Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

Using Media to Connect People Inside and Out

(Sunday, July 19th, 10 to 11:30 am)

What are the concrete barriers to the flow of information across prison walls? How can they be overcome? This panel will address the physical, technological and intellectual barriers of media access to and from prisons.

Victoria Law will address the increasing challenges of getting independent media coverage *inside* prisons. Emily Harris will discuss Free Battered Women's media use to raise awareness & advocate for the release of women incarcerated for defending themselves. Chiara Galimberti will challenge the audience to consider how their content, particularly around gender violence, assumes certain levels of literacy, theoretical knowledge, etc., making it inaccessible to many behind bars. Puck Lo will speak on the challenges and opportunities for making and using mass media to re-write narratives on "crime". Artists from Appalachian based arts project, Thousand Kites, will share their strategies of using radio, film, web, and public performance to connect prisoners with those on the outside.

Emily Harris is the Coordinator for Free Battered Women, which seeks to end the re-victimization of incarcerated survivors of domestic violence as part of the movement for racial justice and the struggle to resist all forms of intimate partner violence against women and transgender people. She has worked extensively with the Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan, facilitating a creative writing workshop at Huron Valley Women's Complex and coordinating the Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners.

Chiara Galimberti is part of Midwest Pages to Prisoners in Bloomington,IN, and an on scene advocate for survivors of gender violence. She coordinates a youth program to facilitate discussions about gender norms, violence, relationships dynamics and social inequality within the public school system and beyond. She is from Italy and has been in the U.S. since 2002.

Victoria Law is a writer, mother, and photographer. Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce Tenacious: Art and Writings from Women in Prison has facilitated having their writings published in other publications, such as Clamor magazine and the website “Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance.” Her new book, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women is the culmination of 8 years of research, writing and listening to the stories of women incarcerated nationwide.

Radio producer Puck Lo produced nationally syndicated stories documenting the case of the New Jersey 4; the New Orleans Women's Health clinic; and the disastrous impacts of the prison industrial complex - especially on women, queers, and trans folk of color.

Nick Szuberla is an artist at Appalshop, an Appalachian-based arts organization. In 1998, Nick founded the media arts project "Holler to the Hood" to explore the social impact of moving hundreds of thousands of inner city minority offenders to distant rural prisons. With a variety of media (live performance, radio, video and digital) and form (including a multimedia installation and database-driven web site), his projects focus on creating public space where people can tell their story in their own voice. He has worked extensively in the youth media movement throughout rural America; including in Appalachia, Mississippi Delta, and south Texas. Training more than 500 youth and adults in the use of media arts as a community development tool. Working with young people in central Appalachian, Szuberla has also produced workshops that explore "hill-hop," a rural hip-hop genre. He was the producer of the award winning documentary films "Up the Ridge", "The Global Economy in Our Backyard", and "Sambusa." His work has been featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Definitely Not the Opera, BBC, Bob Edwards Show, and NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. He is the current director and co-founder of “Thousand Kites” a national dialogue and organizing project addressing the U.S. criminal justice system and human rights. A "Creative Capital" fellowship grantee, Szuberla was recently awarded a "New Generations" fellowship from the Theater Communications Group.

For more about the Allied Media Conference, see http://alliedmediaconference.org/