This event was held on Tuesday, August 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, We listened to excerpts & discussed the Call Declined podcast, which talks about the experience and obstacles of reentering society from incarceration.

Our conversations & activities were followed by a period — open to all — to share work. This month’s discussion and open mic was hosted by Davi Gray.

A brief description of the podcast, from the website:

In times of need, who do you turn to? What systems do you believe are there to catch you if you fall? Is there a way to interrupt generations of trauma and family violence? What might the world look like if we decriminalized mental illness, substance use disorder, and poverty?  Call Declined follows the lives of two extraordinary women, Kamisha Thomas and Aimee Wissman, and the captivating story of how they fell through a frayed safety net and how resilience, friendship, and the power of creativity enabled them to survive the grim walls of the Dayton Correctional Institution. It is a story of how art became their north star and inspiration for what was to come when they finally were released from prison.

Call Declined (Lemonada Media)

We focused on the four episodes about the women, Kamisha Thomas and Aimee Wissman, who founded the Returning Artists Guild. You can still listen to those episodes from the website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.