Breaking Barriers to Book Distribution w/ Shane Foster and Tyrel Dale

According to Weeze

In this episode, Weeze and Tyrel & Shane of X Books have a very real conversation about how the prison industrial complex blocks access to books for incarcerated folks and how X Books is a part of that solution. Through book donations, drives, and funding, X Books is stepping in to fill the much needed gap of giving reading materials to folks who are in prison, so they have an opportunity to receive enrichment, education, and support.

ABOUT WEEZE

Louiza Doran, known and referred to as Weeze, is a cis-het Amazigh* female identifying human who uses she/her/they/them pronouns. She’s known as a coach, podcast host, advocate, agent of change, strategist and educator (to name a few) but is ultimately a compassionate provocateur that is out to help folks uncover their path of possibility.

ABOUT SHANE FOSTER AND TYREL DALE

Shane Foster (he/him) is part of the group that organized and founded X Books, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Atlanta, GA, in the fall of 2020. He has his bachelor's degree in social work from Florida State University and a master's degree in communications from Georgia State University. He currently works in HR for a software company, has lived in Atlanta for 8 years now, and is proud to call this community home. Shane is beyond excited for what X Books can become and is thankful for the groups across the country doing similar work and honored to work alongside them in our mission to provide books to people that are currently incarcerated.

Tyrel Dale (he/him) is a founding board member of X Books, Inc. He attended the University of Georgia and majored in Political Science and African American Studies. During his time at UGA. He is currently a Policy Analyst at the Georgia General Assembly. His focus is on education, criminal justice, and workforce-related issues. After the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and Ahmaud Arbary, he was inspired to find ways to help the incarcerated community outside of the slow moving electoral system. He sees X Books becoming a non-profit that will be able to educate and inspire all Georgians of their power to disassemble the prison industrial system.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT

• Breaking barriers to book distribution, especially within the criminal justice system.
• The prison system and how it intentionally withholds and blocks incarcerated people from accessing books.
• The system cannot afford to give those that it has intentionally disenfranchised and oppressed, the guidebook to their own liberation.
• How prisons are switching to E-Books and upcharging incarcerated folks for internet access to be able to use E-Readers, and they’re also heavily locked in with Amazon.
• Dismantling the systems that are blocking book access, teaming up with local bookstores & organizations, and providing funding to create opportunities.

CALL TO ACTION

Find an organization closest to you in your state that is doing similar work, and then follow, engage ,and donate to X Books.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OR-PfhqsJ4BM1Z2Tl9NX8JKskrt3EALX/view?usp=sharing

FOLLOW WEEZE TO STAY ENGAGED

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FOLLOW SHANE FOSTER AND TYREL DALE TO STAY ENGAGED

Website: https://xbooks.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/x__books/