Unlocked Voices has now held events in Nashville, Boston and Dallas, featuring a wide array of artists and speakers coming together to raise awareness and funds to support local organizations doing the work of giants in their communities.
Julien Baker, Maddie Medley, San Franklin, Lydia Luca, Austin Grimm, Anjimile, Hawthorn,
Will Dailey, Ripe, Brandie Blaze, Chadwick Stokes, Saul Paul, Myron Williams,
Robert Ellis, Chadney Christle, Shyspeaks, and Poppy Xander, have lent their voices to help fight the against the forces that imprison too many Americans, and provide too little support to incarcerated people when they leave.
The funds raised through these events have thus far supported community organizations such as Unheard Voices Outreach and Free Hearts in Tennessee. Black & Pink Boston in Massachusetts. The Dallas Leadership Foundation and The Way Back House in Texas.
Inspire the Fire is a non-profit organization that provides students, ages 10 - 19, coaching in artistic development, life skills and community engagement. Each participant, or young professional, is required to choose an artistic major of concentration. Current majors include: dance, voice, theater, spoken word, rap and visual arts. Young professionals are guided in their major and supported by our entire team to learn and grow as individuals. We meet and practice weekly and perform in Charlotte, NC, and surrounding areas year-round. Each year, Inspire the Fire helps nearly 400 youth prepare for their future.
The Exodus Foundation's mission is to stop the flow of African-Americans to prison. Their self-help program specializes in providing people with a culturally competent mentor who is available 24 hours a day. They focus on the demographic of African-American men and women who have been unfairly targeted and rounded up by the criminal justice system. Nationally, the Exodus Foundation provides consultation and training for denominational leaders, pastors and congregations, establishing branches in other areas and offering their specialized care. They also make strategically timed contributions to the restorative and transformative justice movement, seeking a complete overhaul or replacement of our current criminal justice system.
Discussing the Exodus Foundation's involvement with Unlocked Voices, Founder & President Madeline McClenney stated, "I am honored to co-host this barrier breaking and voice unlocking event for the good of our brothers and sisters in prison during a worldwide pandemic. We cannot forget them and their need for health and wellness as we crush their hopes and dreams with cages. We must unlock their voices and amplify their cries for help."
Salute 1st CEO, Kendall Taylor added, "My involvement comes from a place of compassion, as well as, conviction. I am a living example of the potential that all felons possess when we are given an opportunity to speak for ourselves instead of our background sheets speaking for us. Protecting our brothers during Covid is a mission of more than just their physical safety, but more so of preservation, in protecting the untapped potential that rests behind the walls!"
Along with the live events, Unlocked Voices looks to amplify the stories of people, especially womxn, impacted by incarceration, while acting in partnership with existing movement leaders and community organizations. Through the 8-part concert series Unlocked Voices looks to educate and grow new supporters, to drive action and celebrate the movement.
With the spread of COVID-19 across the U.S. in 2020 one of the organization's greatest focus has been on getting hygiene kits inside prisons and assisting incarcerated people who are being released early from prisons due to coronavirus. America's prison population is at even greater risk than the general public. As of last month, nearly 160,000 incarcerated people and staff had been infected with COVID-19 and over 1000 had died.
For additional information on Unlocked Voices, please check out the website at:
http://www.callingallcrows.org/unlocked-voices
