Special and Ongoing Projects

Three unusual projects deserve special mention: Don’t Shake the Spoon, Prisoners Have Mothers, Too, and the View Through project.

Don't Shake the Spoon

Don’t Shake the Spoon: A Journal of Prison Writing is a literary journal sharing some of Exchange for Change’s students’ best written and visual work. The theme of our first issue, available this fall, is change, which has not only served as our contributors’ inspiration but celebrates their transition from writers to published authors. For an explanation of the name, be sure to check out our first issue!

Prisoners Have Mothers, Too

Prisoners Have Mothers, Too is a zine comprised of writings by Exchange for Change in honor or memory of their mothers. The zine was produced by UM/E4C interns in collaboration with Special Collections at UM’s Richter Library, and was released and distributed at the O, Miami Zine Fair on UM’s campus. The front page of the Miami Herald's Healthy Living section featured our students’ performances of this material from our Spring 2017 graduate showcase at Dade CI.

Click here for our coverage in the Herald.

View-Through

The View-Through project was a collaboration between over 100 of our incarcerated students, Exchange for Change, O, Miami, and artist Julia Weist, This community-based initiative’s aim was to alter the results of online search engines to downplay stereotypes and highlight the poetic prowess of incarcerated individuals. People from more than 40 countries participated in changing the algorithm. Google “Miami inmates are….” to keep the project alive.