For the last four years, the west side nonprofit Look 2 Justice (L2J) has hosted annual symposiums in Tukwila to educate laypeople on the horrific consequences of the “trauma-to-prison pipeline,” a carceral system that primes young people from poor communities for a life of incarceration.
For the first time, L2J, in partnership with RANGE Media and the Black Rose Collective, is bringing that symposium to Spokane on July 19. The event, titled, “Breaking the Cycle: Healing Past Harms,” will feature addresses by L2J founder Christopher Blackwell, an incarcerated journalist; the Gonzaga University law professor Inga Laurent; Anthony Covert, a formerly incarcerated man advocating for retroactive applications of prison reform; Latrice Williams, a formerly incarcerated woman who started the first Black-woman-owned real estate company in Spokane; and Antoine Davis, an incarcerated pastor and journalist.
The speakers will illuminate the trauma-to-prison pipeline and talk about pathways out of that system.
L2J is led entirely by incarcerated activists and journalists dedicated to prison reform in Washington state, whose Department of Corrections oversees an ever-expanding network of 11 prisons and a nearly $3 billion budget. L2J looks to reform this system through legislation that reduces its size and impact and creates opportunities for incarcerated people to reenter society and be successful human beings.
Best of all: it’s free and there will be coffee and snacks. Here are the deets:
July 19 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Empire Health Foundation’s Philanthropy Center at 1020 W Riverside Ave in Spokane.
The event is sponsored by the Initai Foundation and Empire Health Foundation.
More information is available in our program. Please RSVP here.
Also, read RANGE's prison and criminal justice reporting here.
