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Mackenzie Guirsch is a writer from Washington State. Her writing is often inspired by her own life and the people closest to her. “The Other Side of the Sentence” draws on her sister’s experience with incarceration and her own experience loving and supporting her through it.

By Clover A. Perez, PhD For millions of incarcerated people and their families, communication comes at a cost. This investigation examines the corporate structure, practices, controversies, and evolving technologies behind one of the most influential companies in the U.S. correctional communications industry. For more than a million incarcerated people across the United States, communication with the outside world operates within an economic structure fundamentally different

My ancestors shared their stories so that I could find the lessons in them. That is why sharing part of my life with you is so important. I am sharing pieces of my soul in the hope that you can learn not only what not to do, but also how to heal from the things that hurt you to your core—the things that leave you unsure of how to navigate parts of yourself. The holidays are coming. So many people will tell you to be grateful you still have something to celebrate. You will rea

By Dr. David Z. Simpson, h.c. After spending a decade incarcerated, I learned something that many people outside prison walls do not fully understand: prison is not only a place of punishment; it is an environment that constantly pressures people to give up hope, lose themselves, and accept emotional, mental, and spiritual defeat. And if we are honest, many prisons are built in ways that slowly break people down. Not all at once, but slowly. A person can enter prison angry an

Simran Dave is a 27-year-old writer and finance professional based in New Jersey. Outside her finance work, she expresses herself through writing and dance. Much of her writing explores her experiences navigating an overwhelming and highly reactive nervous system, the health and interpersonal trauma accumulated over the years, and the process of understanding experiences she could not fully name for much of her early life.

America, the land of the free, has long wrestled with the paradox of mass incarceration. Within the labyrinthine corridors of the U.S. criminal justice system, the faces of those confined are as diverse as they are numerous. Yet among them is a population too often overlooked: emerging adults—young people who have crossed the legal threshold into adulthood while still navigating one of the most consequential developmental periods of their lives.

After spending a decade incarcerated and years afterward advocating for incarcerated people and their families, I began noticing something that troubled me deeply: prison does not confine people. It reshapes them. The environment itself changes human behavior, emotional health, relationships, and identity in ways society rarely discusses. Over time, I came to understand that many of the struggles we see in formerly incarcerated people are not simply the result of bad decision

Finding meaning, healing, and purpose after profound loss Ayana Thomas is a grief coach, author, speaker, and founder of Ayana Thomas Initiative LLC and Grieving Back to Life, a movement supporting individuals impacted by trauma, incarceration, loss, and systemic harm. She is the creator of the AYANA Grief Method™, a healing framework designed to help individuals acknowledge grief, navigate emotional pain, and reclaim purpose after life-altering experiences. Through her work