Mourning Our Losses
Mourning Our Losses (MOL) was launched by a volunteer group of educators, artists, and organizers committed to the release of those incarcerated nationwide. In April 2020 we began hosting individual memorials to dignify and honor the lives of our brothers and sisters who were dying from COVID-19 in jails, prisons, and detention centers across the country. Today we continue to grow this platform for grief, healing, community, and reflection for all those affected by the death of a loved one due to poor conditions, medical negligence, violence, and mental health crises inside - the natural byproducts of mass incarceration.

We are a team driven by our own prison experiences. Our crowd-sourced memorial site and all that we do depends upon our ties to you, our siblings still inside. Our goal is to inform public, national conversations about the dangers of mass incarceration by sharing the stories of those lost. In doing this, we let the public know that we are all people - not numbers, criminals, or “inmates". We do not use that type of dehumanizing language in the memorials we post. We do not speak negatively about anyone or talk about the crime for which they were convicted (at all!). No one deserves to suffer at the hands of the prison industry and no one deserves to die inside.

You can help us. Prison officials in every state have done a terrible job at informing the public about people who have died in their facilities – often not even telling us their names. Any information you can share, however little or much, will be a big help. You may also send us a memorial for a loved one who died, related creative writing, photos, and/or artwork (which we may not be able to return safely). When you send it in, be sure to include the name the person went by and your name as you would like it to appear on the memorial (or let us know if you’d like to remain anonymous). Let us know whether or not you give us permission to edit spelling errors, and whether we can contact you via electronic mail (JPay, Securus, GTL, etc.) to follow up. Write to us at:
Mourning Our Losses
c/o Texas After Violence Project
Austin, TX 78761

We encourage you to share our website, mourningourlosses.org with your friends and family on the outside. Memorials can be submitted on the site using the “Submit“ button and we can be reached via email at mourningourlosses@gmail.com.