Maya Schenwar

@mayaschenwar.bsky.social

19375 Followers 681 Following

Director, Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism. Board president, Truthout. Co-editor “We Grow the World Together” Co-author “Prison by Any Other Name” Abolitionist, anti-zionist, pro-cat, pro-karaoke, Chicagoan mayaschenwar.com

Image that says: 'CORRIDORS OF CONTACION: HOW THE PANDEMIC EXPOSED THE CRUELTIES OF INCARCERATION' Pictured speakers are Victoria Law, Maya Schenwar, Stevie Wilson, and Ana Navarro. Pilsen Community Books, May 27 at 7pm.
At the top, a logo features "The Appeal" in black lettering inside a red box. Text says: We’re Back With New Stories! Since The Appeal has joined forces with The Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism, here's a bit of what you can expect in our new monthly newsletters and forthcoming journalism: Our editions will feature fresh investigative reporting by The Appeal, work from incarcerated authors, articles on the criminal legal system from other independent outlets, and stories from our archives.
A bright moon rises over pink clouds over Lake Michigan.
Red-mittened hands form a heart. Text says: The Annual Holiday Solidarity drive ensures parents inside Cook County Jail and other IL facilities can give gifts to their kids. Thank you for making it possible. That is the true spirit of holiday solidarity. #FreeThemAll
At the top is the YES! Magazine logo in red and white. Then the text says: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 At What Risk Will We Resist? Relentless kidnapping of immigrants by ICE. Universities handing over names to the state for investigation. Steps toward regime change in Venezuela. Prosecution of Trump’s political opponents. Looming military deployment to cities across the country. Threats of mass state repression against the left in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Thousands of workers fired from federal agencies (so far) amid a government shutdown with no clear end in sight. Amid these authoritarian times, a question arises: At what risk will we resist?
A red box contains the word "yes!" in white. Under that, text says: Solutions Journalism. Tuesday, September 15, 2025. A Repository of Hope Amid an Authoritarian Moment.
Ramp up support for domestic violence survivors Less than two weeks ago, two litigants were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the Cook County’s domestic violence courthouse. The Trump administration argues that increased immigration enforcement will bring crime down in Democratic-governed cities. This vengeful and destructive plan will not only fail to achieve its ostensible purpose of reducing crime but also make Chicago dramatically less safe for immigrant survivors.
Sign says step one: send the National Guard to lower Wacker, step two: they never come back
Sign says ICE OUT OF CHICAGO with a bull picture. Another sign says STOP DEPORTATIONS DEFEND IMMIGRANTS
Image depicts the cover of Stateville Speaks. Under the title banner, the text reads: Keep Your Eyes Open: Fascism Is Here, Inside and Out BY RENALDO HUDSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF I came out of prison after 37 years and didn’t have to look far to find something very familiar: the quiet creep of fascism, camouflaged in suits, slogans, and policies that look like safety but feel like control. See, for those of us who lived under prison rule, we’ve seen fascism up close and personal. It didn’t come with a red hat or a flag, it came with boots, batons, and the bootstraps of bureaucracy. It showed up in the form of unchallengeable authority, policies that crush dissent, and daily reminders that your humanity is negotiable at best. When we talk about fascism in the streets, some folks still ask, “Could it happen here?” For those of us who have been incarcerated, the answer is simple: It already did. Fascism, in its truest form, isn’t only about some dictator barking orders; it’s a system of suppression and control. It thrives on fear, conformity, and a belief that some lives matter more than others. It demands obedience, punishes resistance, and isolates anyone who dares to question the narrative. Sound familiar? When I was on the inside, we didn’t use the word “fascism,” but we lived its reality. I remember the first time I heard the sound of the Orange Crush, a squad of correctional officers fully suited in riot gear, marching in rhythm like a military unit. They came not to deescalate, not to protect, but to intimidate and dominate. The clang of their shields and the stomp of their boots was a message: We own you. These weren’t just isolated events. This was the structure. This was policy. This was punishment over healing, force over fairness, silence over voice. That is fascism in practice. And once you’ve lived under that weight, you can’t unsee it, even when you’re “free.”
Against a green and yellow striped backdrop, pink and white letters read: COME SEE ME AT PRINTERS ROW LIT FEST! CHICAGO, IL Parenting Toward Liberation: How do we caregive in times of fascist repression? This conversation will be grounded in the anthology "We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition" Saturday, September at 11 a.m., Plymouth Court Stage Featuring Bill Ayers, Keisa Reynolds, and Anya M. Tanyavutti in conversation with Maya Schenwar
Maya smiling while Zams the Cat cuddles.
Caregiving Toward Abolition: Workshop and Story Circles Friday July 4, 2025 3:00pm - 4:30pm CDT Regency Ballroom C Caregiving is an integral part of movements for liberation. In this moment of rising fascism, it's especially crucial to uplift this care work, including care for children. Supporting young people and each other in concrete, material ways, day to day and hour to hour, is an essential component of resistance. In this workshop, we will engage with these themes, informed by the anthology We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition. We'll also offer an opportunity to be part of a circle in which we'll share stories of caregiving in a supportive space.
a graphic of 3 people and text that says 'ON CAREGIVING, KIDS, LIBERATION: A CONVERSATION WITH WRITERS AND ARTISTS Wednesday, June 18 I 6:30 Three Avenues Bookshop Books pictured are "We Grow the World Together" and "Prisons Must Fall." Maya Schenwar Keisa Reynolds Olly Costello
Two book covers are pictured: We Grow the World Together and Prisons Must Fall. Text says: "On Caregiving, Kids, & Liberation: A Conversation with Writers and Artists" Wednesday, June 18 | 6:30pm Three Avenues Bookshop
Against a backdrop of blue sky and razor wire, words read: "We Grow the World Together, Parenting Toward Abolition Book Club Discussion. "In order to talk to my child about war and incarceration, I must talk to them about resistance."
Sign says NO MORE JAILS, PRISONS, YOUTH JAILS. Green grass is in the background.
A beautiful book cover depicts people dancing and hugging in a field of flowers. Against a black background, the title says in orange, “Prisons must fall.”
People are in the background at a protest. Sign says “free Rumeysa Ozturk, Mahmoud Khalil”
Against a blue background, text says: PLEASE JOIN US FOR A BOOK TALK & CONVERSATION WE GROW THE WORLD TOGETHER: PARENTING TOWARD ABOLITION TUESDAY, APRIL 1 6-7:30PM LOCATION CHANGE: ZOOM LOCATION CHANGE: ZOOM Scan QR code for link Scan QR code for link FEATURING: D’MARRIA MONDAY (contributor), FOUNDER OF THE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY- BUILDING ORGANIZATION BLOCK BUILDERZ NADINE NABER (contributor), FOUNDER OF LIBERATE YOUR RESEARCH & COFOUNDER OF MAMAS ACTIVATING MOVEMENTS FOR ABOLITION AND SOLIDARITY KIM WILSON (co-editor), ARTIST, EDUCATOR, WRITER, AND COHOST/PRODUCER OF THE BEYOND PRISONS PODCAST MODERATOR, LAURA CIOLKOWSKI, WGSS FACULTY & DIRECTOR, UMASS JAIL EDUCATION INITIATIVE COSPONSORED BY: UMASS JAIL EDUCATION INITIATIVE, DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN, GENDER, SEXUALITY STUDIES, LOIS E. TOKO LECTURE SERIES, TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE COALITION, FEMINIST FAMILY STUDIES, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH & RIGHTS CERTIFICATE, REPR
Two people hold signs. One Sign says incarcerated trans lives matter. Another says Trans Liberation Always.
Heart shaped sign says “dear trans kids, this world is better with you in it and you are worth fighting for!”
A tortoiseshell cat’s face emerges from a thick blue blanket
We grow the world together: parenting toward abolition. Maya schenwar, kelly hayes, Anya Tanyavutti, Bill Ayers. Thursday, March 13, 7pm. Pilsen community Books.
Sign with flowers says let trans kids bloom
Against green background, text says: "We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition." Saturdays Feb 1, Feb 15, March 1, 10am-11:30am. haymarket house. The book cover of "We Grow the World Together" is included to the left.
A gray cat looks at the camera, bored. Text says, breaking news, we just issued an executive order to turn the White House into a large litter box.
A wall is covered in framed pictures of plants and also vines. Maya stands in front of the wall holding a loose vine.
the Uvalde shooting—thinking about the mother who was able to get in and get her kids out, thinking about the fight for life. I mean, that was a fight. I hope that people learn from that fight. It’s always, to me, about what humans still choose to do when they choose to act from love. If you actually feel what’s happening, your revolution will ignite inside of you. You will find a role to play in making the world. And making the world is what we’re all supposed to be up to. All of that helps me love—continue to love the world and children, your chil- dren, the children of all my beloveds. I do my little visits, and—the unconditional love that children offer, it’s such a good reminder to me. We all start as children. We have to intervene on developing the harmful tendencies in us, because we don’t start with that. A question I have for you is: How do we literally survive this period, with our love intact? How do we not just make the world very, very tiny and locked up and distrust everyone—how do we not do that? How do we keep our love intact and available and possible?
We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition (edited by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson). In this book, abolitionists and organizers Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson present a beautiful collection of family-focused essays from contributors like Shira Hassan, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Dorothy Roberts, and Harsha Walia. The essays discuss how abolitionist politics are expressed in parenting and care-giving, and how parenting and caregiving can inform abolitionist politics. Some of the essays are deeply personal, while some are more policy focused. My favorite essays in the book reinforce an essential truth: that prefiguration starts at home. If you are looking for something heartening to share with a loved one this holiday season, I strongly recommend this book.
In this issue: Responding to il prison closures Announcing the 2024 stateville speaks awards! pg. 10 Voices from the inside • Main article: Our Future Generations Deserve Abundance, Not “State of the Art” Prisons BY I.B. PEACEFUL This essay is a winner of Truthout’s 2024 Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize. I felt it birth in my core and sneak its way up my windpipe. It slithered over my vocal cords and caught in my throat just for a second. It escaped my clenched teeth and forced its way through my tightly pursed lips before finding its place in my unwelcoming ears – “numb.” This was my body’s reaction to Acting Illinois Department of Corrections Director Latoya Hughes’s March 15, 2024 memo to all individuals in custody in Illinois. During the past 33 years of my incarceration, I have received hundreds of Department memos. I ignore or throw out most of them, but this one was different. Earlier in the day, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had made an announcement that the state would be closing two of its aging and deteriorating correctional spent any amount of time in these facilities, the words “aging” and “deteriorating” are gross understatements. Pritzker later stated, “Unfortunately over many years, the state has neglected to do anything about the conditions in these prisons… We’re stepping up and actually making a proposal and putting money forward to do the right thing.” My initial reaction was: thank you. We’ll all be able to have our blood tested for lead levels. The vermin, roaches and birds that infest the kitchen, dining halls and living units will be exterminated. Then the other shoe dropped. The governor shared his plan to not only demolish these facilities, but to then spend close to $1 billion dollars in taxpayer money to rebuild both facilities. My body and brain reacted. They were rejecting this news on a visceral level and I couldn’t intelligently or verbally articulate my feelings. Numb.
image of Kim Wilson and text that says 'WE GROW THE WORLD TOGETHER PARENTING- TOWARD ABOLITION - MAYA -SCHENWAR and Kim Wilson. Kim Wilson presents "We Grow the World Together" TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17TH 2024 7:00 PM RED EMMA'S RSVP NOW A vital anthology exploring the intersections between caregiving and abolition.'
The number 100 is displayed in red on a black background
A black cat nestles in a fuzzy beige bed with three dreidels
A lot of children’s books also assume that people can change, and that they do change all the time. Somebody was a person that did harm, but now they’ve turned it around and they’re helping each other to do better. In fact, in the worlds of children’s novels and chil- dren’s books, people are constantly in that mode—it would be weird to have a children’s story where the person stayed the same all the way through. I think that helps young people know that change is con- stant, and that they should believe in the fact that anyone can change. I think those books also call often on the compassion of children. They ask: “How might you lessen the suffering?” They take seriously that harm is inevitable because we’re human beings, and they don’t make that into some exception in children’s worlds. This is something we talk about a lot as abolitionists: We know that people can and do change, and that people shouldn’t be frozen in the worst thing that they ever did. That there needs to be an opportunity for repair. A lot of children’s books are also about people coming together to do something: collective struggle. They’re not just about a lone kid. They’re about a kid and the animals in the forest and the unlikely stranger that helps. All these things are there, and it’s like, “You can’t just be your own little lone ranger. You’ve got to team with other peo- ple that can take on the monster, and change the monster!” So, a lot of children’s books are great for showing and highlighting mutual aid. These are the things I would look for in children’s books.
A black and gold cat sits on a gray couch
Movement Media Organizations Are Uniting for Palestinian Liberation By Lara Witt & Maya Schenwar with Media Against Apartheid & Displacement (MAAD) With an article below, text illegible
A page reads: they were all gone, too? The massacre in Gaza is so much more than an aggregate count of lives. It is the loss of collective memories held in those lives—of events, of people, of places. A loss for which gener- ations and generations to come will continue to pay the price. In the face of a colonizer intent on the destruction of their nation, of seventy-five years of unrelenting violence, Palestinians have insisted on sumud, unwavering perseverance. That they will be free in their land. That they will grow and bear fruit like the olive trees that they plant.18 Gazan children deserve more than survival. They deserve more than to simply be unmolested by the whims of tyrants. They deserve futures, joyful futures. They deserve to babble and giggle with their parents. They deserve to live free, from the river to the sea. For Palestinian parents, the natural act of loving one’s child is done in the unnatural conditions of occupation, apartheid, and geno- cide. In these conditions, love fuels resistance. To care for a Palestinian child is to abhor that they have to play under the buzzing of drones. To worry about them is to fight for their right to walk to school unthreat- ened by Israeli bullets and bombs. To dream for them is to topple the borders that confine them, that cut through land that should be theirs to freely roam. To be Palestinian is to be an abolitionist. And to be a Palestinian abolitionist is to fight for us all. The technologies that police, incarcerate, and kill the children of Palestine, the children in Gaza, are exported globally to kill migrant children at the techno- logical fortresses that make up the borders of nation-states, to spy on dissidents who fight for better tomorrows for us all, to police student activists at places of learning everywhere. None of us are free until Palestine is free. The earlier, original version of this essay appeared in In These Times magazine in January 2024.
Anya, Jenny, Nadine and Beth sit in a row on high chairs while Maya speaks into a microphone at Haymarket House.
Four stacks of books of We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition. Edited by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson. The cover is covered in flowers (art piece by Olly Costello) against a black background.
On a fuzzy blue blanket lies a black cat with colorful paper butterflies resting on her.
A pile of three books with a flowery cover. The title, in white lettering, reads: We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition. Edited by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson.