Here is wonderful pictures of the week long event at SUNY Cortland on Saturday March 28, 2026. The photos were taken by @artworkbyshowtime Will McNair.

Dear Beloved,

With the deepest gratitude, I want to say thank you! Thank you for your presence, your light, your reflections, and your collaboration throughout the Beloved Before Bars Week of Events (March 23–March 28). Your willingness to engage, advocate, and raise awareness around youth incarceration and criminalization created space on our campus for deeper understanding, healing, and collective growth. Because of you, we moved closer to a vision where all individuals are supported in thriving and becoming who they were always purposed to be.

Throughout the week, we explored powerful and necessary conversations together. We reflected on the intersection of Hip Hop as a tool for storytelling, resistance, and preventative action. We examined the principles of transformative justice and what it looks like to move beyond punitive systems toward accountability, restoration, and community care. We engaged in dialogue around policy reform, reintegration, and the importance of identity restoration for system-impacted youth and young adults. Each session was a reminder that change is not only possible—it is already in motion through our shared commitment.

It was an honor to hold space with each of you. Your voices, insights, and openness made this week meaningful and impactful in ways that extend far beyond these few days.

Additionally, I have attached photos from the Beloved Before Bars Summit, complimentary of Will McNair – an outstanding Sports Management and Com. Studies student and photographer. Through his lens, we are able to view various angles and moments captured throughout the summit. Thank you, Will!  As a continued reflection and learning opportunity, I have created ​a shared folder​ for all attendees to review the week of events materials, along with special messages from Dr. Anthony Nocella II (Save the Kids from Incarceration Director of Programs), Derek Singletary (Co-Founder of Unchained, Syracuse, NY), and Emily NaPier Singletary (Co-Founder of Unchained, Syracuse, NY). 

Unchained is a non-profit organization dedicated to dismantling the carceral state and the prison industrial complex (Syracuse, NY). Their mission is to empower those currently and formerly incarcerated in NYS through policy development, community organizing, and advocacy, research, and liberation education. 

Thank you again for showing up with intention, compassion, and courage. May we continue to carry these conversations forward in our daily lives, our communities, and our work!

With love and in community,

Kyrstin L. White ’25, B.She, her, hers (learn more here!)
Program Coordinator
SUNY Cortland
Multicultural Life and Diversity Office