Freedom Reads

Freedom Reads' June Newsletter is here! 📬 Founder & CEO @dwaynebetts reflects on fatherhood & the Inside Literary Prize. Plus, meet Library Production Associate Michael Byrd in our new "Meet the Team" column. Read @ freedomreads.org/news/newslette…

And the book is! 🥁 The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Hope you had a fun week learning more about our Freedom Library collection The five books we discussed this week are part of the collection. Have a beautiful weekend! #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Final Day! And it has been such a blast sharing these clues with you all. Can you guess where this quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus! Got it right? You love your French existentialists! 💯 Final quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 4! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou! Got it right? You love Maya Angelou as much as we do! 🎉 New quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 3! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry! Got it right? Give yourself a high five! 🙏 New quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 2! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas! A Freedom Reads fave — revenge, justice, transformation. Got it right? You are a real bibliophile . New quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

All week long, we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess the title?! Share your guesses in the comment section! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #bookstagram #fun

🎙️ Podcast Week: Injustice & the Letter from Birmingham Jail At 16, @dwaynebetts was sentenced to 9 years. He cried reading Dr. King’s letter. On @EconTalker, he reflects on that moment—and how words behind bars can spark freedom. 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/hk/podcast/inj… #mlk #podcast

🎙️ Podcast Week: Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars In this @Freakonomics episode, @dwaynebetts joins Steven Levitt to talk Dostoevsky, prison, and the power of literature to transform lives. 📚 Listen: freakonomics.com/podcast/readin…

🎙️ Throwback! @dwaynebetts on how one book changed his life—from solitary to Yale Law—and why he now builds prison libraries. 📚 “Dwayne Betts Is Proof That a Book Can Change Your Life” 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/2TAVxc…

In this episode of @BNBuzz #PouredOver, @dwaynebetts joins @miwamesser to talk life, poetry, and the journey to founding Freedom Reads. A soulful convo on storytelling, forgiveness & how books set us free. 📚 Watch here: youtube.com/watch?v=bso9YS…

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah has won the 2025 Inside Literary Prize, an award judged by incarcerated readers, for his novel CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS. The author’s dystopian novel was published in 2023. @PantheonBooks @million_book ow.ly/6OyZ50WoqAt

Still reflecting on last week’s historic moment — @king_nk won the 2nd Inside Literary Prize. His speech moved us all. Listen to his Freedom Takes episode — brilliant, necessary, and keeps the convo going. open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD6O… #FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize

Season 2 of The Freedom Takes continues! @dwaynebetts & Steven Parkhurst talk with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah about Chain-Gang All-Stars & the power of forgiveness. Nana is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow & 2023 NBA finalist. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD6O… #InsideLiteraryPrize #podcast

Congratulating Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for winning the Inside Literary Prize 2025! #freedomreads #insideliteraryprize

Welcome to Season 2 of The Freedom Takes! 🎙️ In this episode, @dwaynebetts and Allie Salazar Gonzalez talk with Paul Harding about This Other Eden—a 2023 Booker Prize finalist. Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/74FLMS… ✨ #FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize

Season 2 of The Freedom Takes is here! First up: Astrid Roemer joins us to talk On a Woman’s Madness, feminism, & the power of words. Her novel was longlisted for the 2025 Int’l Booker & translated by Lucy Scott. Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/3YbeMX… #FreedomReads