We are pleased to announce that the following will be performing during a three-hour show at the Kennedy Center. This free event is part of a weekend Page-to-Stage festival at the Kennedy Center celebrating the performing arts. We thank FAMM, Drug Policy Alliance, NORML, VOMA, Justice Policy Institute, Grace Episcopal Church, First Trinity Lutheran Curch, Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Govrn.Net, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, ACLU, Art Appreciation Foundation, DC Public Defender Service, and other outstanding organizations for their support. For more information, contact Prisons Foundation at T: 202-393-1511 or E: [email protected]. INNER VOICES - former prisoners of Lorton Reformatory who performed inside prison and outside through special furlough arrangements, including at the White House and the Senate. They are the recipients of many awards. Rhozier "Roach" Brown (Founder), Darnell Bradford (Co-Founder), Willie "Tweet" Edwards, George "Archie" Childs, Mathew "Cutt" Cunningham, John D. Irby, Nathaniel McQueen, Gregory McBride-Bey, Walter McCollough, Walter Johnson, Ells Jefferies. HORTON DANCE!, INC - dance company of women who perform inside prisons, doing pieces representative of struggles with bondage to various incarcerations, including prison, depression, mental illness, and poverty. Rev Dr Adrienne Unae (Choreographer), Irene Blackston, Erica Brown, Kerry- Ann DaCosta, Deborah Gay, Juliana Thomas, Adrienne Unae, Dita Williams, Jere Williams. LAMONT CAREY - spoken word artist and actor who spent 11 years behind bars. He has made appearances in several stage plays, films, and most recently the HBO hit series The Wire, and is currently working on a feature film and documentary. 1 WISE AFRICAN (AKA JOSEPH BRIGGS) - writer and dramatic performer who has toured widely and has served as master of ceremonies for many events. His CDs feature dramatic sketches drawn from his earlier life of crime and his more than 20 years behind bars. RINGO FERNANDEZ - is a playwright with long-time experience as a inmate of Attica, Rikers Island and other New York prisons. He has won the Adelco Award for Best Play and Best Actor, Pen American Award for Best Play, and Castillo Cultural Center for Best Play. Performing with Pharaoh and The Drummer. MALINDA DIX-HUNT - has performed at the Kennedy Center and many other venues in such leading roles as Leonora from the opera "Il Trovatore," Cio-cio-san from "Madama Butterfly," the title role of "Suor Angelica" and La Contessa Almaviva from "Le nozze di Figaro." "Her voice was lovely and expressive and she knew how to act with it," wrote The Washington Post. EMILIO PEREZ - is a pianist and singer who perfected his craft during 18 years in federal prison where he performed and organized shows for fellow prisoners. Released in 2007 he says, "Music is an expression of who I am and what I feel." ELISA FERNANDEZ-ARIAS - is entering her sophomore year at Oberlin College where she sings in student musical productions. During the summer of 2007, she volunteered to help with prison arts and crafts shows and inmate correspondence initiatives. LIDIA PEREZ - spent almost a year in prison when a landlord pressed charges against her in a dispute that could have been handled as a civil matter. She created art and designed clothes in jail and now works with prison artists across America preparing their work for exhibit and sale. HARRY "CUPCAKE" COLEMAN - sang in prison bands during 10 years of imprisonment in Virginia. He says, "Music is my outlet when life gets a little crazy. I'd planned to make music a part of my professional life, but very few people will give ex-offenders a chance." JOE SHADE - is a songwriter who is strongly rooted in the American and British popular rock traditions. He enjoys collecting and singing prison songs and performs in concerts to raise money for guitars for prisoners. MICHAEL YUGO - has played the guitar since high school and currently assists ex-prisoners find venues for their music through his DC Acoustic Underground. During a six-month deployment as a Marine, he began writing his own songs. ANTHONY NEWLON - is a recovering addict whose addiction led to behavior that caused him to be imprisoned for over 20 years. He was auditioned at the DC Jail for this performance, and was released in late August 2007. LINDA GREENE - serves as chaplain at the DC Jail where she enjoys helping others to promote constructive change in their lives. A singer and pianist, music is one of the tools she uses to communicate with and positively influence imprisoned men and women in her care. DENNIS SOBIN - spent 10 years in state and federal prisons on consecutive sentences, where he learned to read music and become proficient in classical and jazz guitar. With 10 CDs to his credit, he now serves as music ambassador for the Prison Art Gallery, Washington, DC.

Check for local listings at http://www.pbs.org/pov/local_broadcast_v3.html. In the 1990s, at the height of the prison-building boom, a prison opened in rural America every 15 days. "Prison Town, USA" tells the story of Susanville, one California town that tries to resuscitate its economy by building a prison ­ with unforeseen consequences. Weaving the stories of a laid-off mill worker turned guard, a struggling dairy owner and an inmate's family stranded in Susanville, the film illuminates the legacy of an industry that is transforming rural America. A co-production with the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and KQED/Truly California.

The Sentencing Project is pleased to announce the publication of a new report, Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration By Race and Ethnicity. The report provides an overview of the use of incarceration in all 50 states, including both prison and jail populations. It can be viewed here: http://sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_staterateso.... Highlights of Uneven Justice include the following: - African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six (5.6) times the rate of whites and Latinos at nearly double (1.8) the rate of whites. - There is broad variation among the states in the ratio of black-to-white incarceration, ranging from a high of 13.6-to-1 in Iowa to a low of 1.9-to-1 in Hawaii. - States with the highest black-to-white ratio are disproportionately located in the Northeast and Midwest, including the leading states of Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. The Sentencing Project recommends that policymakers and practitioners consider the findings of the report and develop means to reduce unwarranted disparities in the justice system. Recommendations include revisiting drug control policies, addressing overly restrictive mandatory sentencing laws, assessing the impact of "race neutral" policies, and shifting resource allocation to create a broader range of alternatives to incarceration.

We are pleased to announce that the Prison Art Gallery, in conjunction with its parent organization the Prisons Foundation, will be presenting a three-hour show at the Kennedy Center. The show, entitled "How Music Helped Me Escape from Prison," consists of singers and musicians who put their interest in music to productive ends while behind bars. Everyone is invited to attend this free event. If you are an ex-prisoner musician or singer, or know of an ex-prisoner musician/singer, there is still time to be included in the show. Each performer will have a designated amount of time to perform songs of her or his choice with brief remarks about how these songs helped her/him rise above the prison experience. Organizations are especially welcomed to become a sponsor, which includes many special privileges and inclusion in the Kennedy Center program and in a video production of this historic event. For further information, please call 202-393-1511.