CULTURE | MAR. 28, 2023
The Marshall Project and VICE Screen Inside Story at Howard University
Lawrence Bartley welcoming the audience. Photo via Jamaica Kalika
BY JAMAICA KALIKA, SECTION EDITOR
VICE News and the Marshall Project hosted an intimate, private screening of “Inside Story,” which was being held in the lower level of the Amour J. Blackburn University Center last week. The event included a panel discussion, book signing and mingle hour.
With the video project carrying the Emmy-award-winning mythos of the Vice News team and their documentary work, expectations were high.
Developed by and for formerly incarcerated people, Inside Story is video series that brings information about the criminal justice system to people both inside and outside of prison walls.
There are two million people incarcerated in the US. The Marshall Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization, aims to tell the stories of the people inside.
“The event served as a powerful reminder of the ongoing need for advocacy and action to address the systemic issues within the criminal justice system,” said Trinitee Oliver, a junior who was in attendance.
The Marshall Project also publishes a print publication, News Inside, in addition to its mini-documentary series.
Lawrence Bartley, News Inside publisher and co-creator of Inside Story, wanted to give incarcerated people more ways to access criminal justice information. Across eight episodes, “Inside Story” features prominent changemakers in policy, entertainment, and social justice.
Over 100 people are employed by this project, which grew from a single-story idea Bartley had created.
“I was still incarcerated when the first issue came out, so I saw firsthand the value of [the stories we are sharing], it spread like wildfire. The amount of families that reach out to us, It leaves me speechless sometimes,” said co-creator Donald Washington Jr.
In true documentary format, the series kept a balance of informative yet captivating, earth-shattering facts about the state of the American justice system. The episode screened explored life without parole sentences, partnering large hard-to-comprehend numbers with the real stories of actual individuals.
The new special episode which had not yet been publicly viewed featured multiple stories from formerly incarcerated people, their families, and those advocating for them, like “The Wire” actor, Gbenga Akinnagbe. The audience laughed during comedian and self-described griot/storyteller Ali Saddiq’s segment, who “endured the prison system for six years,” describing it as a “physical and mental war.”
Howard’s very own Dr. Stanley Andrisse, a professor, scientist, and author of "From Prison Cells to Ph.D.: It is Never Too Late to Do Good," was also highlighted.
Moderated by Afro-American Studies professor Dr. Yeboah Quarkume, the panelists included Dr. Andrisse and co-creators Bartley and Washington, bringing the themes and ideas discussed and introduced in the episode to a more profound level.
The audience engages in powerful discussion with criminal justice reform leaders.
Andrisse shared his past history of retaliation and the risk he holds by being so open about his past. He also told the ironic fact that his book was not allowed in prisons due to going against policy by “depicting a crime.”
“The purpose is to punish, it is not the department of corrections. This is about torturing and taking advantage of a certain group of people,” said Dr. Andrisse during the panel.
The event was sponsored by Prison 2 Professionals (P2P) and Howard’s Afro-American studies department, bringing together a diverse interdisciplinary audience of student journalists, criminal justice advocates, doctors, and politicians. Many audience members were involved with the project or the broader cause of criminal justice reform.
“It is only by continuing to have conversations like these and working towards meaningful change that we can create a society that truly supports all of its citizens,” said Oliver.