Art + Activism: Appetites to End Mass Incarceration
Join us for the second iteration of the Art + Activism series, moderated by co-founder of the Community Justice Project (CJP) and Director of Global Programs at Movement Law Lab, Meena Jagannath, featuring artist, activist, and social entrepreneur, Chef Kurt Evans, Kathie Klarreich, Executive Director of Exchange for Change (E4C), and Angel E. Sanchez, a graduate of University of Miami’s School of Law and Board Member of E4C.
As a continuation of the previous session around the intersection of art and social justice and how art can be used in function of addressing pressing social issues, this conversation centers on mass incarceration, its racial, economic and social consequences, and the strategies used to educate the public and push for comprehensive reforms of the prison system. Whether it’s through the culinary arts, or through creative writing outlets, artists and activists alike are working with both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons to envision a future without mass incarceration.
Before the session, we encourage you to make your own amuse-bouche of prison-inspired Chi Chi by Chef Kurt Evans:
To make, combine one bag of cheese puffs (smashed well into fine pieces) with one pack of any flavor ramen noodles (crushed into semi-small pieces). Mix all well, along with the ramen flavor packet and 1 tbs. of mayonnaise, in the empty Cheetos bag. In that bag, add 1 cup of very hot water. Shake up and down a few times to mix. Grab the bag and squeeze out the excess air. Roll into a long log and let it sit 20 - 25 minutes, until it's the consistency of a tamale. Unroll, and serve at room temperature.
To register for this session, please access the following link.
About the speakers
Chef artist-activist and social entrepreneur, Kurt Evans, was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kurt uses his culinary skills to rally the community around ending mass incarceration. Through his EMI Dinner series, he brings awareness to garnering solutions for this pressing community issue. He’s also owner of Down North Pizza, a fair wage, equitable workplace for all its employees who have been formerly incarcerated.
Meena Jagannath co-founded the Community Justice Project, Inc. in 2015, and now works as the Director of Global Programs at Movement Law Lab. She is a movement lawyer with an extensive background in activism and international human rights. Prior to coming to Miami, she worked for the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she coordinated the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project. She received her J.D from University of Washington Law School where she was a William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholar. She also holds a Master's degree in International Affairs (human rights concentration) from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and a B.A. in International Relations and Peace and Justice Studies from Tufts University.
Kathie Klarreich is the founder and executive director of the South Florida-based nonprofit Exchange for Change, which teaches writing in Florida prisons. Prior to her work with the incarcerated population Klarreich was a journalist, spending more than half of her 25 years on the beat living in, and reporting on, Haiti. She is the author of Madade Dread: A Tale of Love, Vodou and Civil Strife in Haiti and has been published in several anthologies as well as major newspapers and magazines nationwide.
Angel Sánchez is a volunteer and board member with Exchange for Change (E4C). Angel himself served over 12 years in Florida’s state prisons after being tried as an adult when he was a teenager. In prison, Angel discovered his passion for law and after his release in 2011, he moved into a homeless shelter, enrolled in Valencia Community College, and forged an unlikely (and unavailable) prison-to-school pipeline. In May 2020, Angel graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in the top 10 percent of his class.