Community, Nonetheless

Clipping from Dallas Coalition Against the Death Penalty's The Clarion publication, January 1986

Despite living inhumanely solitary lives, the founding members of the Texas Death Row Journal utilized what little resources and connections they had to build community with those outside their cells and outside the system. After an unsuccessful attempt to launch the project earlier, the first issue of the Texas Death Row Journal (TDJR) was published in the fall of 1992. At the date of publishing the first issue of the TDJR, the Endeavor project, another publication by death row inmates, had already been actively producing and distributing the What’s Happening? news sheet.

While What’s Happening  and the Texas Death Row Journal were unique in their production by inmates, they were not unique in focus. The Clarion and the Hope of Cure were two such publications organized by non-imprisoned individuals who opposed the death penalty and fought for its abolition. Utilizing these established networks of supporters and activists was integral to the success of each publication. In November 1992, Hope of Cure published an advertisement announcing the first issue of the Texas Death Row Journal.