Journey to Justice Tour

The Case Against Solitary Confinement

This event has already occurred

Date:: Saturday, September 13
Time:: 6:00 pm PDT
Cost:: Free

Venue

: The Wyncote NW Forum
: 1119 8th Ave (Entrance off Seneca St.)
Seattle, 98101 United States + Google Map

Event Format: In-Person, CART

Note: Doors for this event will open at 5:00 PM.

Presented by Look2Justice, Unlock the Box Campaign, Disability Rights Washington, End Solitary WA .Org, Elliott Bay Books, Social Documentary Network, and the Washington Prison History Project. For questions about this event, please contact HR@look2justice.org or (206) 478-9273.

Headshots of Christopher Blackwell, Gail Brashear, David Heppard, and Jessica Phoenix Sylvia

Rentals

The event will be a unique experience centered on solitary confinement, the effects it has on those forced to endure the grueling experience, and the harms that spill out into our communities from it.

Once judged by the United States Supreme Court to be an impermissible form of torture, solitary confinement has grown to become a “solution” to the overcrowding and violence that define life on the inside. Every day in American jails and prisons, 122,000 people are confined to a cell the size of a parking space; some have been there for months, years, and in some cases, decades. While the devastating physical and psychological effects of solitary are well documented, black-and-white statistics can never fully capture the toll it takes on the people who endure it.

The event will provide testimony from four individuals who’ve been forced to spend years inside those small, isolated concrete cells. You’ll hear the effects it had on them individually, and the harm they witnessed being inflicted upon other incarcerated people. After these testimonies there will be a Q and A session to allow space and time for the audience to learn and interact with our speakers.

Panelists

Christopher Blackwell: Christopher Blackwell is an award-winning journalist currently incarcerated in Washington state. He is the co-founder and current Executive Director of Look2Justice. His writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many more. Follow his work on his website at: www.christopher-blackwell.com.

David Heppard: David Heppard was sentenced to life at 16 and released after serving 24 years. David co-founded the Black Rose Collective to continue dismantling systems of oppression and supporting healing in impacted communities. As former Executive Director of Freedom Project, he helped grow it into a national model for reentry and anti-oppression. David believes, “People don’t change, they heal.”

Jessica Phoenix Sylvia: Jessica Sylvia is a formerly incarcerated trans woman currently living on Squaxin Island ancestral land in the State of Washington. She is a core member of Study and Struggle and co-founder of the campaign to Free the Mississippi 5. Jessica is a published essayist and enrolled citizen of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

Anthony Covert: At 18, Anthony Covert was sentenced to 36 years in prison. After serving over 16 years, he was granted clemency and released 10 months ago by the Governor of Washington State. More than a survivor of his circumstances, he is a painter, writer, and podcaster. Since Anthony’s release, he’s been on a journey of transformation and enlightenment—reclaiming his story, redefining his identity, and using his voice and creativity to inspire change, spark dialogue, and build bridges of understanding.

You’ll also hear from House Representative Strom Peterson (D), who has fought for years with concerned citizens and impacted people to end the use of solitary confinement. Explaining the hurdles/struggles we face to pass meaningful legislation in protecting our incarcerated population from enduring by torture chambers.

Our goal is to have the folks who attend the event leave with a strong understanding of the harm solitary confinement is causing our fellow citizens, help humanize those who experience solitary, and to know how they can help us fight to end this horrific practice in Washington state.

The event is hosted by Look2Justice, a grassroots organization of system-impacted organizers cultivating justice, fairness, and accountability in Washington’s criminal legal system through civic education, narrative change and restorative justice practices. We operate an inside-out model, led by currently incarcerated individuals collaborating with formerly incarcerated organizers, impacted community organizers, academics, and policy/legal experts.