The first thing I remembered seeing was the statues. Illuminated through blue light with the haunting sounds of waves crashing in the background, their emotive faces looked up. Though they were statues, I could still feel their emotions, as if the spirits of my ancestors were in the room with me.

A small part of the prison was visible from behind barbed wire fences. We were told that the rally was partially visible to the men incarcerated in the building… our presence would remind them that people are defending their rights.

The workshop helped me gain clarity about why I organize and why I fight to create a just society.

The linear connections between slavery and the modern incarceration system are glaring and to ignore these common threads is an injustice to the history of racism.

We are encouraging each other to work towards our deadlines and practicing mindfulness as we embrace that each task is another opportunity to push past our comfort zones.

On 11/22/22, the SHAWN team attended the 2022 Stop Solitary CT pre-Thanksgiving rally at Cheshire prison.

Our website goes live today! Watch this space for latest news and developments from SHAWN.