LETTER FROM THE EdITOR

Hello readers,

My name is LEILANI FU'QUA and I have been the Editor-in-Chief of Nommo Newsmagzine from 2021-2023. In the pursuance of my degrees in English and Public Affairs, I became involved in Nommo during my first year on campus so I could brush up on my journalistic writing, and write about my community. Four years later, I feel that Nommo played an active role in my academic and social life at UCLA, which has translated into an internship at Nommo to fulfill the requirements of the Public Affairs Capstone. This issue is the final product, and I am so happy to share it with you all! The creation of this zine went through many iterations, brought upon many emotions and allowed me to connect with a deeper aspect of my cultural identity. It has affirmed my love for three things: the African American people, poetry, and research. I am proud to be a Black Bruin graduating from this school, and I am blessed that I had the opportunity to bring these poems back to the eyes of the community, as poetry is the window to our souls. And I thank research for providing the empirical evidence to speak on the injustices that we have been silenced from speaking about, for centuries. Thank you for being a part of our journey. Thank you for hearing our stories.

I want to thank Bethany Murray, who has extended nothing but grace and patience to my in completion of this Capstone project – my appreciation for you is memorialized here as a testimony to your revolutionary pedagogy and kind heart. I want to also thank Doria Deen of UCLA Student Media for being my advisor during this project, Dr. Rebecca Crane and the Luskin School of Public Affairs for the stimulating, interdisciplinary education which I am so grateful for. I want to thank Tracy Carter, Amir Rahim Rahman Mohammed, LaJuan Clemons, Kahlil Tefari, James Freeman, Kenneth Bell, and Comrade P Lumumba for writing to Nommo thirty years ago for having the bravery to tell their stories and being voices for their brothers and sisters. Lastly, I would like to say thank you myself for completing this zine, completely inspired by the labor of love and passion for justice which resides in my soul. Veceneremos!

Leilani Fu’Qua

Nommo Editor-in-Chief 2022 - 2023

Revolutionary Political Education

A Legacy in Stone (History of Jim Crow & Slavery in Modern Carceral Systems)

What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

Disability Justice in Prisons

The Collapse of the Black Nuclear Family

Gang Violence and Racialized Policing

Jane Crow & Women’s Issues within Prisons

To My People, You Have The Power by Tracy

Carter

Prisoner’s Poetry by Amir

Rahim Rahman Mohammad

Incarceration Nation by Leilani

Fu’Qua

The Sleeper by LaJuan Clemons

Young, Gifted & Black by Kahlil Tefari

Prison is a Place by James Freeman

Belly of the Beast by Kenneth Bell

A Reflection in the Soul Mirror by Kenneth Bell