DJC x UMAW IIP: Update #4

Jan 26

Ted here wishing you a Happy New Year and excited to share the latest update from the Instruments Into Prisons (IIP) effort!

We’re looking to hit 2022 just as hard (if not harder) when it comes to our IIP campaign, so remember to spread the word to your people and point them in towards our donation intake page and/or our monetary fund donation page!

Since our last update in the Fall, we’ve been keeping busy with donations through the holiday season and have reached a benchmark of over 100 pieces of musical gear redistributed inside of prisons!

Read on to see what we’ve been up to. BUT FIRST — some deep gratitude from our Deputy Director:

HERE IS THE LATEST!

Specific Gear We Are Seeking:
Amps - guitar, bass, keyboard (20-30 watt)
Soprano sax
Bass guitars
10’ powered monitors
Drum kit (in Birmingham Alabama area)
Conga skins
Mixing headphones (with 1/8” to 1/4” in. adapter)
Drum machines
Stackable microphone stands (Pro-R-SB)

Drum pieces for San Quentin: (exact brands not necessary)
Drum Workshop 5000 Series Saddle-Seat (DWCP5120)
Drum Workshop Dual Chain Bass Drum Pedal (DWCP3000)
Gibraltar 5-Piece Stand Stand Pack (9701PK)
Tama Dbl. Braced Snare Drum Stand (HS60W)
Tama Dual Tom Holder (MTH600)

PRISON UPDATES

We have continued to send gear into familiar facilities: Lansing Correctional, Sing Sing Correctional, San Quentin State Prison, and Oshkosh Correctional. In addition, we have initiated donations into two new facilities: Columbia River Correctional Institution and Sterling Correctional.

See below for a general list of all of the gear shipped so far, organized by facility with a market value estimate total of the items sent in.

GEAR UPDATES

STERLING CORRECTIONAL

Sterling is a particularly exciting new donation stream for the IIP Drive. The facility is particularly keen on expanding its music programming. It has already made some concerted efforts to bolster their arts - particularly theater - in partnership with Denver University Prison Arts Initiative or DU PAI.

DJC artist Michael Tenneson has taken a leadership role in this present push at Sterling. Tenneson (whose songs you can hear on our latest release from Territorial - see “V,” “‘8788,” “Holy Rain”) was recently transferred to Sterling with the express intent to help build their music programming. I have been in frequent contact with Tenneson, and the way he describes it, he is part of a “100-man pod that is called the ‘Purpose Forward Pod’” that is “being allowed some unheard of latitude to create an art, music, crafts and theater space” in their living area.

According to Tenneson, he is in close contact with prison staff who have expressed trust and support of him essentially heading up / directing the music programming at the facility. He plans to teach a music theory course, set up a personal workstation in his cell (which he intends to be an instructional space for other musicians inside), and he is also taking point on initiating a larger communal recording studio space. The facility has allotted a 10’ x 20’ ft. space for this studio, which will need to operate without any computer interface as per regulations. There is plenty of room for digital audio equipment within those bounds.

Michael is also in the process of building out a movable metal cart with plywood shelves that will house keyboards and guitars for musicians inside to check out and return. These instruments will also be used for his music theory instruction.

We’ve recently raised enough funds to be able to send in the following equipment to kickstart the music programming at Sterling under Tenneson’s supervision:

(6) Entry level 61-key digital keyboards
(5) Beginner classical, nylon string guitars
(1) Fender Squire Strat electric guitar
(1) SM58 vocal microphone
(1) Tascam 2488 Neo 24-track recording device
(various) Assorted instructional texts/DVDs for learning guitar and piano.

We’re looking forward to keeping you abreast as to how this develops!

TRINITY SCHOOL

Earlier in December, we were approached by Marya Schock, Ph.D. of the Department of History at the Trinity School, a college prep school in the Upper West Side. In 2020 and 2021, DJC Records made guest appearances in Schock’s The Mass Incarceration Crisis in America senior elective classes. This year it seemed a great opportunity to include the Instruments Into Prisons drive along with this visit as a tangible option for direct action that the students could engage with.

There was an excellent response from the students who were eager to redistribute and donate music equipment and instruments to the cause. After aggregating the donations, Ms. Schock was able to drop them off at the DJC headquarters in Bushwick where they are in the process of being itemized and tested before being shipped.

We are excited to send the bulk of these materials over to Sterling Correctional to bolster the burgeoning music programming effort there (as mentioned earlier in this blog post). Items that won’t fit into Sterling’s programming will be allocated to other facilities.

We are incredibly grateful and blown away by the initiative taken by Ms. Schock and the Trinity School - and floored by the compassion and generosity displayed by the students in her class.

Below is a statement from Professor Schock:

Marya Schock seen with Trinity School donations.

“At the Trinity School in New York, we offer a senior elective entitled, ‘The Mass Incarceration Crisis in America.’ Each year we have a variety of guests visit the class; politicians, academics, activists, and most importantly, those directly impacted by the criminal justice system. Last year and this year, we were visited by BL Shirelle and Fury Young who spoke about DJC. The students were really interested in what they had to say, and loved the music. Each year in class we do some sort of service project – last year we did a teach-in to the whole school about reforming the police; the previous year we did a Christmas toy drive for children with incarcerated mothers, etc. This year we unanimously agreed that we wanted to pitch in with the DJC Instruments into Prisons drive. The students were particularly excited about outfitting an entire new music room at Sterling Correctional Facility. The students designed a flyer to hang up around the school and made an announcement during our weekly assembly which used video clips from Territorial. We had great success and got a lot of gear from our families. The school also contributed ipads and other gear. We loved knowing that we were helping to bring some light in a dark time. The kids used a line Fury that had said to the class on their flier and in their announcement: ‘Creative expression affirms our humanity.’”

Staff Assistant Nara Avakian seen cataloguing Trinity School donations.

COALITION BUILDING

Since our last update, many of our items have flowed into donation streams from facilities connected with Musicambia programming, a non-profit geared towards establishing music instruction inside of prisons across the country. Prisons like Sing Sing and Lansing both have music programming with Musicambia’s assistance. For instance, at Sing Sing they run a program with the men in the mental health unit called the Jeptha Program - co-created by Jason Naradzay, a Musicambia alumnus. We are thrilled to help bolster those efforts and hope to continue to do so moving forward.

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS

We are energized to press forward with our IIP efforts. It continues to be a slow, but steady process. There are always donations in the wings that sometimes take months to finalize logistically, but we aim for consistency and dedication to see them through! As always our primary motivating force remains the potential to supply folks inside with the means to access subjectivity by way of creativity. Please continue to fill out our intake form if you (or a friend) have an item to redistribute to a musician on the inside. You can find a list to the items we are specifically in need of here. And even if not donating an instrument, feel free to donate monetarily for the purposes of covering shipping costs and additional, niche, gear purchases.

Until next update, thank you to our donors, volunteers, UMAW team and all of the supporters to this initiative - especially those on the inside whose resilience and relentless creative spirit in the face of adversity remains the lifeblood of this cause.

Onward!