The Writers Block – The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli

FEATURED: “Don Dada: Assessing the Socio-economic and Political Power of Jamaica’s Mafia Bosses” by Damion Keith Blake

Amazon — In Don Dada: Assessing the Socio-economic and Political Power of Jamaica’s Mafia Bosses, Damion Blake takes on a controversial subject: the Jamaican don.

The Jamaican don is a non-state actor, a male figure, usually from the community in which he plays a leadership role, and who wields considerable power and control inside that nation’s garrison communities. Garrisons in Jamaica are poor inner city communities characterized by homogeneous voting patterns for one of Jamaica’s two major political parties: the People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party.

The Prison Journalism Project Trains Incarcerated Inmates to Become Published Journalists

See how incarcerated writers are breaking stereotypes and shifting the narrative from behind the wall.

Check out this article by incarcerated writer Jeffrey Shockley. Shockley has been incarnated for 23 years. He is currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania.

In the article “Pennsylvania Institutes Prison Pay Increase, A First in 30 Year,” Shockley discusses the recent pay raise implemented by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in which prison wages have been increased by 20%. As of 2023, the minimum wage has gone from 19 cents to 23 cents, and the hourly range is now 23 cents to 50 cents for most jobs.

Shockley says this pay increase is significant as the cost of prison commissary and essentials have increased due to inflation.

“A packet of ramen noodles that used to cost 28 cents is now 38 cents. A 4 ounce bag of Maxwell House coffee went from $2.91 to $3.61. A particular brand of deodorant went from $2.31 to $2.95; a bar of soap that used to go for 83 cents is now $1.49”.

He says it can take a full day’s work to afford a single bar of soap.

Read the entire story here.

The Prison Journalism Project trains incarcerated writers to become journalists and publishes their stories. Subscribe to Inside Story to receive exclusive behind-the-scene looks at publications, as well as author profiles and other insights.