Amani Sawari – Founder.
Writer | Media Maker | Artist
After receiving her Baccalaureate degree from the University of Washington in Media Communications and Law, Amani Sawari was recruited by people in prison in South Carolina’s Lee County Correctional Facility to elevate their national demands. Her work on behalf of people in prison began with working together to write a monthly newsletter newsletter. The newsletter, No Shackles, incorporated statements from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, and published articles leading up to their planned social justice demonstration, the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March. Sawari spoke at the march August 19, 2017 in Washington D.C. (picture speaking at march)
Following that year incarcerated organizers organized the 2018 National Prison Strike in response to the deadly conditions forced upon them. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak entrusted Amani as their National Spokesperson, responsible for coordinating nationwide participation and developing content in order to keep the incarcerated participants informed about ways that people in prison and their outside networks could collectively respond. Her coordination resulted in the successful participation of people in prison in 17 states and 3 regions abroad. Sawari was also able to collect endorsements of prisoners’ demands from over 350 businesses, organizations and elected officials.
Over the years that Sawari has served as a writer and publisher, a strong network of civically informed and politically engaged incarcerated citizens were strengthened into an actively organizing community. In response, SawariMedia LLC was established, housing the print platforms where imprisoned community members were woven together: NoShackles ( Fall 2016 – Fall 2017), Solid Black Fist (Summer 2018 – Fall 2018), Motivate Michigan ( Fall 2019 – Fall 2020) and the Right2Vote Report (Winter 2018 – present) included. On this site readers can find and follow the prison resistance movement of most recent, supporters are invited to download and share SawariMedia’s publications.
SawariMedia continues to publish the Right2Vote Report bimonthly. The report is focused on protecting people’s right to be informed while engaging people in prison in the legislative processes that govern their lives. The report services thousands of readers in hundreds of prisons serving sentences across 30 of America’s United States. SawariMedia is committed to doing this at no charge to its incarcerated readers.
Here is where you can support SawariMedia, its readers and our projects by supporting one of more newsletter subscriptions for one of our inside contributors.