James “Yaya” Hough & Let's Get Free

James “Yaya” Hough has been heavily involved for more than a decade with Mural Arts Philadelphia, creating more than 50 works that have been installed at the State Correctional Institution–Graterford and the State Correctional Institution–Phoenix. In 2019, as part of a program supported by the Art for Justice Fund and Fair and Just Prosecution, Hough was selected to be the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia.

Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee (founded 2013, Pittsburgh, PA) is a group working to end perpetual punishment, build a pathway out of the prisons back to our communities through commutation reform, support successful possibilities for people formerly and currently incarcerated, and shift to a culture of transformative justice. The group was formed when Avis Lee, Charmaine Pfender, Donna Hill, and etta cetera all participated in One Billion Rising, a global day of action to end violence against women.