Jean Melesaine, Valley State Prison, Chowchilla, California (#1)

When I hear the words "Protest" and "Prayer", what comes to mind is how people remain connected to a higher power when something or someone does not allow them to do so but they continue to push on to keep what is known to them sacred in any conditions they're met with. The following photographs are from visits with the brothers/friends who are doing life in Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California. I think about these guys often, how they remain true to themselves and connected to a higher power while being in a place like prison. Remembering language, remembering roots, remembering song and dance, beading, remembering where they come from, remembering to give thanks to ancestors in a place that sometimes can force you to forget, these brothers are what prayer and protest look like to me.