Maya Schenwar
Maya Schenwar (born November 10, 1982) is the editor-in-chief of Truthout,[1] and a writer focused on prison-related topics. She is the author of Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better and a co-editor of the anthology Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States. She has written about prison issues for Truthout, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. She serves as chair of The Media Consortium's coordinating committee. Schenwar is also a board member of Love & Protect, an organization that supports those who identify as women and gender non-conforming persons of color who are criminalized or harmed by state and interpersonal violence, and of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, a revolving fund that pays bond for people of color charged with crimes in Cook County, Illinois. Previous to her work at Truthout, Schenwar was a contributing editor at Punk Planet magazine and served as media coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence.
Career
Coverage of Schenwar’s work and interviews with Schenwar have appeared in: C-SPAN,[2] Democracy Now!,[3] MSNBC,[4] Al Jazeera,[5] Publisher’s Weekly,[6] Library Journal, The Nation,[7] The Thom Hartmann Program,[8] Talking Points Memo,[9] Wisconsin Public Radio,[10] Minnesota Public Radio, The Majority Report, The Utne Reader, In These Times, The Sun magazine, YES! Magazine, The Real News Network, TakePart Live, Marfa Public Radio, AlterNet, Colorlines, Bitch Magazine, Feministing, Citizen Radio, Solitary Watch, WBAI, KPFK, The Toast, KPFA, WHMP, WMPR, High Times, KPFT, and others. She has done a wide range of public speaking, both in the United States and internationally, at universities, community centers, conferences, prisons, bookstores, and other venues.
In February 2016, Schenwar presented a TEDx talk in Baltimore on prison abolition.[11]
Books
Schenwar's book, Locked Down, Locked Out, examines how prison breaks apart families and communities, and how severing those bonds between people actually hinders the prospect of real collective safety for all. The book is told through the story of Schenwar's own family’s experience, alongside those of many other incarcerated people and their families. The book also profiles a number of decarceration campaigns, as well as restorative and transformative justice efforts, happening around the country. It focuses on intersectional projects that emphasize connection, community-building, and racial justice. Schenwar also co-edited Truthout's anthology, Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?: Police Violence and Resistance in the United States. This book's essays chronicle the roots and manifestations of police violence, as well as the contemporary efforts to resist racist and oppressive policing.[citation needed]
Selected articles
- A Virtual Visit to a Relative in Jail. The New York Times, September 2016.[12]
- To Make Health Care for All a Reality, Stop Killing People Truthout, February 2016.[13]
- Too Many People in Jail? Abolish Bail. New York Times, May 2015.[14]
- Mandatory Rehab Is Just the Newest Front in the Flawed War on Drugs. The Guardian, October 2014.[15]
- Reduce Gun Penalties. The New York Times, March 2014.[16]
- The Prison System Welcomes My Newborn Niece to This World. Truthout, September 2013.[17]
- Your Home Is Your Prison: How to Lock Down Your Neighborhood, Your Country, and You. TomDispatch, January 2015.[18]
Awards
Schenwar has won a Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award,[19] an Independent Publisher Book Award,[20] the Women's Prison Association's Sarah Powell Huntington Leadership Award, and a Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship.[21]
See also
References
- ^ "About Us". Truth Out. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "U.S. Prison System". C-Span. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Maya Schenwar". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Mobilizing over the death of Kalief Browder". MSNBC. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Fixing America's 'broken system' of criminal justice". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Prisons Are Destroying Communities and Making All of Us Less Safe". The Nation. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better". YouTube. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "The Radical Power of a Prison Pen Pal". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "The Case For Prison Reform". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Beyond Reform: Abolishing Prisons Maya Schenwar TEDxBaltimore". YouTube. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "A Virtual Visit to a Relative in Jail". The New York Times. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Schenwar, Maya (19 February 2016). "To Make Health Care for All a Reality, Stop Killing People". Truthout. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Schenwar, Maya (8 May 2015). "Too Many People in Jail? Abolish Bail". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Schenwar, Maya (27 October 2014). "Mandatory rehab is just the newest front in the flawed war on drugs". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Schenwar, Maya (14 March 2014). "Reduce Gun Penalties". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "The Prison System Welcomes My Newborn Niece to This World". Truthout. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Tomgram: Maya Schenwar, Prison by Any Other Name". Tomgram. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "2013 Sigma Delta Chi Award Honorees". Sigma Delta Chi. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results". Independent Publisher. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Maya Schenwar". Lannan. Retrieved 6 December 2016.