Saturday, April 19-Philadelphia—A Sagewriters Event

SWARTHMORE, PENN.—April 8, 2008—Music soothes the soul and Sagewriters Inc. is out to prove it heals, too. In an evening of music, dance, films and poetry, the first "Healing Justice Celebration" honors the brilliance and creativity of some of those who once were behind prison walls, and their families.

The public is invited to learn how to help heal the violence inside and in the streets, through the Global Kindness Revolution, which nurtures and encourages the inherent spirit of kindness in all people.

Admission is $18, and features jazz legends Odean Pope and Byard Lancaster, along with musical and performing artists: Mobolaji African Drums Circle, The Philadelphia Blues Messengers, guest singer, Rev. Joe Craddock, storyteller, Baba Abiodun, poet/singer, Princess Ameenah, R&B singer/songwriter, Cameron Holmes, and a cappella gospel group, Men on a Mission.

The purpose of the April 19th event at Club La Rose Haitian Cultural Center in Philadelphia (5531 Germantown Avenue, 19144), is to inform the public of the need for prison change in a fractured criminal justice system. Free Kindness Cards, created with lifers at the Graterford Prison, are a feature of the Global Kindness Revolution and provided for attendees through partnership between Sagewriters Inc. and Gaterford Prison’s Public Society Initiative (PSI).

The evening is hosted by Judith Trustone, award-winning human rights activist and co-director of the Global Kindness Revolution. Her "Healing Justice" weekly Internet radio show on Gtownradio.com is the voice of the Global Kindness Revolution.

A film hour (7:00-8:00 p.m.) will be presented featuring the documentary, "Prison Life Stories," which challenges popular perceptions of life behind bars, and recently debuted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A second film presentation is "Up The Ridge," which documents the torture in supermax prisons.

This is the first in a series of planned Healing Justice Celebrations and is just one aspect of Trustone’s Global Kindness Revolution, with co-director and prison resident, Patrick Middleton, Ph.D. The greater team effort includes Tyrone Werts, president of Lifers, Inc., and Gale Campanella Muhammad, CEO of Women Who Never Give Up. Their goal for the grass-roots movement is to emulate the "Pay It Forward" movie’s mindset and diminish violence on both sides of the walls.

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Judith Trustone is an award-winning writer and artist, and is available as an expert source and workshop presenter for subjects of prisoner and social injustice, and processes to healing on both sides of the bars.