Earlier this month, director [Ava DuVernay](https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/mbag8n/ava-duvernay-on-walking-into-a-room-like-a-white-man) was gifted a plaque while filming her upcoming Netflix series, _Central Park Five_, in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. The token of appreciation was [presented by Bronx resident Jimmy Gary Jr.](https://pagesix.com/2018/10/11/bronx-resident-thanks-ava-duvernay-with-plaque/) (affectionately called "the mayor of the block") on behalf of the community for DuVernay's efforts in telling the story of [five young Black men](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3d3wb/ava-duvernay-is-creating-a-central-park-five-series-for-netflix-vgtrn) wrongfully convicted of raping a woman in 1989.  
  
DuVernay's passion for prison reform has reverberated throughout her directorial career in projects like _13th_, her film about the history of racial inequality in the U.S. penal system, and _Queen Sugar_, her show that touches upon how incarceration affects entire families. Tonight, DuVernay will continue her efforts in raising awareness about prison reform during TIDAL X: BROOKLYN, the fourth annual benefit concert for criminal justice reform that donates to [Innocence Project](https://www.innocenceproject.org/), [Equal Justice Initiative](https://eji.org/), [REFORM](https://www.justicereformalliance.com/), and other non-profit organizations.  
  
Last year's TIDAL X: BROOKLYN concert donated proceeds to victims of recent natural disasters that struck Miami and Houston in 2017.

This story is adapted from Broadly's <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/queerly-beloved/id1435920470?mt=2" target="_blank">Queerly Beloved</a> podcast. When Jeffrey received Dorsey’s first letter, he was in “ad seg”—aka administrative segregation, or solitary confinement. After nearly two decades spent in prison, he says he was considering hanging himself. But the prospect of starting a new friendship with someone on the outside stopped him. It was a simple letter, he recalls, saying something along the lines of: “Hi, I’m Dorsey, and I’m not great at writing letters so I may not write often, but you can feel free to write me.” So he did—pages and pages of letters about his life, his family, his relationships. And Dorsey wrote back. Dorsey is a 27-year-old trans woman who lives in the Bay Area. She found Jeffrey through <a href="http://www.blackandpink.org/" target="_blank">Black and Pink</a>, a national organization that connects queer and trans people inside prison with queer and trans people outside prison. Dorsey joined at a time when she was looking to get engaged in LGBTQ-related activism, and found that getting involved gave her a renewed sense of purpose and community. Jeffrey wrote to the org in 2008, sharing some details about himself. In 2013, Dorsey saw the listing and was the first pen-pal to reach out. At first, the two connected over music. Jeffrey’s father was a well-known drummer and Dorsey plays in a punk band. Eventually, they moved on to talking about their identities, relationships, and day-to-day ups and downs. <div data-embed-id="1539197372344" class="article__embed article__embed--acast"><iframe width="100%" height="188" src="https://embed.acast.com/queerlybeloved/thepen-pals" frameborder="0" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> “I could tell we had a lot in common even really early on when we didn’t know all that much about each other,” recalls Dorsey. “That same feeling where you meet someone new in person and you just connect on some level, that was really apparent I think from the beginning.” Eventually, the two moved on from letters to phone calls. Then, three years into their correspondence, Dorsey visited Jeffrey in prison for the first time. She recalls being nervous about the circumstances: sitting in an uncomfortable visitation room for four hours, what if we run out of conversation topics? Would it be awkward? “But it wasn’t,” she recalls, “it was really nice, we had tons of things to talk about.” “It just feels really important to be able to see each other in person,” adds Dorsey. “It just means a lot to both of us and it’s important to me because it feels a little bit like we can feel, for a little bit, like what it will feel like when he does get out.” Before Jeffrey was incarcerated, he was married. “She was committed, but as times goes by, because I’m a lifer under the California three strikes law, her being a young lady, we decided to go ahead and go our own separate ways.” <div class="article__embed article__embed--vice" data-related-article="true"><iframe src="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/embed/article/yw9qmk/queer-sex-work-gender-liara-roux?utm_source=stylizedembed_broadly.vice.com&utm_campaign=wj9bkw&site=broadly" frameborder="0" style="border:0px none;margin:0px;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Jeffrey’s biological family used to visit him as well, but over time, they slowly became disconnected. The last visit he remembers was from his mother and his nieces, who came to see him in 2014. Today, the rest of his immediate family has passed away, besides his younger brother—who works full time to support his three children. And his mother, being in her seventies and living on a fixed income, has a hard time getting around. To add to the difficulty, Jeffrey was recently transferred to a new facility: “You’re not allowed to inform your loved ones or family and friends to where you’re going,” says Jeffrey, “because basically you really don’t know until you get to where they’re sending you.” Over the past few years, though, Dorsey has stepped in as a kind of chosen family. Even after Jeffrey was transferred across the state, she has continued visiting him. “Inside prison, if you don’t have any outside support or someone to communicate with—you know a lot of guys’ families have set them aside or through circumstances aren’t allowed to come visit or are on a fixed income, and a lot of that prohibits guys from getting visits…So, it’s really a blessing to be able to have a friend like that.” <a href="https://confirmsubscription.com/h/i/DC735105D83847D9" target="_blank">For More News Like This, Sign Up for Our Newsletter</a> Not only that: Dorsey and her friend Sam, who has visited Jeffrey alongside Dorsey, have helped Jeffrey reconnect with his mother. With information from Jeffrey, they reached out to her on social media and let her know where he is. Now, Jeffrey says he’s ecstatic to be expecting an upcoming visit from her and his nieces for the first time in many years. “I definitely consider Jeffrey family and one of the ways that it’s important is that I think we can rely on each other in a way that we are not gonna just disappear,” says Dorsey. “I like when there’s a little mushiness between chosen family and family of origin so I think it’s kind of cute in this case that chosen family have been able to help bridge the gap with family of origin.” To hear the full story straight from Jeffrey and Dorsey, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/queerly-beloved/id1435920470?mt=2" target="_blank">listen</a> to the Queerly Beloved episode "The Pen-Pals." And for more stories like this, check out the whole column <a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/topic/queerly-beloved" target="_blank">here.</a>

vice

broadly

Queerly Beloved

Identity

A Story of Friendship That Started with a Letter from Prison

queer family

chosen family

Incarceration

Podcast

Pen Pals

Black and Pink

Feminisme

During the concert at Barclays Center, [DuVernay will be honoring Tommie Smith](https://twitter.com/ava/status/1052293928660201473), the 1968 Olympic gold medal winner who famously rose his hand in a fist in solidarity with the Black Power movement. In addition to DuVernay, Senator Cory Booker, Angie Martinez, and Angela Rye will be speaking.

"I try to use my voice as powerful as I can and as impactful as I can," Martinez, the Power 105.1 radio host who will serve as the event's host, told [NEWS12](http://bronx.news12.com/story/39308554/angie-martinez-calls-hosting-tidal-x-brooklyn-an-honor). "There are people sitting in jail that shouldn't be&#x2014;that should bother people."

Musical performances include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Anderson.Paak, Nick Jonas, Normani, Teyana Taylor, Lil&#x2019; Kim, and many more. One hundred percent of net ticket proceeds and donations from the concert will support the aforementioned organizations.

Fans can also tune into the live stream at 8 PM on [TIDAL](http://tdl.sh/TIDALXBK18).

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Ava DuVernay, Lauryn Hill, and More Unite to Call for Prison Reform

A Story of Friendship That Started with a Letter from Prison

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Ava DuVernay, Lauryn Hill, and More Unite to Call for Prison Reform

A Story of Friendship That Started with a Letter from Prison

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