What would you do if you learned human rights violations were occurring in your community?

In 1998, when we were volunteer DJs at WMMT, a community radio station in Whitesburg, KY, we received hundreds of letters describing human rights violations in newly-opened prisons in our community. Concerned about what was happening, we responded with an art project called "Holler to the Hood" to address human rights abuses in the United States criminal justice system.

Building H2H, we began working with other artists and community activists around the country to create Thousand Kites. Thousand Kites is a national project that provides tools (theater, web, radio, and video) for people concerned about human rights and criminal justice issues to use to facilitate dialogue in their local communities across the United States.

In prison slang to "shoot a kite" is to send a message. Thousand Kites is a national project that works directly with stakeholders using communication strategies and campaigns to engage citizens and build grassroots power. It uses performance, web, video, and radio to open a public space for incarcerated people, corrections officials, the formerly incarcerated, grassroots activists, and ordinary citizens to dialogue and organize around United States criminal justice system.