Extreme sentencing laws have led to a generation of elders, many of whom are Black, being trapped behind prison walls.
This report from @aclu.org highlights the silent crisis of elderly incarceration: www.aclu.org/publications...
⌛ 2 more days to apply for our Roux Storytelling Fellowship!
Open to Louisiana-based individuals impacted by incarceration. Participants will engage in skill-building focused on developing personal storytelling projects with dedicated space + mentorship.
Learn more: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Our Forget Me Not letter-writing event this past weekend was so special! Over 50 letters were mailed to Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW) to bring some joy and fellowship to our incarcerated sisters.
💟 Thank you to our co-hosts @louisianajsa.bsky.social + ThurmanPerryFoundation.org
A large group of women with their faces covered with pink hearts
A letter written to an incarcerated survivor
A large group of women sitting at a table with their faces covered with pink hearts
3 women, 2 white and one Black, with one standing and reading from a paper and the others sitting near sound bowls and flowers and candles
Last night, my nonprofit ThurmanPerryFoundation.org & The Visiting Room Project hosted a community event for survivors of SA, DV, & incarceration
We stretched, laughed, shared, ate, & healed through sound baths, meditation, & conversation about the potential passage of the Justice for Survivors Act
🌱 TVRP is proud to launch our inaugural Roux Storytelling Fellowship!
This 6-month program is designed to support Louisiana-based individuals with lived experience of incarceration as they document their stories.
Applications due March 20: bit.ly/47hD0VB
📩 Keep an eye on your inboxes as our monthly newsletter is dropping this morning. Sign up to receive monthly news and updates from TVRP: mailchi.mp/visitingroom...
“We were and will always be family. Our sisters knew who they could go to at night and ask, ‘Do you have a soup? Do you have a bar of soap?’ We took care of sisters during Covid. We lost 4. We organized Celebrations of Life as each sister passed..”
A TVRP Ambassador when asked about love in prison.
“I personally have stayed in touch with sisters as they need help organizing their ‘free’ friends and family. This is a critical point for pardon and parole board support.”
A TVRP Ambassador when asked how she has seen incarcerated people show love and care for each other.
“It is not openly shown. DOC has no permission for real love.”
A TVRP Ambassador when asked how prison disrupts love and the ways it can be expressed.
"Through support, through gifts of time, service, food, homemade items, and a number of other creative ideas."
This Valentine's Day, we asked TVRP Ambassadors to reflect on ways they experienced and witnessed love during incarceration.
❤️ Their stories:
“Whatever fire you have in you to help people, keep that fire.”
Thank you to The Visiting Room Project, The Parole Project, LSU Law Clinics, and the LSU Law Pugh Institute for Justice for hosting such an insightful and inspiring event!
#lsulaw #vistingroomproject
Artist Credit:
1: Norman Dozier
2: Anthony Hingle Jr.
3: Ila Hansen
4: Beasy Taylor
Since TVRP began in 2019, we’ve had the joy of welcoming home 55 narrators into our Ambassador community.
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may know that we celebrate the anniversaries of Ambassadors’ release dates as “freedomversaries.”
Take a moment to show these artists some love! 💬
🦋 Today, we're sharing powerful artwork created by members of our TVRP community.
TVRP Ambassadors designed original pieces that will be turned into postcards and mailed to fellow Ambassadors on their "freedomversaries" — because liberation is something worth celebrating!
"States across the country should improve their parole systems by:
🔹 Adopting clear, measurable standards with guardrails
🔹 Prioritizing rehabilitation over past offenses
🔹 Increasing transparency and accountability to the incarcerated person and the public”
The publication concludes: “The evidence shows that meaningful release opportunities, such as parole, make prisons safer and reduce recidivism, and are extremely popular with the public."
Recent reporting from @veritenews.org and @propublica.org examines how this trend is manifesting in Louisiana.
In the two years prior to Governor Landry’s inauguration, the board held 1,785 hearings. Under Landry’s administration, that number has plummeted to 714.
Research by @fwd.us highlights systemic barriers contributing to a nationwide decline in parole.
"Between 2019 and 2022, the number of people released on parole fell by 41% and it’s estimated that over 210,000 people remain in prison past their parole eligibility date.”
www.fwd.us/news/they-ju...
🌟Resource Spotlight🌟
New resource from @wilsoncsj at @dukelaw helps to illuminate the scale and impact of life without parole sentences – also known as death by incarceration.
💌 SAVE THE DATE + RSVP: bit.ly/3LbHV2Q
Letter-writing helps dismantle the isolation of prison by building connection, preserving memories, + interrupting cycles of harm. We won't let incarcerated women + survivors be forgotten.
✨ Co-hosted w/ ThurmanPerryFoundation.org + @louisianajsa.bsky.social
Our website also features 36 profiles – shorter versions of the first-person testimonials from people incarcerated at Angola – which can be accessed at any time.
Questions? Let us know! 💚
The form will look like this:
Once you have completed the form, a member of our team will be in touch shortly via email to grant you access to the full archive.
🎥 Wondering how to access The Visiting Room Project archive?
Visit our website (visitingroomproject.org) and click "Archive." You will then be prompted to fill out a short form agreeing to adhere to the project's standards when engaging with archival content.
On Nov. 6th, join us in St. Francisville for an evening of community dialogue around the impacts of incarceration.
📅 Thursday, Nov. 6th at 6:30pm
📍 Fellowship Hall / 4744 Fidelity St, St. Francisville LA
📩 Questions? Reach out to daryl@visitingroomproject.org
Our new series, Life After Life, highlights the accomplishments, challenges, and lived experiences of ambassadors coming home from incarceration.
Hear Idosia's full story, and the stories of others, in our community newsletter: mailchi.mp/visitingroom...
✨ Idosia came home in 2022 after over 24 years of incarceration.
While in prison, she trained in culinary arts and worked as head cook - A skill she learned from her grandmother. Today, Idosia finds joy in cooking for the people she loves most: her 4 children, 14 grandchildren, and fiancé, Robert.
Did you know that in Louisiana, incarcerated workers make as little as 2 cents per hour for their labor? Hear directly from TVRP narrators as they reflect on work at the plantation-turned-prison known as Angola.
“I find it somewhat ironic that a person can learn to live life in a place where they were sent to die.”
#TheLensNola🔍 A buzzed-about spelling bee returns to the United States’ biggest maximum security prison.
✍️ Lawson Strickland
Read More: buff.ly/oTaRzxf
🌷Scenes from our recent zine workshop exploring girlhood!
Together, narrators reflected on the radical history of zines as a tool for reclaiming agency and self-identification, shared how we might incorporate play into our daily life, and honored the parts of our youth we're ready to release. 🦋