Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Illustration by Fred Lowe

This piece was inspired by the prison administration’s failure to periodically swap our old masks for new masks. I personally have worn the same masks for days. 

After watching a segment about the Black Lives Matter movement on TV, I started writing, “New Masks Matter” on the KN95 masks I was issued. I started getting noticed, and the administration began handing out new masks on a more regular weekly basis (although only one per inmate, once a week). 

I feel for those inmates and staff throughout the California prison system, who didn’t wear masks and lost their lives. 

So with that, here’s a drawing of my own Fred Lowe “New Masks Matter” movement with a portrait of myself wearing my new mask and safety goggles and depicting new masks for every man, woman and child of all types and walks of life.

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

Fred Lowe is an artist and writer incarcerated in California.