Reflections for Freedom "Reflections Behind Bars & "Free Our Kids" Film Screening

Come hang out for a chill night of films, stories and vibes that celebrate breaking free and finding your own path.

BAY-Peace & Back to the Start invites you to Reflections for Freedom! A Dual-film screening featuring Reflections for Freedom and Free Our Kids. At the core of these films are the raw, deeply personal stories and poetry from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals about overcoming and growing up at the intersection of poverty, violence, and systemic racism. Our intergenerational panel discussion will bring our communities together to reflect on how investments in youth, art and culture hold the keys to a freer future, where cycles of systemic harm and violence cease to exist. We'll hear directly from individuals whose lived experiences challenge dominant narratives and deepen our understanding of how cycles of harm take root and how they can be transformed.


About the Films:

Free Our Kids, directed by Clarence Ford and Leilani Salvador, filmed by Christian Collins, celebrates the historic victory of the Free Our Kids Coalition in halting the $75 Million, 100-120-bed proposed expansion of Camp Sweeney Juvenile Detention Center in 2018. The film documents how Oakland based youth organizations and their young leaders are centering healing and culture to empower youth leaders at the forefront of our local movement for peace and justice.

Reflections Behind Bars, directed by Sundance and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jacob Kornbluth, was filmed inside San Quentin. This moving documentary captures a landmark gathering where incarcerated writers, policymakers, and community members came together to share stories and explore bold, evidence-based solutions to break cycles of trauma and incarceration.

Featuring Panelists:

Anthony Ammons Jr, Formerly incarcerated human being; Special Projects Coordinator for the California Attorney General

Brian Asey Gonsoulin Cofounder, Back to the Start; former Executive Director, San Quentin Prison Report

Leilani Salvador Director, BAY-Peace, Producer, Free Our Kids film, Community Based Artist

Tandi “Tae” Thomas Student, Former Community Organizing Fellow, Young Women’s Freedom Center

Special Guest Panelist:

Mia Bonta, State Assembly Member District 18



Guest Poetry and Dance performances by Back to the Start & BAY-Peace members:

Jessie Milo

Mia Diaz

London Ross

Layla Bell



About the Organizations:

BAY-Peace offers holistic youth leadership programs where we empower Bay Area youth to transform and heal from militarism, systemic violence and intergenerational trauma. Founded by a veteran, educators and youth artists in Oakland, CA to offer alternatives to military recruitment of youth, they have continued to expose the many interconnected forms of militarism and systemic violence disproportionately impacting low-income youth of color through violence at home and abroad. Their grassroots organizing, policy advocacy and community based art projects are grounded in Youth Participatory Action Research to help support the timely needs for youth with healing and transforming violence.


Back to the Start is a non-profit that produces powerful narratives underscoring the need for critical investments in early childhood and family resources. Co-led by incarcerated individuals at San Quentin and a former Chief Physician and Surgeon of California’s prison health care system, the new narrative series is written by incarcerated persons reflecting on the arc of their lives from childhood to incarceration with the goal of raising public awareness and galvanizing support for systems change to dismantle the cradle-to-prison pipeline.