mexico.  Vicente is self taught on the piano and familiar with a number of other instruments.  He was provided with the audio recording of Mrs. Rivas and asked if he could develop an instrumental to compliment the message of "Make Wise Choices".  With only an old Casio keyboard and a controller interface donated by the NMSU Writers in the Schools program, Vicente was able to develop the instrumental you hear behind Mrs. Rivas poem above.  

For more information on Mrs. Rivas and the movement to make the world aware of the dangers of synthetic drugs like spice please visit Spice is Not Nice.org.  I also encourage that you forward the YouTube video to schools, youth programs, juvenile detention center contacts, non-profits, radio stations, podcasts, and anyone else that could pass on the message. 

Tupac Shakur & YALT

Discussing Tupac ((Dear Mama))

Sending this one out to the youth of the Young Adult Life Transitions (YALT) program in Buffalo, New York.  This week discussed the meaning of Tupac in their lives 17 years after his death, "Dear Mama" as an expression of appreciation for mom, it's relationship to fathers, history + life of Afeni Shakur + Pac's memory through the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, and the samples behind the production of Tony Pizarro's production featuring Joe Sample and the Spinners.  Here is an interview with a young Tupac Shakur discussing life, his mother, and the youth: Tupac Shakur 1988 Interview.

American Hunger

American Hunger

Audio for October 1, 2013.