Holidays After Prison - Prison Journalism Project
In "Holidays After Prison," Prison Journalism Project featured a series of essays from writers about their personal relationship to the Christmas holidays after being released from prison.
Excerpts featured below.
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"During the Holidays in Prison, We All Coveted This Special Gift" by Gem Jones
But more than any one item, I most remember the empathic and compassionate volunteers who delivered these coveted products. They lifted the morale of thousands of captive souls with broken hearts and provided a momentary escape from the house of horrors that engulfed us.
"Holidays Never Meant Much to Me — Until I Went to Prison" by Kashawn Taylor
Holidays never meant much to me. I never understood the hype. But in prison it felt nice to do something for others, especially at a time when it was difficult to pass the time. Watching everyone get a plate, sit around the dayroom and enjoy food made me realize that helping others enjoy the holidays was my calling.
"Why That Christmas Feast in Prison Mattered So Much" by Bob Eisenman
That day, we fed our entire pod, inaugurating a tradition I upheld in some form or another throughout my sentence. This experience — transforming a time of isolation into a moment of community — remains a profound memory that I carry into my life post-incarceration.
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You can read the full series "Holidays After Prison" at the Prison Journalism Project, an independent, national nonprofit organization that trains incarcerated writers to be journalists and publishes their stories so they can serve as influential voices in the broader conversation about the prison legal system across the U.S. and in their local communities.
