Rahsaan Thomas

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Rahsaan Thomas (born September 22, 1970) is an American-born journalist, known as "New York" on the podcast Ear Hustle. Thomas is the Executive Director of Empowerment Avenue, an organization that works to develop the careers of incarcerated writers, artists, journalists, and filmmakers pre-entry. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Thomas was raised in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He has two brothers. His mother, Jacqueline, completed her bachelor's degree in sociology and was a bureau chief at Rikers Island. His father was incarcerated before committing suicide while Thomas was a teenager. Thomas attended high school in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Detroit. [4]

Career

While incarcerated at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, Thomas gained recognition through his work as co-host of Ear Hustle podcast. He also developed a career as a writer and journalist. California Governor Gavin Newsom commuted Thomas' sentence on January 13, 2022. Thomas was released on Feb. 8, 2023. [5] [6] [7]

Ear Hustle podcast

In 2018, Thomas became a co-host of Ear Hustle, the award-winning podcast produced inside San Quentin created by Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor. In 2020, Woods, Poor, and Thomas were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting for their work on Ear Hustle Season 4. That same season, Ear Hustle was awarded the 2021 DuPont Award from the Columbia Journalism School. [8] [9]

Empowerment Avenue

Thomas, along with freelance writer Emily Nonko, created the nonprofit Empowerment Avenue in May 2020. Empowerment Avenue helps incarcerated writers, visual artists, and filmmakers develop their careers and conquer the challenges of getting published and compensated justly for their work. In 2022, Empowerment Avenue was awarded a $600,000 Imagining Freedom grant from the Mellon Foundation. [10] [11] [12]

Writing

At San Quentin, Thomas was a contributing writer for the San Quentin News, and co-founded Prison Renaissance - through which he curated an art exhibit for the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in 2021. Thomas' work has been published by The Marshall Project, the Vera Institute for Justice, Business Insider, VICE, Outside Magazine, NBC, Open Campus, Apogee Journal, the Boston Globe and Current. While incarcerated, Thomas published over 50 articles, with 42 being published between June 2020 and his release in February 2023. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Film

The Sundance Institute and The Marshall Project awarded Thomas a grant to direct and produce the short documentary film Friendly Signs. Thomas completed the film while incarcerated. Friendly Signs premiered at the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival in 2023 and screened at Double Exposure, Atlanta Film Festival, Bravemaker and Superfest Disability Documentary Film Festival where it received an Advocacy Award. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Thomas co-produced, What These Walls Won't Hold, directed by Adamu Chan, which won the Best Mid-Length Feature at the 2023 San Francisco International Film Festival and premiered on PBS America Reframed. [22] [23] [24]

San Quentin Film Festival

Thomas is co-director and co-founder of the inaugural San Quentin Film Festival. The San Quentin Film Festival is the first film festival held inside of a prison in the United States. It took place at San Quentin in October 2024. Notable celebrity guests included Kerry Washington, who hosted a panel with Thomas, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, W. Kamau Bell and Cord Jefferson. In April 2025, Thomas and screenwriter Cori Thomas, who co-founded the San Quentin Film Festival with Thomas, were recognized as Impact Warriors by the Golden State Warriors for their work creating the festival. The second annual San Quentin Film Festival will take place on October 23-24, 2025. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

Thomas completing the 2023 New York City Marathon. Thomas NYC Marathon 2023.jpg
Thomas completing the 2023 New York City Marathon.

Running and the 2023 New York City Marathon

Thomas began running while spending time with childhood friend Shannon Briggs in Big Bear, California where Briggs was preparing for his fight against Francois Botha. After being unable to keep up with Briggs during a three mile run, Thomas was inspired to develop his running skills. He was a member of the Thousand-Mile Club at San Quentin, [30] an organized running club coached and sponsored by the Tamalpa Runners. [31] During his time with the club, he completed three half marathons, and a full marathon in 2017 which was covered in the documentary 26.2 to Life. In 2023, his completion of the New York City Marathon was covered by NBC Nightly News, Runner's World, ESQUIRE Magazine, Outside Magazine, and the Brooklyn Paper. [32] [33] [34]

Social justice

NorCal SPJ - San Quentin Satellite Chapter

Thomas was a member of the 2017 inaugural 38-member cohort of the San Quentin Society of Professional Journalists NorCal Satellite Chapter (SQ-SJP), and served as chairman from 2018 to 2023. While chair, Thomas organized symposiums at San Quentin and invited journalists into the prison to discuss their coverage of prisons and people who have been impacted by the justice system. In 2021, Thomas penned an article for The Marshall Project's The Language Project entitled "We Are Worth the Extra Letters" in which he advocates for using people-first language and discontinuing use of the word "inmate." As chairman of SQ-SJP, Thomas received the John Gothberg Award for Meritorious Service in 2021 for his leadership in maintaining the flow of information in and out of San Quentin during the Covid 19 Pandemic lockdowns. [35] [36] [37] [38]

CA Prop 17

Taina Vargas, founder of Initiate Justice, said that a 2017 call with Thomas motivated her to work on California Proposition 17, a successful 2020 ballot initiative that restored voting rights to people on parole in CA. Thomas served as an Initiate Justice Board Member, and designed the 2018 Voting Rights and Democracy Act. [39] [40]

Works

Writing:

Film:

Audio:

References

  1. ↑ Arts, KQED (2023-02-09). "'Ear Hustle' Podcast Co-Host Rahsaan Thomas is Free From San Quentin Prison". www.kqed.org. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
  2. ↑ "Our Team". www.empowermentave.org. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
  3. ↑ French, Piper (2024-12-13). "Prison Journalism Is Having a Renaissance. Rahsaan Thomas Is One of Its Champions". ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2025-03-11.
  4. ↑ "Twenty Years Ago He Was Incarcerated for Life. He Just Ran the New York City Marathon as a Free Man". Runner's World. 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  5. ↑ "College Behind Bars: A Panel on Education in American Prisons and Jails". Lapham's Quarterly. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  6. ↑ Smith, Hayley (2022-01-14). "Newsom grants clemency to San Quentin inmate, podcast host Rahsaan Thomas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  7. ↑ Member, Lora Korpar Fellow Newsweek Is A. Trust Project (2022-01-14). "'Ear Hustle' Podcast Host Rahsaan Thomas' Sentence Commuted By Gov. Newsom". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  8. ↑ "Finalist: Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods and Rahsaan Thomas". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  9. ↑ "2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award Winners Announced | Columbia Journalism School". journalism.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  10. ↑ "Empowerment Avenue". www.empowermentave.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  11. ↑ "Episode 79, Part 2: Rahsaan "New York" Thomas". The Last Mile Radio. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  12. ↑ "Empowerment Avenue, Empowerment Works, Inc". mellon.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  13. ↑ Article, Andrew Goldstein ShareShare This (2021-01-12). "'We Can Add Value to the World': San Quentin Prison Inmate Rahsaan Thomas on Why He's Curating Art Shows From Behind Bars". Artnet News. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  14. ↑ "Twenty Years Ago He Was Incarcerated for Life. He Just Ran the New York City Marathon as a Free Man". Runner's World. 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  15. ↑ "Prison Renaissance program uses art to end cycles of incarceration from inside San Quentin". ABC7 Los Angeles. 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  16. ↑ "From Serving Life to Liberating Others Through Journalism: Rahsaan "New York" Thomas – Hunter College Journalism". 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  17. ↑ Abdullahi, Aala (2025-02-07). "'Friendly Signs' Documentary Follows One Man's Quest to Create Community for Deaf Prisoners". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  18. ↑ "Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival". doubleexposure23.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  19. ↑ "2024 Atlanta Film Festival". atlff2024.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  20. ↑ "Superfest Disability Film Festival". superfest.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  21. ↑ "Film Fest 2024". bravemaker2024filmfest.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  22. ↑ America ReFramed | What These Walls Won't Hold | Season 12 | Episode 3 . Retrieved 2025-04-19– via www.pbs.org.
  23. ↑ ""What These Walls Won't Hold" + "How We Get Free" + "Sol in the Garden"". SFFILM. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  24. ↑ "SFFILM Announces Golden Gate Award Winners at the 66th San Francisco International Film Festival". SFFILM. 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  25. ↑ Hailu, Selome (2024-10-08). "The First Film Festival Inside a Prison: How a Formerly Incarcerated Documentarian Secured Approval, Funding and Celebrity Jurors for San Quentin's Inaugural Event". Variety. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  26. ↑ "Rahsaan Thomas and Cori Thomas". Warriors Community Foundation. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  27. ↑ Knight, Heather (2024-10-13). "Once Known for Death Row, San Quentin Hosts a Star-Studded Film Festival". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  28. ↑ Hailu, Selome (2025-03-27). "San Quentin Film Festival to Return to Bay Area Prison for a Second Year; 'Sing Sing' Producers Launch Masterclasses for Incarcerated Men (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  29. ↑ "San Quentin Film Festival". FilmFreeway. 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  30. ↑ https://www.1000mileclub.com/
  31. ↑ https://www.tamalparunners.org/
  32. ↑ "Running the NYC Marathon to change America's prison system". NBC News. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  33. ↑ Gearhart, Sarah (2023-11-01). "His First Marathon Was in Prison. His Second Will Be in New York City". RUN | Powered by Outside. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  34. ↑ Fishman, Melissa (2023-11-20). "Running for a cause: Brooklynites tackle New York City Marathon for 'something bigger than themselves' • Brooklyn Paper". www.brooklynpaper.com. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  35. ↑ "SPJ NorCal Honors 2021 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners « SPJ NorCal" . Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  36. ↑ "Behind Bars – And In SPJ". Quill. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  37. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan (2021-04-13). "How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  38. ↑ "About SPJ « SPJ NorCal" . Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  39. ↑ "Rahsaan Thomas - Board Member". initiatejustice.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  40. ↑ "California Voters Approve Prop. 17, Restoring Voting Rights to People Who Have Completed Prison Terms | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  41. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan (2017-04-02). "Why I Run in Prison". Outside Online. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  42. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan. "I've served 19 years in San Quentin prison and I just got diagnosed with COVID-19. Where is the justice?". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  43. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan (2020-12-18). "A Question of Violence". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  44. ↑ Academy, NBCU (2021-05-18). "Incarcerated people are telling their own stories more than ever before. It's about time". NBCU Academy. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  45. ↑ "What Did You Call Me? | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  46. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan (August 15, 2021). "A prison reckoning with remorse - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  47. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan "New York" (2022-01-20). "First Person: Why college matters for people serving extreme sentences". Open Campus. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  48. ↑ Article, Rahsaan Thomas ShareShare This (2022-04-27). "I Organized My First Art Show From Behind Bars. Here's How Incarcerated Curators Can Help Us See the World Differently". Artnet News. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  49. ↑ Thomas, Rahsaan (2022-09-02). "My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  50. ↑ "The Silent Treatment". Vera Institute of Justice. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
  51. ↑ Abdullahi, Aala (2025-02-07). "'Friendly Signs' Documentary Follows One Man's Quest to Create Community for Deaf Prisoners". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  52. ↑ "Home — 26.2 TO LIFE: THE SAN QUENTIN PRISON MARATHON". 26.2 TO LIFE. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  53. ↑ "whatthesewallswonthold.com". whatthesewallswonthold.com. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  54. ↑ "Ear Hustle". Ear Hustle. 2025-04-02. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
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