Outside/InWords

OUTSIDE/

INWORDS

CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM

(beta)

About Outside/InWords

Outside/InWords recognizes that incarceration leaves deep and lasting wounds not just on individuals who do time, but on their families and the communities in which they live. Our society has decided that when one of our citizens is convicted of a crime, they must serve time in prison. The true injustice, however, is that a prison sentence is experienced by more than the convicted person. It is experienced by their family members and thus by the community itself. And once a sentence has been served, the formerly incarcerated is then often denied housing and employment and food. For life. They are often prohibited from voting in elections. Each of these restrictions must be understood as additional concurrent life sentences, served by everyone impacted by the initial term in prison.

Our society has legislated the denial of access, for life, of these basic human needs.

Outside/InWords recognizes that the human spirit cannot be imprisoned.

Creativity cannot be locked up.

Access to the healing power of Art cannot be denied by any government.

And Art has the power to change the world.

We are committed to making that a reality.

a new life sentence

why

Individuals, Families, and communities who experience incarceration serve a life sentence beyond their carceral sentence.

Why access matters

Often these families are denied housing, employment, and food access, because one member of the family has a felony conviction. This is a life sentence.

Why Creative writing

We believe that art is the argument in favor of humanity. We recognize that creativity cannot be locked up.

we know that art has the power to change the world.

We will write a new life sentence.

support our work

COMING SPRING 2023

How You can Support our work

Outside/inwords is fully funded by grants and donations

The United States has more people locked behind bars than any country in the world

the united states locks up a larger percentage of its own citizens than any country in the world

we have decided as a society that there is a "greater good" which is served by locking up those who break the law.

But this is a flawed strategy.

for many, many reasons.

At Outside/Inwords we are committed to addressing the problem that is faced by individuals, families, and communities who experience incarceration.

the problem is that once the time is served, there is another life sentence to pay- and that sentence is paid by entire families and communities over generations in the form of denial of access to basic necessities

housing

jobs

food

you can donate by clicking on the "donate" button or by going to our crowd-fund site at betterworld.org

Your donations help with everything from supplies and transportation to email accounts for men and women who are still serving time inside.

But you can also support this work by donating to your favorite organization which does any kind of work to address the inequity in the criminal justce system.

LINKS

Other Organizations Doing Crucial Work

Urban Justice

Freedom Agenda

Vera Institute

Osbourne Society

Fortune Society

Brooklyn Defenders

What Access Means

Access is often conceived of in one direction- an individual or a community is denied access to something. But we must recognize that there are two parties involved in access.

This is particularly important with respect to the Arts.

For Art to achieve its maximum purpose there must be an artist and an audience.

We hear so much about diversity today- it is everyone's stated goal.

But if the voices we hear all sound the same, nothing can change.

Outside/InWords is committed to bringing this work to the audience.

These are voices which must be heard.

Our Supporters

YOU

and

YOU!

The Artists

The Work

With art, only art, we can bring down these walls

The Team

An Important Note

James Baldwin identified the truth about the United States, and the work that needed to be done to cure harm and move forward. At the root of his innovation is that it isn't Black people who need to be saved, but white people.

At Outside/InWords, not only do we agree completely, but this is really the work we are doing. Many times the first question asked is "how are you different?" It is true that there have been and continue to be many writing programs for men and women inside and out of prisons. The difference is that while we recognize the value in helping anyone find their voice, the reason we are doing this is because there are so many who need to hear these voices.

The Goals

The goals of Outside/InWords are shaped by the mission and the work. The work is that of helping men, women, youth, and families find, develop, and amplify their voices through the written and spoekn word; on the page and in performance. The goal is to bring this work to audiences who need to hear it and to see it. We believe that when we as a society get a look behind the wall, behind all the walls which hide the truth from us, we will have no choice but to tear those walls down.

It is our goal to present this work to the widest possible audience in the form of books, movies, plays and live performance. And it is out goal that the artists who create this work get paid for it.

We will make a way.

Other Ways to Help

Understanding the issues and the impact of our policies, our laws and our votes is the most important thing we can do as citizens. It is critical that we recognize not just the injustice this system perpetuates, but the outdated and flawed logic behind it.

And most importantly, we have to understand the ways in which those we trust to govern do not have our best interests at heart.

They cannot.

They can only have their own interests at heart.

In the same way, the media does not have your interests at heart. Media can only be interested in selling tickets to their show.

We will make so much music, they will have no choice, but to dance

Outside/InWords

1012 Eighth Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11215