We interviewed Brooklyn’s own Nicole Shawan Junior, a writer, leader, advocate and truth teller. They reminisce on a love of writing going back to the 80’s performing their stories for their family as a child and having a mom that nurtured a love of reading. They talk about their journey to working at PEN America helping incarcerated individuals get access to writing opportunities and payments to help stop the exploitation of incarcerated writers. They also founded Roots. Wounds. Words. Inc. which have helped so many writers of color find their voice.

Their mother’s influence in advocacy and seeing so much of their family be incarcerated, shaped their desire to enter the legal field. They are transparent about going from being the prosecutor to the perpetrator, coming face to face with one of their greatest fears of being arrested. This is a raw interview from Nicole who is currently writing a memoir to share their story in more detail.

@nicoleshawanjunior on all social media platforms
@rootswoundswords
www.nicoleshawanjunior.com

Resources
The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison by Pen America
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown