After Violence Project

05/29/2026

Amid the Trump administration's record-high ex*****ons and calls to expand the death penalty, this book, The Deserving, arrives at an essential time. ARC Executive Director Elizabeth Vartkessian is a mitigation specialist and collaborator with AVP's Access to Treatment Director Susannah Sheffer in the Capital Resilience Forum seminars.

In her new book, she weaves stories from her career into a powerful argument for dignity in American justice, contending that trauma doesn't stay buried and that harsh penalties deny real justice to perpetrators and victims alike. A compelling, hope-filled vision of rehabilitation over retribution.

Learn more via: https://bit.ly/3RBUAPf

05/28/2026

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, one of the most powerful public tools for accountability and historical preservation, is under threat.

Major news outlets including the New York Times and USA Today are blocking the tool's web crawler, citing AI copyright concerns. Ironically, USA Today recently used the Wayback Machine to expose how ICE concealed key data about its detention policies, while simultaneously blocking the very tool that made that reporting possible.

When corporate media locks down the public web, the ability to document state violence, track institutional change, and hold power accountable erodes with it. This is why community-led archiving is not a niche practice. It is a necessity and deserves nuanced attention in this digital age.

Read full article:

As major news outlets cut off the Wayback Machine, journalists and advocacy groups are rallying to protect the Internet Archive’s vast collection of web pages.

05/26/2026

AVP is proud to uplift the leadership of Brother Rob Lilly, a former AVP Visions After Violence Fellow and founder of our fiscal sponsee Da'Cipher 360. In April, Da'Cipher 360 hosted their second annual Wallace Unit Reunion, bringing together formerly incarcerated men, community members, and strategic partners for a powerful day of storytelling, reflection, and collective organizing.

💫 This is what it looks like when system-impacted people are centered, resourced, and leading. AVP was in the room and left inspired.

💸 Please consider making a gift to directly support Brother Rob and Da'Cipher 360's work: https://bit.ly/4uAsi6o

05/07/2026

⚡ Just published: Crime is a Mother

As Mother's Day approaches, we're proud to publish AVP Community Fellow’s Starr Davis latest piece, Crime is a Mother, a searing vignette weaving personal essay and archival research that reckons with what it means when the state rewrites your life as a Black mother.

Court transcripts, police reports, custody orders: the official record that rearranges the meaning of a mother's existence. Davis writes from inside that experience — the criminalization of mothers, families torn apart, children reduced to case numbers and docket entries. Thank you, Starr, for sharing your words and wisdom.💐

This Mother's Day, read, share, and show up for Black mothers.

📖 Read the full essay: https://afterviolenceproject.org/crime-is-a-mother
💸 Support Black Mama's Bail Out: https://www.nationalbailout.org/

04/24/2026

In 2025, the After Violence Project trained 76 mental health professionals on supporting families of people sentenced to death or ex*****on -- reaching clinicians across the country through a training series that just received national accreditation from both NBCC and ASWB. To our knowledge, it's still the only clinical training of its kind focused on this population.

That's just one piece of what AVP accomplished this past year. Our 2025 Impact Report documents a full year of community archiving, memory work, documentary filmmaking, and artists' residencies -- all in response to the ongoing realities of state violence.

Thank you to all our supporters who make this important work possible. We are because of you.

Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/4cENwrP

04/23/2026

AVP will be joining the fun at the Austin Archives Bazaar this weekend! 🎉

Come find us on Sunday, April 26th at from 12pm–4pm.

04/23/2026

Our 2025 Impact Report, Against Erasure, is here.

🎨 The cover was made by AVP’s Writer in Residence Rocko Jones, an incarcerated organizer, writer, and artist. His vision feels made for this moment. We couldn't think of a better way to open this report.

Thank you to every supporter who makes our work possible. From community archiving and memory work to mental health and artists' residencies-- we are because of you.

📖 Read the full report via https://bit.ly/4vGucDz

💌 And stay tuned for Rocko's forthcoming collection, Love Unconditionally.

04/09/2026

Archives, libraries, and museums have long served as democratic infrastructure — preserving and providing access to knowledge regardless of commercial viability. But in an increasingly digital world, these institutions are losing the ability to collect, preserve, and share materials as commercial digital platforms restrict access and vast resources remain undigitized and out of reach.

AVP has signed a global Digital Rights statement affirming that memory institutions must retain online the same rights they have long exercised offline — including the right to acquire, preserve, and provide controlled access to digital materials, and to cooperate with other institutions in doing so.

Read more: https://ourfuturememory.org/

04/08/2026

We're thrilled to introduce Reclamation-- a new documentary following Clifford Fuggett, a father, husband, grandfather, and truck driver from North Texas, on his lifelong search for answers. Clifford has spent his adult life investigating the disappearance of his mother, who went missing when he was two years old, and honoring his father, Charles Milton, who was executed by the state of Texas in 1985.

AVP first connected with Clifford through his powerful YouTube video searching for his father's unmarked gravesite, a story that moved thousands and led him to share his family's history across social media platforms. He later shared his story with us through the After Violence Archive. He wanted a documentary that could carry that story further-- and years later, under the direction of filmmaker Estevan Padilla, we’re proud to release Reclamation.

The film explores the far-reaching, intergenerational impacts of capital punishment and the profound ways community forms around the search for truth, justice, and legacy.

Stay tuned -- screenings are coming.

🎥 Watch the documentary trailer: https://www.reclamationfilm.com/

📩 Interested in hosting a screening? Reach out to [email protected] to bring Reclamation to your community

🎙️ Watch past After Violence Archive interview with Clifford: https://bit.ly/4dBTCLR

04/08/2026

💫We’re thrilled to introduce Reclamation— a new documentary following Clifford Fuggett, a father, husband, grandfather, and truck driver from North Texas, on his lifelong search for answers. Clifford has spent his adult life investigating the disappearance of his mother, who went missing when he was two years old, and honoring his father, Charles Milton, who was executed by the state of Texas in 1985.

🌱AVP first connected with Clifford through his powerful YouTube video searching for his father’s unmarked gravesite, a story that moved thousands and led him to share his family’s history across social media platforms. He later shared his story with us through the After Violence Archive. He wanted a documentary that could carry that story further—  and years later, under the direction of filmmaker Estevan Padilla, we’re proud to release Reclamation. 

🕊️The film explores the far-reaching, intergenerational impacts of capital punishment and the profound ways community forms around the search for truth, justice, and legacy. 

Stay tuned — screenings are coming.  

🎥Watch the documentary trailer via link in bio

📩 Interested in hosting a screening? Reach out to [email protected] to bring Reclamation to your community 

🎙️ Watch past After Violence Archive interview with Clifford via link in bio