Welcome to the July Edition of the Vanguard Incarcerated Press
The July edition of the Vanguard Incarcerated Press comes at a time when questions of justice, freedom, and truth feel more urgent than ever. Across this issue, writers inside prisons and detention centers tell stories that expose the cruelty of the system while reminding us of the humanity that survives within it. These aren’t abstract debates—they are lived realities. Through journalism, reflection, and resistance, our contributors continue to speak truth to power in a nation that often prefers silence.
This issue opens with Edwin Chavez’s powerful piece, “Exiled from Prison to Prison,” which traces the journey of Salvadoran deportees sent from U.S. prisons to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT facility—places already condemned for human rights abuses. Sunny Nguyen’s “What It Is Like to Be Sentenced to LWOP” offers an unflinching look at the despair and determination of living without the hope of parole. In “A Beacon in the Dark,” David Greenwald documents San Quentin’s first-ever Transgender Visibility Night—a moving celebration of courage, identity, and community in one of the most restrictive environments imaginable. Together, these stories show both the brutality of incarceration and the resilience of those who endure it.
Editor-in-Chief Joan Parkin’s Letter from the Editor frames this issue with a clear sense of purpose: the fight for free speech, human rights, and prison reform are inseparable. She reminds us that the struggle of one person silenced—like Mahmoud Khalil, detained for his political advocacy—is tied to the larger battle over whose voices are allowed to be heard. Parkin’s question, “Who has the right to have rights?” echoes throughout every page.
The Vanguard Incarcerated Press remains dedicated to amplifying voices from inside the walls, offering truth in place of propaganda and connection in place of isolation. This July edition stands as a testament to what can’t be confined—the human need to speak, to question, and to imagine something better.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
