Wearing a “prisoner” or “inmate” Halloween costume is dehumanizing, perpetuates racist stereotypes, and trivializes the real lived experiences of incarcerated people.
Category: Miscellaneous
A Threat to Education Anywhere Is a Threat to Education Everywhere
The situation at WVU is more a time of turmoil than transformation. Here, we attempt to put our fears and frustrations into words.
How to Volunteer with APBP: An Inside Look
Volunteers are a vital part of how we send books to people in prison. Learn more about what is looks like to volunteer with APBP.
Pride Month Behind Bars: Uplifting the Stories of the Incarcerated Queer Community
This year, APBP is celebrating pride by uplifting some great writings and work from and about iconic figures in the LGBTQ+ community who have been affected by incarceration.
Announcing the Recipients of Our 2022–2023 Education Scholarship
APBP is honored to announce the recipients of the 2022–2023 education scholarship: Aaron Blankenship and Justin Adams. Now in its second year, the APBP education scholarship provides financial support to individuals pursuing higher education after being incarcerated in the state…
Read More Announcing the Recipients of Our 2022–2023 Education Scholarship
COVID-19: A Poem
April is National Poetry Month. We are honored to share this poem by Rayna Momen, current board member and long-time volunteer at APBP. COVID-19 I. I broke up with my clippers the day the virus became reason to sink into new…
Easter Sunday
In 2021, B’s youngest brother was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. B wrote this short letter to the victim’s family in the hopes of articulating her desire…
Their Lives Matter: The People Dying of COVID-19 in West Virginia Prisons and Jails
It has been more than a year and a half since the first confirmed death of an incarcerated person in the custody of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) due to COVID-19. Most of us cannot imagine…
Read More Their Lives Matter: The People Dying of COVID-19 in West Virginia Prisons and Jails
The Power of a Dictionary
“I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.” -- Malcolm X When…
Mail Call in the Prison System
Words diamonds on pages of gold A message from heaven as their story is told, “We love you, miss you, pray you’ll be free.” A treasure-filled envelope just for me. Please bring memories of joy I once knew Family, friends…