Thousand Kites
Encyclopedia
Thousand Kites is a national project that works directly with stakeholders using communication strategies and campaigns to work toward prison reform through grassroots
power. It uses performance, video, and radio to make its website a space for incarcerated people, corrections officials, the formerly incarcerated, grassroots
activists, and ordinary citizens to dialogue and organize around United State’s criminal justice
system.
), Nick Szuberla began to receive hundreds of letters from inmates recently transferred from distant cities into two new, local SuperMax
prisons. The prisoners’ letters described racism
and human rights violations, and Szuberla responded first by playing a game of chess with the prisoners over the air and through the mail, and then with artistic projects, including bringing hip-hop artists together with mountain musicians and organizing radio broadcasts for prisoners’ families. Thousand Kites works in collaboration with Appalshop
, the hosts of WMMT (FM)
.
Stories: Thousand Kites operates around a belief in the power of the individual's story. Most of these are written or recorded by users and submitted to the Kites Campaigns website, where people can view and comment on them. Thousand Kites also uses Roadside Theater's Story Circle methodology with the goal of promoting sharing of similar experiences among groups and opening up dialogue surrounding criminal justice issues.
Campaigns: Thousand Kites supports local grassroots organizations in organizing and informing their communities about criminal justice issues. They host web pages for multiple campaigns, including MTA (Baltimore) Stories, NYS Parole Reform Campaign, Prison Phone Justice Campaign, Resisting the Incarceration Nation, and the Community Restoration Campaign, and provides means for supporters to electronically contact their local legislature.
Programs: Thousand Kites hosts a number of programs aimed at achieving prison reform. "The People's Poet" chronicles poems written from US prisons and read aloud by volunteers. "Calls From Home" is a weekly radio show on WMMT
88.7 FM (Mountain Community Radio) that compiles calls from the family members of the incarcerated and plays them over the radio as well as streams them online, and they are always accessible on the Thousand Kites website. WMMT
hosts a 24/7 call line for the messages. "Guest Blogger" exhibits blog posts by Kites contributors and Community members. "Incarceration Nation" is a prison mapping and image bank that shows the presence of prisons in America's communities using Google Earth videos and user generated content. "Kites on the Road" contains updates by Kites members as they travel around the country and speak on these issues. "StoryLine" collects calls across the country of people telling their stories then posts them online.
(2006) is a documentary produced by Thousand Kites founder Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby regarding investigation of human rights issues within Wallens Ridge State Prison
. The film investigates the social impact moving inner-city minority offenders to distant rural outposts.
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
power. It uses performance, video, and radio to make its website a space for incarcerated people, corrections officials, the formerly incarcerated, grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
activists, and ordinary citizens to dialogue and organize around United State’s criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
system.
Founding of Thousand Kites
Starting in 1998, as host of the rural Appalachian region's hip-hop radio program, "Lights Out" (broadcast on local radio station WMMT (FM)WMMT (FM)
-Internet:The radio station is also available on the internet, from their website at...
), Nick Szuberla began to receive hundreds of letters from inmates recently transferred from distant cities into two new, local SuperMax
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
prisons. The prisoners’ letters described racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and human rights violations, and Szuberla responded first by playing a game of chess with the prisoners over the air and through the mail, and then with artistic projects, including bringing hip-hop artists together with mountain musicians and organizing radio broadcasts for prisoners’ families. Thousand Kites works in collaboration with Appalshop
Appalshop
Appalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States....
, the hosts of WMMT (FM)
WMMT (FM)
-Internet:The radio station is also available on the internet, from their website at...
.
Thousand Kites' Beliefs
According to their website, Thousand Kites operates on the following beliefs:- The criminal justiceCriminal justiceCriminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
system is the most pressing civil rights issue in the United States.
- Breaking down the silence surrounding the U.S. criminal justice system through storytelling and listening helps people find effective solutions to over-incarceration in their communities.
- Because policy follows public perception, insuring that there is ample opportunity for free and open dialogue demands that all communities work together for media justice.
Methods
Thousand Kites aims to put low-cost media tools into activists' hands to support their organizing. Using cell phones, the web, and video tools, through its website, the company can share the activists' stories and connect them to a local, state or national campaign.Stories: Thousand Kites operates around a belief in the power of the individual's story. Most of these are written or recorded by users and submitted to the Kites Campaigns website, where people can view and comment on them. Thousand Kites also uses Roadside Theater's Story Circle methodology with the goal of promoting sharing of similar experiences among groups and opening up dialogue surrounding criminal justice issues.
Campaigns: Thousand Kites supports local grassroots organizations in organizing and informing their communities about criminal justice issues. They host web pages for multiple campaigns, including MTA (Baltimore) Stories, NYS Parole Reform Campaign, Prison Phone Justice Campaign, Resisting the Incarceration Nation, and the Community Restoration Campaign, and provides means for supporters to electronically contact their local legislature.
Programs: Thousand Kites hosts a number of programs aimed at achieving prison reform. "The People's Poet" chronicles poems written from US prisons and read aloud by volunteers. "Calls From Home" is a weekly radio show on WMMT
WMMT (FM)
-Internet:The radio station is also available on the internet, from their website at...
88.7 FM (Mountain Community Radio) that compiles calls from the family members of the incarcerated and plays them over the radio as well as streams them online, and they are always accessible on the Thousand Kites website. WMMT
WMMT (FM)
-Internet:The radio station is also available on the internet, from their website at...
hosts a 24/7 call line for the messages. "Guest Blogger" exhibits blog posts by Kites contributors and Community members. "Incarceration Nation" is a prison mapping and image bank that shows the presence of prisons in America's communities using Google Earth videos and user generated content. "Kites on the Road" contains updates by Kites members as they travel around the country and speak on these issues. "StoryLine" collects calls across the country of people telling their stories then posts them online.
Name
The name "Thousand Kites" comes from prison slang. According to Thousand Kites, to "shoot a kite" is to send a message.Up the Ridge
Up the RidgeUp the Ridge
Up the Ridge is a 2008 documentary film by Appalshop filmmakers Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby revealing injustices in the American Prison System. It especially highlights prisoners sent from urban areas to be incarcerated in rural supermax prisons, such as Red Onion State Prison and Wallens Ridge...
(2006) is a documentary produced by Thousand Kites founder Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby regarding investigation of human rights issues within Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison
Wallens Ridge State Prison is a supermax state prison located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, housing approximately 700 inmates. Since opening in April 1999, it has been a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and is identical to the Red Onion State Prison near Pound. The prison was built for...
. The film investigates the social impact moving inner-city minority offenders to distant rural outposts.
See also
- AppalshopAppalshopAppalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States....
- Up the RidgeUp the RidgeUp the Ridge is a 2008 documentary film by Appalshop filmmakers Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby revealing injustices in the American Prison System. It especially highlights prisoners sent from urban areas to be incarcerated in rural supermax prisons, such as Red Onion State Prison and Wallens Ridge...
- Wallens Ridge State PrisonWallens Ridge State PrisonWallens Ridge State Prison is a supermax state prison located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, housing approximately 700 inmates. Since opening in April 1999, it has been a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and is identical to the Red Onion State Prison near Pound. The prison was built for...
- Red Onion State PrisonRed Onion State PrisonRed Onion State Prison is a supermax state prison located in unincorporated Wise County, Virginia, near Pound, operated by the Virginia Department of Corrections, it houses about 800 inmates. The prison opened in August, 1998 and is an identical facility to the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big...
External links
- Kites Campaigns http://www.kitescampaigns.org/
- Appalshop http://appalshop.org/
- Up the Ridge Documentary http://appalshop.org/h2h/film/