In prison slang to “shoot a kite” is to send a message. Thousand Kites is a national project that works directly with stakeholders using communication strategies and campaigns to engage citizens and build grassroots power. It uses performance, web, video, and radio to open a public 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. The project invited dozens of artist and thousands of participants to join Thousand Kites in sending a message about the impact of mass incarceration.
Thousand Kites believes:
* The criminal justice 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.
Samples from the radio program
Prisoner rapping over phone
Hip-hop meets Mountain Music
Prison Poetry