Kwaneta Harris
@kwanetaharris.bsky.social
Incarcerated Journalist, Writer, and Activist. Exposing the abuses and conditions suffered by incarcerated women daily. Account managed by assistant. kwanetaharris.com kwanetaharris.substack.com
"The moment a visit is approved, I begin building a version of myself that won’t give them a reason to take it away. I stop rolling my eyes. I stop sighing when an order makes no sense." My latest for @solitarywatch.bsky.social:
The Things They Quietly Steal from Us—and the Things They Can’t - Solitary Watch
Two Solitary Watch colleagues describe what love, solidarity, and resistance look like in a prison visit when the state does everything in its power to prevent them.
solitarywatch.org
Read Abigail Glasgow's illuminating writing on tampons and the case for abolition in the latest issue of MOTHER TONGUE: www.mothertonguemagazine.com/store-2/p/pr...
Issue 10 — Mother Tongue Magazine
Issue 10 of Mother Tongue is an action-packed adventure into the pungent world of weed nuns; a swift yet thoughtful exploration of the political battleground that is American motherhood; an artful vie...
mothertonguemagazine.com
Prisons will tell you that their work programs help rehabilitate and prevent violence. In reality, they uphold the same violent systems that have existed for centuries.
From the Archives: Working in Prison Fields Didn’t “Correct” Me, It Revealed the System’s Brutality
Originally published in Truthout, 8/15/22
kwanetaharris.substack.com
"To this day, the United States has no national policy requiring that only female guards conduct strip searches of incarcerated women." Read this important story from Kahwla Nakua at @inthesetimes.com
In the Name of Security
An investigation into the everyday violence of prison strip searches, which incarcerated women say are a tool of abuse.
inthesetimes.com
At the forefront of the fight for menopause care behind bars are advocates like @kwanetaharris.bsky.social, an incarcerated journalist who created a guide to navigating menopause and perimenopause in prison:
Guide: How to Navigate Perimenopause and Menopause in Prison
Practical advice from medical experts and from incarcerated women on how to deal with perimenopause and menopause.
themarshallproject.org
From a Texas prison, she built a menopause support network from scraps of paper. Please read the story of Kwaneta Harris and the women behind bars coming together to support each other, by the unparalleled @candicenorwood.bsky.social
In a Texas prison, Kwaneta cultivated a menopause support network from scraps of paper
The incarcerated population is getting older, but correctional facilities lag in menopause care. Kwaneta Harris is working to fill the gaps in women's prisons.
19thnews.org
In 2024, Kwaneta wrote about the experience of menopause in a prison cell and the limited resources available to prisons' aging populations. Read the full article at @inthesetimes.com.
From the Archives: Menopause in a Prison Cell
Originally published in In These Times, 11/12/2024
kwanetaharris.substack.com
A federal judge has ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s prisons by the end of 2029. Just over a third of Texas prisons are fully air conditioned.
Texas ordered to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029
High temperatures violate the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the judge ruled. Just over a third of Texas prisons are fully air conditioned.
texastribune.org
The incarcerated people of O’Daniel Unit are thrilled about this news. This will save lives.
Texas Tribune@texastribune.org · 2w agoA federal judge has ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s prisons by the end of 2029. Just over a third of Texas prisons are fully air conditioned.
This month, Kwaneta recommends Imperfect Victims by @leighgoodmark.bsky.social and Corridors of Contagion by @victorialaw.bsky.social. Both of these are must-reads for anyone interested in abolition.
Black trans history is often overlooked and forgotten, but it is a story worth saving. Community historians Andrea Horne and Sultana Isham understand this, and have been working tirelessly to create an archive of this history from the past 200 years. 🔗 Read the full story: bit.ly/4rnSQqs
Cameron Terhune spent fifteen years recounting the lasting psychological toll of life in solitary confinement. After enduring cycles of isolation and psychiatric care in Stanislaus County Jail, he continues to struggle with the profound effects of his experience. davisvanguard.org/2026/09/stan...
This Too Won’t Pass - Davis Vanguard
Cameron Terhune, formerly incarcerated on death row within the Stanislaus County Jail, documented the adverse psychological effects and enduring social alienation stemming from his prolonged period in...
davisvanguard.org
An ICE agent shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, of Venezuela, who has a valid work permit and entered the U.S. legally. His attorney said he was doing a DoorDash delivery when he was shot. DHS officials said that his condition has stabilized, before suggesting that they are seeking to deport him.
ICE Shoots Man in Austin Doing Food Delivery, Spurring Protests
The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez came more than two months after an ICE officer fatally shot a man in Houston.
truthout.org
The argument I keep hearing repeated is one I've heard my whole sentence: “She can get help in prison.” I want to scream every time I hear it.
The Other Lindsay Clancys
Everyone is talking about Lindsay Clancy.
kwanetaharris.substack.com
Starting this month, I'll be posting new writing on Substack less frequently in order to devote more time to my health. Instead of writing every week, new articles will be posted to Write or Die once a month. Thank you to everyone who continues to support and share my work.
“Solitary confinement, as currently practiced in the United States, is torture,” writes EA writer @kwanetaharris.bsky.social in @solitarywatch.bsky.social, and incarcerated women, who have already survived abuse, are suffering.
When Silence Becomes a Weapon - Solitary Watch
The overwhelming majority of women in solitary have survived intimate partner violence. This means prisons are torturing abuse survivors.
solitarywatch.org
For the Winter 2025 issue of @themassreview.bsky.social, "Incarceration & Family", Kwaneta contributed a piece about separation and found family structures in prison. Read a brief excerpt here: kwanetaharris.substack.com/p/the-family...
kwanetaharris.substack.com
Earlier this summer, Kwaneta answered questions from her subscribers. But women on the inside have questions, too: kwanetaharris.substack.com/p/ask-kwanet...
Ask Kwaneta Anything #2: Questions from the Inside
Earlier this summer, we fielded questions from subscribers about life on the inside, giving Kwaneta a chance to connect with you all more directly.
kwanetaharris.substack.com
Thank you to the 2,000+ who have supported and continue to support Kwaneta's writing journey.
They don’t tell you that your body becomes currency in prison. That your dignity has an exchange rate where freedom is the prize and those holding the keys know exactly how to manipulate a parent’s desperation to see their children again.
Our Bodies, Their Currency: Parenthood and Survival in Texas’s Carceral System
Originally published in The Scholar & Feminist, Fall 2025
kwanetaharris.substack.com
At the forefront of the fight for menopause care behind bars are advocates like @kwanetaharris.bsky.social, an incarcerated journalist who created a guide to navigating menopause and perimenopause in prison:
Guide: How to Navigate Perimenopause and Menopause in Prison
Practical advice from medical experts and from incarcerated women on how to deal with perimenopause and menopause.
themarshallproject.org
Looking to do a good, simple deed? Put double-your-money where your mouth is: Give a person in solitary someone to write to. #LifelinestoSolitary solitarywatch.org/2026/08/18/l...
All Donations to Our Pen Pal Program Are Doubled! Give a Person in Solitary Someone to Write To. - Solitary Watch
Something kind of amazing happened at Solitary Watch last week. You may know about our pen pal program for people in solitary confinement—people who often live without any contact or connection to the...
solitarywatch.org
Go inside the surprising rituals where couples get hitched, and guests shed tears for the weddings on the outside that they’ve missed. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/08/28/w...
A Look Inside a Secret Wedding at a Texas Women’s Prison
Kwaneta Harris reveals surprising rituals where couples get hitched, and guests shed tears for the weddings on the outside that they’ve missed.
themarshallproject.org
In prisons all over the country, wardens use unpaid prison labor for laundry, eyebrow waxes, and other personal conveniences.
Your Tax Dollars Pay For Prison Guards’ Haircuts and Laundry
Your tax dollars pay for prison guards to get haircuts and flat-ironed for free.
kwanetaharris.substack.com
"After years of having every choice stripped away by an abusive partner, something as simple as choosing a lipstick shade has become her declaration of independence."
Inside Texas Prisons, Women Smuggle Eyeshadow — and Risk Solitary — to ‘Feel Human’
Originally published in The Barbed Wire, 01/29/25
kwanetaharris.substack.com
One hot summer day in a Texas women's prison, a thought experiment broke out: Would you take a deal to fight a war in exchange for your freedom? The responses were revealing, and spoke volumes about what awaits incarcerated women on the other side.
In Russia, incarcerated people are fighting in a war. Would Texas women fight?
I expected the lifers to raise their hands first.
kwanetaharris.substack.com
This letter from Kwaneta was given to Yoruba Richen, director of the documentary short FREE JOAN LITTLE, at its Berkeley, CA screening earlier this week. It’s a tremendously relevant story about a trailblazing woman who beat the system that silences Black women.
"The privilege of being believed rarely exists for Black women, and it is completely absent for incarcerated Black women. Prisoners are the only group to have a constitutional right to health care. I misinterpreted that to mean their health should actually be cared about."
Harmful Health Care
Originally published by SURFACE at Syracuse University, 2023
kwanetaharris.substack.com
When a white prison guard was found dead in her jail cell, Joan Little fled for her life, escaping custody and going on the run through the small, segregated town of Washington, North Carolina. Meanwhile, local law enforcement was given strict orders: shoot to kill.
BlackStar Film Fest 2026 Review: 'Free Joan Little' and the Power of Resilience | Black Girl Nerds
Free Joan Little, a powerful documentary exploring Joan Little’s fight for justice, resilience, and the lasting impact
blackgirlnerds.com
