Personal Essay Archives – Scalawag

Having spent the first wave of COVID-19 in Rikers Island, David Campbell found the pandemic lockdowns he was met with after his release strangely familiar. The parallels of self-quarantine and incarceration can be tools for abolitionist solidarity.

What living through COVID in jail taught me about abolition

by David Campbell September 21, 2023September 21, 2023

Having spent the first wave of COVID-19 in Rikers Island, David Campbell found the pandemic lockdowns he was met with after his release strangely familiar. The parallels of self-quarantine and incarceration can be tools for abolitionist solidarity.

The author, Mira Ugwuadu, posing for a portrait in the months after graduating from high school in Marietta, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Funding, education, and safety are at the top of the list of demands to dismantle the youth mental health stigma in Georgia schools.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

In Georgia, we need proactive—not reactive—mental health support in schools

by Mira Ugwuadu September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

A wheelchair standing between other chairs in a school classroom. Disabled students are overlooked in the youth mental health crisis. How navigating an impossible system drove one disabled student to activism in their quest for solutions to the youth mental health crisis.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Young people struggle within a capitalist, ableist system. We can change it.

by Marrow Woods September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Death penalty opponents gather on the steps of the State Capitol in Atlanta, Ga., Monday, March 2, 2015 to protest the death penalty and the planned execution of Kelly Gissendaner. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ben Gray)

On the execution of my friend, Kelly Gissendaner

by Carla J. Simmons August 31, 2023August 30, 2023

In paintings: Life, Death, Carcerality, and the Pursuit of Abolition

by Obie Weathers August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Alim Braxton and Sabur Tyler have served a combined 53 years on Death Row. Six years ago, they found a profound friendship with each other—one that provides hope, solace, purpose, and companionship amidst the unique injustices they each face.

To dream, or not to dream: Friendship, innocence, and redemption on Death Row

by Alim Braxton and Sabur Tyler August 28, 2023August 29, 2023

Mausoleums: The Art of Necromancy

by Jaiden Butler July 25, 2023July 28, 2023

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Imprisoned in Gaza, Imprisoned outside of Gaza

by Maram M. AbedAlBari June 29, 2023June 28, 2023

A Black mother in prison exposes the greed and hypocrisy of the system that keeps her behind bars and rips apart families.

Only Mercy

by Chanell Burnette June 27, 2023June 27, 2023

Mourning in prison: How "total institutions" punish the grief of the incarcerated.

Against Regulations: Grieving inside a total institution

by E.J. June 27, 2023June 27, 2023

The geography of disaster, storms, and prison.

Perfect Storm: A time to refrain from embracing

by Richard Hunsinger June 23, 2023June 23, 2023

An artist's tribute to painter Duniyana Al-Amoor, killed in her room in Gaza at age 22.

Art Under Aggression

by Malak Mattar June 22, 2023June 22, 2023

State conspiracies and censorship of the incarcerated in prison.

SOUTHERN POLITICS

Conspiracyz, Scum Pigz, & the Dept. of Censorship

by G. Z. June 21, 2023July 12, 2023

Solitary confinement in maximum security prison

Nightmares & Daydreams: Welcome to maximum security

by Zakaria Amara June 20, 2023June 20, 2023

Our home outside these walls: My love letter to you, son

by Devon Terrell June 16, 2023June 15, 2023

Victim or survivor? The language of patriarchal violence. Assigning language of victimhood or survival to those who have experienced gender violence is dehumanizing—not empowering.

Who said we all survived?

by Breya M. Johnson May 25, 2023May 24, 2023

My heart is wrapped in concertina wire

by K.C. Johnson May 24, 2023May 24, 2023

A storybook illustration of a Black mother playing soccer with her Black son in the park.

'Please Keep Playing.' An open letter to my son, Remix

by Ariana Brazier May 5, 2023May 4, 2023

There is no healing in an antiblack world

by Da'Shaun Harrison February 1, 2023February 1, 2023

Successors and failures: Adulting after death

by Maya Miller January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

Grief, a (grand)mother tongue

by Mele Girma January 10, 2023

Haunting the archive

by Victoria Newton Ford December 2, 2022December 1, 2022

Something about mysticism, Coyote's Ghost, and being afraid of owls

by Autumn Fourkiller October 21, 2022November 16, 2022

Remembering Tyrik

by Ireashia Bennett October 4, 2022October 4, 2022

'beyond a better hell' / talking to ghosts: a mixtap/e/ssay

by A.D. Carson September 9, 2022June 22, 2023

'Impact of an Icon': Grieving Young Dolph in South Memphis

by Dorian Record June 22, 2022June 22, 2022

SOUTHERN POLITICS

This couple wants you to know that conjugal visits are only legal in 4 states

by Steve Higginbotham & Jordana Rosenfeld June 21, 2022June 21, 2022

'I'll never have closure.' What TV gets wrong about having a dad in prison.

by Jordan Gass-Pooré June 20, 2022November 16, 2022

Mildred's Mississippi: 'Roll of Thunder' as a love letter home

by Adria R. Walker May 24, 2022May 23, 2022

'Left to hold my grief alone.' Grieving platonic love in a culture of romantic domination.

by Sherronda J. Brown April 7, 2022May 3, 2023