Freedom Reads' June Newsletter dropped today! 📧 Learn about our latest Freedom Library openings in Louisiana and updates from the last leg of our inaugural #InsideLiteraryPrize tour! Plus, hear directly from Freedom Reads team members David and Mike on the blog, and Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, Esq. about a recent gift from an Inside Literary Prize judge that is "a profound reminder of why we do this work" ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ey8YhstJ
Freedom Reads
Non-profit Organizations
Hamden, Connecticut 953 followers
Freedom begins with a book.
About us
Freedom Reads’ mission is to inspire and confront what prison does to the spirit. We bring beautiful, handcrafted bookcases into prisons, transforming cell blocks into Freedom Libraries.
- Website
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https://www.freedomreads.org
External link for Freedom Reads
- Industry
- Non-profit Organizations
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Hamden, Connecticut
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2020
Locations
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Primary
2666 State St
Ste. 5A
Hamden, Connecticut 06516, US
Employees at Freedom Reads
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Kevin W. Baker
Inspirational and Motivational Speaker at KevinBakerPresents.com; Library Production Manager at Freedom Reads.org
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Dan Velázquez
Process Development | Machine Integration | Parametric and Computational Design for Manufacturing
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Pria G.
Artist | AfroFuturist | Academic
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Cecelia Ramsey
PhD Student, Teacher, Translator
Updates
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"Freedom Libraries were literally changing housing unit spaces nationwide, but most importantly, the culture of the prison as well. Literature was changing lives.” Freedom Reads Library Production Assistant Mike Byrd reflects on his first Freedom Library openings, and the vital role books play on the Inside ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eyMXCsgb
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Freedom Reads reposted this
The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that poet and lawyer Reginald Dwayne Betts, Esq., founder and CEO of Freedom Reads, will be presented with the Library’s honorary Patron of Letters degree during the 27th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. The Patron of Letters degree, granted by the Library Board, is the Library of Virginia’s highest honor and recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of history, library science or archival science. Our 2024 honoree has distinguished himself through his efforts to promote libraries and literacy. His nonprofit, Freedom Reads, empowers incarcerated individuals through literature to imagine new possibilities for their lives. To date, Freedom Reads has opened more than 300 Freedom Libraries in prisons nationwide. Read more about Betts and his honorary degree at https://lnkd.in/eEvsZxFT Learn more about the Patron of Letters honor at https://lnkd.in/e8jxxP4H and reserve your seat for the Virginia Literary Awards Celebration at https://lnkd.in/eEufqrVY. #poetry #literacy #VaLitAwards
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"I am grateful to say that I work for an organization that values and honors our intersectional identities, and provides a curated collection of literature to cellblocks across the nation that includes a number of authors from the LGBTQ+ community. So that when people pick up a book they feel understood and a little less alone." Freedom Reads Library Coordinator David Perez Jr writes about celebrating #Pride in prison and beyond on the blog ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/e-JjDPEf
Celebrating Pride: From Prison and Beyond | Freedom Reads
freedomreads.org
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"When we come out — those of us that are getting out — we want to do better in life. So we’re doing something in here.” Earlier this Spring, KUSA-TV, 9NEWS's Evan Kruegel spoke to #InsideLiteraryPrize judge Shantel inside La Vista Correctional Facility in Colorado. The Freedom Reads team visited La Vista earlier this year as a part of the three-part Inside Literary Prize tour to facilitate judging and voting on the four books shortlisted for the Prize. Hear from Shantel and Freedom Reads Communications Manager Steven Parkhurst about the power of reading and books on the inside 📚 https://lnkd.in/eYnMD7Vq
Incarcerated Colorado women first to judge national book writing contest
9news.com
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"What are those things that happen, that exist at the margins, that help us understand the center of the Black experience?" Earlier this week, Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, Esq. joined Annika Pergament on Spectrum News NY1's Rush Hour to reflect on Juneteenth 💫 Dwayne discussed writing the introduction to W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.'s recent release, "Crazy as Hell: The Best Little Guide to Black History" by Hoke Glover III and Valerie Sweeney Prince, PhD. And, Dwayne closed out the segment by reading a poem by his son ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eUtaCS3H
Poet Dwayne Betts reflects on Juneteenth
ny1.com
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Today, we're commemorating Juneteenth with Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise." Angelou's "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" appears in Freedom Libraries in dozens of prisons across the country 📚 #Juneteenth
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The Freedom Reads team opened 11 new Freedom Libraries across Rayburn and Raymond Laborde Correctional Centers in Louisiana this week 📚 To date, Freedom Reads has opened 340 Freedom Libraries in 41 adult and youth prisons across 12 states!
Freedom Reads Returns to Open Additional Freedom Libraries in Louisiana Prisons | Freedom Reads
freedomreads.org
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This June, we're honoring #PrideMonth with Reginald Shepherd's "You, Therefore" 💫 According to Shepherd himself, "My poetry operates within a literary tradition and a literary language to which I owe my formation as a writer, yet which is not ‘mine’ (as a black gay man raised in Bronx housing projects). I wrestle with this necessary angel and rise renamed, blessed but also lamed." Shepherd's poetry collection, "Fata Morgana: Poems," appears in Freedom Libraries in dozens of prisons across the country. And, in April of this year, University of Pittsburgh Press published "The Selected Shepherd," a collection of Shepherd's poems selected and with an introduction by Jericho Brown. #ReginaldShepherd #Pride2024
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