From the Editor
At the heart of Prison Renaissance's mission lies a question: How do we build communities in environments that foster alienation? Our answer is art. Art can build bridges over barriers.
The Ghost Ship fire was a tragedy in my community. I'm from Oakland. I'm an artist. I'm not gay or queer, but I carry a history of marginalization. Watching coverage of the fire, I wanted to mourn. The next day I left my cell, listened to the conversations, watched the faces, and I saw that others wanted to mourn. And we did. With that came a yearning to mourn not in isolation, but alongside the community from which prison walls divide us.
This Ghost Ship tribute - a collection of work that explores enviornment, comunity, and artistry - is our attempt to surmount the divide.
Special thanks to the wonderful artists who submitted their work to mourn with us. We hope readers will deeply consider the barriers artists of the Ghost Ship faced and feel inspired to build their own bridges over the walls that separate us from the unseen struggles of others.
- Emile DeWeaver, Editor
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