WORDSUNCAGED IS A CREATIVE PLATFORM, CREATED BY
THE MEN OF A-YARD CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON, LANCASTER AND
CALSTATE LA PROFESSOR, DR. BIDHAN CHANDRA ROY: ITS PURPOSE IS FOR INCARCERATED ARTISTS, WRITERS, STUDENTS AND POETS TO DIALOGUE, AND CRITICALLY ENGAGE WITH YOU.
WE INVITE YOU TO EXPERIENCE OUR VOICES — UNCAGED FROM THE PRISON WALLS. WE INVITE YOU TO RETHINK WHO INCARCERATED MEN ARE.
WE INVITE YOU TO EXPLORE OUR COMMON HUMANITY TOGETHER.
WE INVITE YOU TO IMAGINE ALTERNATIVES TO OUR CURRENT SYSTEM OF MASS INCARCERATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
"When I first visited California State Prison, Lancaster what I saw there were not prisoners, but cages filled of hundreds of lights —lights of knowledge, wisdom, compassion, love, insight and remorse.
It was as if hundreds of candles had been locked in a distant closet, or that the stars had been hidden behind the blanket of the desert night, denying us the light that they had to shine upon the world."
This website is our attempt to uncage these lights.
-Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy
NEWS ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Fall 2019
https://www.hauserwirth.com/events/22611-response-zoe-leonards-want-president
WordsUncaged is participating in an event at Hauser and Wirth in DTLA!
On the occasion of ‘Zoe Leonard. Analogue,’ the gallery’s first Los Angeles exhibition devoted to New York-based artist Zoe Leonard, join us for an afternoon of performances and readings in response to Leonard’s influential text from 1992, ‘I want a president.’ Local artists, activists, poets, writers, and thinkers will gather together to share their thoughts, words, work, and art in anticipation of the midterm elections.
Participants include:
Artists
Lita Albuquerque
Edgar Arceneaux with performer Joana Knezevic
Nao Bustamante
Edgar Heap of Birds
Patrick Staff
Performance Artist & Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter
Patrisse Cullors
Art Historian, Critic & Curator
Andy Campbell
Curator
Kimberli Meyer
Poet
Amy Gerstler
Writer
Helen Molesworth
Founder of WordsUncaged and Director of Cal State LA’s BA program at Lancaster State Prison
Bidhan Roy
‘“I want a president” was written in 1992, in the midst of a presidential election and the early years of the AIDS crisis. Zoe Leonard’s work is a personal lament, a ferocious accounting, and a call to action. It is a call to a public that wants more from politicians and from political narratives; it is a call to a public that is enraged and fed up. It is a call to a public that needs the complexity of desire insisted on in the work. And it is a call to a public that is ready to mobilize their political desire and ready to make political demands.’
– Sharon Hayes, ‘I want a president Transcript of a Rally,’ 6 November 2016
WordsUncaged is participating in an event at Hauser and Wirth in DTLA!
On the occasion of ‘Zoe Leonard. Analogue,’ the gallery’s first Los Angeles exhibition devoted to New York-based artist Zoe Leonard, join us for an afternoon of performances and readings in response to Leonard’s influential text from 1992, ‘I want a president.’ Local artists, activists, poets, writers, and thinkers will gather together to share their thoughts, words, work, and art in anticipation of the midterm elections.
Participants include:
Artists
Lita Albuquerque
Edgar Arceneaux with performer Joana Knezevic
Nao Bustamante
Edgar Heap of Birds
Patrick Staff
Performance Artist & Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter
Patrisse Cullors
Art Historian, Critic & Curator
Andy Campbell
Curator
Kimberli Meyer
Poet
Amy Gerstler
Writer
Helen Molesworth
Founder of WordsUncaged and Director of Cal State LA’s BA program at Lancaster State Prison
Bidhan Roy
‘“I want a president” was written in 1992, in the midst of a presidential election and the early years of the AIDS crisis. Zoe Leonard’s work is a personal lament, a ferocious accounting, and a call to action. It is a call to a public that wants more from politicians and from political narratives; it is a call to a public that is enraged and fed up. It is a call to a public that needs the complexity of desire insisted on in the work. And it is a call to a public that is ready to mobilize their political desire and ready to make political demands.’
– Sharon Hayes, ‘I want a president Transcript of a Rally,’ 6 November 2016
Spring 2018
Journal Release Party and Other June Events!
WordsUncaged, Unlock Tomorrow and Cal State Los Angeles have collaborated and curated a month-long exhibit of photography, art and storytelling that imagines how incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and women are not a problem to be solved by society but, rather, a population who are uniquely positioned to help solve many problems in our communities.
The exhibit features artists such as Estevan Oriol, MEAR ONE, Spanto, Valerie J. Bower, F. Scott Schafer and Danny Dwyer. There will be a stunning installation from Chris Branscombe and Kenneth Webb, dissecting the traumas of our society and showing us how to heal. Both artists are currently incarcerated in state prison. Along with youth from juvenile hall and a full roster of other talented artists, this exhibit will show the damages of mass incarceration through the eyes of one our most important assets; artists.
Opening night of (RE)ENTER (RE)THINK (RE)STORE broke the gallery record with over 500 plus in attendance. Join us for the rest of the events.
The exhibit features artists such as Estevan Oriol, MEAR ONE, Spanto, Valerie J. Bower, F. Scott Schafer and Danny Dwyer. There will be a stunning installation from Chris Branscombe and Kenneth Webb, dissecting the traumas of our society and showing us how to heal. Both artists are currently incarcerated in state prison. Along with youth from juvenile hall and a full roster of other talented artists, this exhibit will show the damages of mass incarceration through the eyes of one our most important assets; artists.
Opening night of (RE)ENTER (RE)THINK (RE)STORE broke the gallery record with over 500 plus in attendance. Join us for the rest of the events.
Many thanks to @yg for his support of our project! It’s great to see artists using their influence for a good cause.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for this Friday, JUNE 22nd, the night of our book release celebration and closing reception of our June art exhibit at the CSULA Fine Arts Gallery. This is the perfect night to come check out the gallery, learn about some of the work @wordsuncaged @unlocktomorrow and @brickofgold have been doing, and get involved and connected with the project! There will be music, drinks and live readings from the book. And you can pick up your own copy of “DisConnected/ReConnected” then! Doors open at 7pm! Please RSVP here: Reenterrethinkrestore.splashthat.com
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for this Friday, JUNE 22nd, the night of our book release celebration and closing reception of our June art exhibit at the CSULA Fine Arts Gallery. This is the perfect night to come check out the gallery, learn about some of the work @wordsuncaged @unlocktomorrow and @brickofgold have been doing, and get involved and connected with the project! There will be music, drinks and live readings from the book. And you can pick up your own copy of “DisConnected/ReConnected” then! Doors open at 7pm! Please RSVP here: Reenterrethinkrestore.splashthat.com
We are staging a prison play, “Time Alone” by Allesandro Camon, as part of our June WordsUncaged series at Calstate LA this Saturday (June 9th, 2018 6pm) at the USU Theatre on campus. The play will star Tony award winner Tonya Pinkins and Alex Hernandez.
Here is a link if you would like to attend. The event is free but requires rsvp. There are limited seats for the public, so please ask guests to rsvp sooner rather than later.
Time Alone - (80 total people) Gen Public RSVP link- https://timealone.splashthat.com/
Here is a link to LA Times review of the play: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-time-alone-play-review-20171020-story.html
Thanks and hope to see you there!
Here is a link if you would like to attend. The event is free but requires rsvp. There are limited seats for the public, so please ask guests to rsvp sooner rather than later.
Time Alone - (80 total people) Gen Public RSVP link- https://timealone.splashthat.com/
Here is a link to LA Times review of the play: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-time-alone-play-review-20171020-story.html
Thanks and hope to see you there!
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WordsUncaged Monthly Radio Show!
Don't forget to tune in to the monthly WordsUncaged Radio show on KPFK 90.7. We go on the air LIVE @ at 10.30 am, every 2nd Saturday of the month!
Join us for an evening of free drinks, music, friends and art. Giveaways, prizes and an art auction with some of LA’s top artists. All proceeds go to Unlock Tomorrow and WordsUncaged to support our work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. We hope to see you there! Please see event details and RSVP here: http://unlocktomorrow.splashthat.com
If you can't make the event but would still like to contribute, then you can do so through the crowdfunding link below:
https://www.classy.org/campaign/words-uncaged-and-unlock-tomorrow-present-re-enter-re-think-re-store/c167902
If you can't make the event but would still like to contribute, then you can do so through the crowdfunding link below:
https://www.classy.org/campaign/words-uncaged-and-unlock-tomorrow-present-re-enter-re-think-re-store/c167902
Check out the new KPFK Interview with Dr. Bidhan Roy on Restorative Justice and the Words Uncaged program!
And here's a link to another great interview with the OutrageoU.S.podcast. Thanks for having us!
Fall 2017
We are so grateful to see our Journal ending up in the hands of such influential people. Thank you, Oprah and Governor Jerry Brown, for your support!
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