Bridges: A Justice Initiatives Zine

Bridges is Justice Initiatives’ zine created by and for our patrons incarcerated in New York State prisons and jails. A typical issue features writing and artwork by incarcerated contributors, alongside games, puzzles, programs, resources, and news relevant to our readers. While Bridges is produced for an incarcerated audience—and our print editions continue to be distributed almost entirely within prison walls— we have created a public digital archive of all issues and encourage its use and distribution for educational and practical purposes that honor the spirit of its contributors.  

 

Zines

The zine cover for Bridges issue number 7. Set into the cover image is a school notebook that reads "Fine and Performing Arts: Programs and Community Partnerships Unit" Over this text a student has scribbled various doodles including a fire demon screaming in the lower lefthand corner, a small tank cruising along the right bottom edge. Other doodles of cartoon ninjas and superheroes and other characters fill the page. A jet appears to crash into the words "Fine and Performing Arts" and a news helicopter flies above these other drawn characters on the cover of this notebook
Issue No. 7
The zine cover for Bridges issue number six is mocked up to look like a crossword puzzle. The only word written into the puzzle is "Bridges" in a script font. In black boxes overlaid on top of the crossword it reads "Another Puzzle Issue"
Issue No. 6 
A zine cover for Bridges issue number 5. A collage using cutout pages from a book and photographs of black historical figures form the shape of a rose.
Issue No. 5
A black and white graphic of cartoon construction workers using block letters to build a building that looks like a crossword puzzle. It spells out the name of the zine, "Bridges." in the upper right hand cover floating boxes of text read "The Puzzle Issue."
Issue No. 4
A block print drawing of a hand holding a pencil writes the title "Bridges" across the cover of this zine.
Issue No. 3
A black and white zine cover with the word "Bridges" spelled out like rope across the cover.
Issue No. 2
A black and white image of a bridge with text overlay of the zine name and contents. It reads Bridges COVID-19 edition: Legal and Reentry resources, pandemic updates, symptoms and prevention, and we want to hear from you--mail in survey inside.
Issue No. 1
History

Bridges started in 2020 as an urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic—incarcerated people were among the most at risk of getting sick, while facing extreme barriers to getting information on how to protect themselves. While we were no strangers to a busy mailroom, the surge of letters we saw from incarcerated patrons in the first months of the pandemic was unprecedented. People were looking for answers on how to stay healthy, what information they could trust, and how to assert their right to a safe environment. 

We put together Issue #1 of Bridges to push back against the rumors and misinformation circulating in prisons and jails, and to share accurate, accessible information about COVID-19, general wellness during lockdown, and incarcerated people’s rights to healthy living conditions.  

The response to the first issue was overwhelmingly positive. Encouraged by the feedback we received, we decided to keep the zine going and expand its purpose, making Bridges a space where incarcerated writers and artists could share their work. Since then, Bridges has grown into something much bigger—now regularly receiving over 100 submissions per issue—and has made room for special projects, like puzzle-focused issues curated by Kate Chin Park, offering readers a creative and engaging way to pass time during long stretches of isolation.  

Staying true to its origins, Bridges has also become an important way to share practical resources with patrons inside. Each issue highlights information readers can actually use—from legal support and advocacy groups to books-by-mail programs, educational opportunities, and reentry services.