Lock and Key

Some say the truth sets them free. Not in America.

Lies are a disease that spread like malaria.

Under lock and key means either safety or imprisonment.

Innocent until proven guilty? Or guilty until proven innocent?

What was the crime anyway? What makes a criminal have to pay?

Just trying to take it day by day. Only hoping to have a say.

How many cages for others to see?

There’s no place to be if freedom isn’t free.

How many mistreated for the world to care?

Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere.

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Free Your Art has featured on going coverage of mass incarceration: from white privilege to the multi billion dollar industry that fuels the flames of racial injustices, income disparity, and means of dehumanization.

Coming up: what art has to do with these systemic issues, how artists can help, limitations to art’s influence, and case studies.

Further Reading:

1. An innocent man pleaded guilty to a drug charge to get out of jail

2. Saints' Demario Davis: New Orleans not giving criminal defendants what they need

3. There is 1 arrest warrant for every 7 residents in city of New Orleans

4. One in 7 adults in New Orleans have a warrant out for their arrest, new data shows

5. Community Organizers & Policymakers Call for Dismissal of Warrants, Fines, & Fees for Traffic Offenses

6. City Council Resolves to Dismiss Warrants, Fines, and Fees for 40,000 New Orleanians

7. Municipal Court at the Mission: pilot program clears warrants for homeless

8. Looking For Justice at Tulane & Broad pt. 4

9. New Orleans Just Took a Step Towards Ending the Criminalization of Poverty. Let’s Finish the Job.

10. California Bans Private Prisons And Immigrant Detention Centers

11. Amnesty International Fighting For-Profit Immigrant Detention in Louisiana

12. Tally of children split at border tops 5,400 in new count

13. ICE Moved 700 Women Out Of A Detention Center And Won’t Tell Lawyers Where They Are

14. 'Trump is literally deporting kids with cancer': New immigration rule removes protections for migrants seeking life-saving medical care

15. Trump administration leaves menstruating migrant girls ‘bleeding through’ underwear at detention centres, lawsuit claims

16. Menstruating Migrant Girls ‘Visibly’ Bleeding Through Pants While Detained, Lawsuit Says