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Writing program helps inmates behind bars find their voice

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A nonprofit organization is helping inmates at jails across New Mexico express themselves through poetry, spoken word and journaling.

Rachel Martinez tells the Albuquerque Journal that her life has been a cycle of drug abuse and incarceration from a young age.

She is one of the inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center participating in workshops by JustWrite.

She says writing is helping her heal.

JustWrite co-founder Diahndra Grill says writing and creating is a survival strategy that allows people to recreate the world.

She assigns the inmates a prompt which they can chose to follow or stray from.

After they are done, some volunteer to read their works out loud.

Their readings are followed by applause. A few inmates snap their fingers like people do in poetry slams.