Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

06/18/2026

Grateful for this community. 💛

As a 2025 Impact100 DC grantee, we were honored to join the celebration of their 2026 awardees this week. Their support helped us continue our book clubs, writing workshops, and reentry services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated young people across the DC region.

Congratulations to all of the new Impact100 DC grant awardees! Always wonderful to be in the room with our friends and fellow past grantees like Open City Advocates. 🙌

06/16/2026

Did you know that in 2020, with the passage of the landmark Restore the Vote Act, DC became the first jurisdiction in the country to restore voting rights for incarcerated people with felony convictions?

Earlier this spring, Free Minds sent information about the DC Primary to our incarcerated members, and SJ, incarcerated in a federal prison facility, recently wrote to us about how important this was to him to be able to exercise his right to vote.

He wrote, “While in the feds, I have no way to get information on the candidates for local elections. The information FM sent was vital for me so I can make a research based voting decision. Your organization is responsible for me being able to perform my civic duty. I’m proud that my city was the first to allow incarcerated individuals to vote while incarcerated. I’m proud to participate, it’s an honor to me.”

Thank you to everyone who protects this crucial right to vote!

06/12/2026

This Pride Month, we are sharing a poem written by AL that celebrates what Pride truly means — the journey, the resilience, and the love that carries us forward. 🌈

“Allow your words to define who you are through your actions! And trust that I see you for you, because we are all trying to reach the same goal, a perfect place to embrace amongst the multicolor of the rainbow.”

AL dedicated this poem to “the mysteries of the rainbow.” At Free Minds, we believe every member deserves a space to speak their truth, exactly as they are. 🤍

Read the full poem and leave a comment for AL at the link in bio. Your words go directly to the poet.

06/10/2026

"They got my body locked down, but I'm free in the mind." ✍️

At our April Write Night, Poet Ambassadors Rafael and Sahir shared how receiving written responses to their poems, from people outside, from different backgrounds, was transformative. In Rafael's words: "It let me know that my feelings mattered. It make me feel like I'm somebody when I was in a place that tried to make me feel like I was nothing."

Every word matters. Every response matters. Just show up and pour your heart out. 🤍

Join us June 17 at 7:00pm ET on Zoom. Free to attend.

RSVP here: freemindsbookclub.org/event/virtual-write-night-june17

05/23/2026

This Sunday, Free Minds invites you to gather for something powerful.

CALLS FROM HOME is a 31-minute documentary following a longstanding radio program in Central Appalachia that sends messages of love from families to their incarcerated loved ones, bridging the hundreds of miles that separate them.

The film is screening at Rhizome on Sunday, May 24 at 4pm as part of the 500 Miles Out exhibit, presented by the Building Community Not Prisons coalition, of which Free Minds is a proud member.

Free to attend. RSVP here:

Sunday May 24 * 4pm * Free / donations * RSVP Join us for a screening and discussion, presented in conjunction with our May exhibit 500 Miles Out - Carceral Ties between the District and Central Appalachia All donations through the RSVP link will be passed along to the Building Communit

05/14/2026

On Tuesday, this community showed up. 🎉📖

Thanks to your incredible generosity, we met our match and won the second place prize for most donors, raising a total of $32,890 during Give Greater DC. That is the equivalent of 2,200 books in the hands of our members. 📚

This would not have been possible without you. Every gift, every share, every word of encouragement moved us closer to this moment. Thank you for showing up for our members in such a meaningful way.

And a special thank you to Spur Local for hosting Give Greater DC and uplifting nonprofits across the Washington area. Books are where change begins, and this community proved it. 🤍

05/12/2026

Books are where change begins. 📖

Today is Give Greater DC — and Free Minds is raising $20,000 to fund books for over 800 incarcerated members in federal prisons nationwide.

Give during our Power Hours — 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 7pm — for the greatest impact.

Your gift will be matched up to $8,000. Give $150 or more and receive a free Free Minds tote bag.

Give here:

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop’s mission is to build community to foster personal

05/12/2026

Tomorrow is Give Greater DC, hosted by Spur Local, and Free Minds needs your help to reach $20,000 to fund books for our members. 📚

Here is what makes tomorrow special: thanks to a small group of committed partners, the first $8,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar. That means your gift goes twice as far.

We purchase and mail books to over 800 incarcerated members in the DC Jail, Youth Services Center, and federal prisons across the country. Rising costs are making that work more challenging and your support on May 12 will help ensure we can keep connecting our members with the books they rely on.

Give during our Power Hours — 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 7pm ET — for the greatest impact. Donate $150 or more and receive a free Free Minds tote bag.

Books are where change begins. Support this work here: givegreaterdc.org/o/freeminds

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop’s mission is to build community to foster personal

05/10/2026

This Mother's Day, we are sharing a poem written by a Free Minds member that captures what the day means for so many. 🌸

"Mothers of the Movement" by JH is a tribute to the mothers who keep showing up — through grief, through loss, through the fight for their children and communities.

"This is dedicated to all mothers worldwide."

Leave a comment for JH at the link. Your words go directly to the poet. ✍️

Your feedback on poetry written by incarcerated poets is a valuable source of motivation and connection to the outside community. Read poems ...

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we are sharing a poem written by a Free Minds member that captures what the day means for so many. 🌸

“Mothers of the Movement” by JH is a tribute to the mothers who keep showing up — through grief, through loss, through the fight for their children and communities.

“This is dedicated to all mothers worldwide.”

Leave a comment for JH at the link in bio. Your words go directly to the poet. ✍️