◎ ABOUT THIS PROJECT ◎ This video is the culminating result of one of Shining Light’s most expansive programs, the Collaborative Arts Project. Incarcerated participants are invited to encourage and inspire thousands of their peers in prisons across the country through original artwork, created from prompts like “What I Wish You Knew” and “Hope In Hardship.” Pieces are then selected to be produced by professional artists/filmmakers and curated in a 60-minute video with supportive messages from public figures and former participants of the SL community who have since been released. These videos are then sent back into prisons for an uplifting facility-wide experience. The final production “Creations of a Caged Bird, volume 2” will be distributed to partnering prisons to be played on TVs and individual electronic tablets in: ○ Pennsylvania ○ North Dakota ○ Ohio ○ Cook County Jail system (Chicago) ○ South Carolina ○ Rikers Island Jails (NYC) ◎ RUN OF SHOW ◎ ● “Man Up” p. 4 ● “Caught in the Silence” p. 9 ● “Reaching Out” p. 5 ● “Speaking to Society & p. 10 ● “What I Wish You Knew” p. 6 the Powers that Be” ● “Our Journey” p. 7 ● “Jump into your Destiny” p. 11 ● “My Life” p. 8 ● “Hope in Hardship” p. 12 ● “Caught in the Silence” p. 9 ● “Time in Heaven” p. 14 ◦ Artist Bios: p. 15 - 21 ALL PIECES WERE WRITTEN BY PEOPLE INCARCERATED IN PENNSYLVANIA A REFLECTION FROM ONE OF OUR CURRENT PARTICIPANTS: It reminded me that there are many forms of incarceration- physical/mental. Also- pain is pain. It isn't about your ethnicity, or the language you speak, or rich or poor...pain is universal. We may mourn/grieve differently, but the pain remains the same. Our tears pour from the same ducts in our eyes because we have one Maker and Creator who hears the groans of His creation and bottles up our tears and quashes our fears. So I say, come one and all, gather around to hear the beautiful sound of why the caged bird sings- the caged bird sings because of the joy it brings to those nearby. Although inside he wants to cry, yet he chooses to be the reason why all within earshot smile and pop their fingers in cadence. If no one’s near to give an ear herein lies the fears and tears of the loneliness of being behind the tiny bars which reveal the mental soars. The bars and walls begin to close in. You no longer can feel a breeze or the wind in your plumage. The air is thin and stale. Lift the mask. Open your eyes. No longer are there blue skies. Joy and pain are all the same when there’s no relief from the grief of concealment. All is left as his tiny body grows cold in the memory of the warm embrace from his Father’s grace and HER! Caged so close yet so far. With prisons bound as the pendulum swings, no matter what you’ll always hear the caged bird sing. I hope and pray this is a suitable adaptation of the sustained words of the tenacious singing bird. 3 “ ” WRITTEN BY SYNOPSIS Luis (“Cheo”) reflected on what led him to incarceration and what motivates him now - supporting his family from the inside and working every day to get home to them. With audio clips from their video conference where Luis tapped out the beat for his song, recording artist Cellus Hamilton created the foundation for the musical production of the final track, mixed with sound bites of their inspiring conversation. FROM THE AUTHOR “It was like two, three o’clock in the morning when I wrote this. I couldn’t sleep...All this damage that I’ve caused, I used to beat myself up in my head like, ‘How can I change and make it better? How can I make it better?’ All I can do is make myself better and not make the same mistakes… It doesn’t matter if you’re doing ‘life’ or if you’re just doing a little time - just do something with your time.” ARRANGED/PERFORMED BY: Cellus Hamilton PRODUCED BY: Von Vuai ACTING: Nikolas Mercado VIDEOGRAPHY/EDITING: Paul Ashch 4 “ ” WRITTEN BY SYNOPSIS: Puddy is a leader in his facility and a member of the Lifers Board, constantly finding ways to encourage younger men to find their purpose and leave prison for good. But he wasn’t always as grounded as he is today. In this piece, brought to life through creative animation, Puddy’s voice is heard reflecting on the difficulty of confronting a life sentence as a younger man, exploring how to survive day to day as a Lifer. FROM THE AUTHOR: “Ladies and gentlemen- people on the outside, on the inside- I love each and every one of you… The title of my poem, and the experience I’ve gone through in 45 years in prison is called, ‘Reaching Out.’ I want this poem and my experience to reach all the people out there in society- all the people in prison. Religion? I don't care what your religion is, your faith, your hope, your families- we’re all in this together.” ANIMATION: Aimee Smyke SOUND DESIGN/AUDIO ENGINEERING: Marialena DiFabbio DRAMATURGE: Dr. Rachel Tracie CREATIVE DIRECTION: Angelica Richie 5 “ ” WRITTEN BY SYNOPSIS: David has never identified as a writer in the past, but it’s clear through his poem that he is exceptionally gifted in the art of finding truth and expressing it in beautiful and complex ways. He explores the power of light- when it’s present, when it’s not, and how it can allow a person to change course when shining in the right direction. Choreographer and dancer Quilan Arnold has his own movement language that adapts English to be interpreted through the whole body which he offers as an interpretation and an expression of David’s work. FROM THE AUTHOR: “I’m fascinated by words. When I read, I read to see how a person will use their words in a way that they want to express themselves- and I really hold on to those moments when you can see somebody and their words can be so powerful that you see exactly what the person is saying. I’m really big on vivid imagery and I used to shy away from doing that and that kept me in the darkness. My identity wasn’t where it needed to be; I didn’t know who I was… When you are mistaken to be somebody that you know you’re not, you get the feeling you always have to prove yourself... It was very dark. I was in darkness, and God brought me to the light.” DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER: Quilan “Cue” Arnold VOICE OVER: Phillip Attmore ORIGINAL MUSIC: YNOT CINEMATOGRAPHY/EDITING: Kyrsten Arnold 6 “ ” WRITTEN BY SYNOPSIS: Musician and producer Stephanie Yu first worked with Rachel in 2016 on a Shining Light Impact Workshop. Since then, Rachel has been even more empowered to use her creativity to express pain and bring hope to others. This piece, written as a desperate yet powerful appeal to the teenage son of a friend who passed away, asks both him and all of us to persevere through our pain-- hope and renewal wait for us on the other side. FROM THE AUTHOR: “There’s always a way up if you have the courage to take it - hour by hour, minute by minute. The future is unfathomable, there’s all those unknowns to reach for, tomorrow is a brand new clean slate. Your past makes you who you are. There’s nothing to be ashamed of - embrace it. Learn from it and leave it there… Not all hope is lost - there’s a brighter tomorrow.” FEATURING: Stephanie Yu & Rosa Procaccino DIRECTORS: Stephanie Yu & Rosa Procaccino PRODUCED BY: Stephanie Yu ORIGINAL SCORE: Stephanie Yu VIDEOGRAPHY: Ted Buerkle 7 “ ” WRITTEN BY RECENTLY RELEASED SYNOPSIS: Michael wrote this piece knowing his release was upcoming, and he met with director Madeline Johnson in the weeks leading up to his out-date. For him, like many who are approaching release, the feeling is a mix of anticipation, tension, and hope. His piece explores what it means to be the individual living through each of these realities and choosing courage in the face of the unknown. *Michael was released in early May and is committed to finding stable connections, housing, and employment so he can add value to his community. FROM THE AUTHOR: “I was in the thick of the hurricane, my life was just upside down. And at one point I would look back to what happened in my life and would kinda blame situations and things that happened, but then I realized that’s all part of life and the things that happened don’t make me. As a young youth, I didn’t have enough capacity to see that it was part of life… And now, I can rely on God and on other people to help whenever I’m going through something. I can’t do it on my own.” FEATURING: Brandon Contreras DIRECTOR: Madeline Johnson CINEMATOGRAPHY: Zanza Steinberg EDITING: Madeline Johnson 8 “ ” WRITTEN BY SYNOPSIS: Of all our writers, “M” was the only one we were unable to speak to directly. However, she and former team leader Joy Attmore did have meaningful correspondence through letters in which she expanded her creative vision, shared the personal resonance of her lyrics, and offered inspiration to the team that produced her work. Her song directs listeners away from their darker angels to stronger voices of resilience, hope, and triumph.