a program of new uncertainty collective
Project Poetic Justice
Project Poetic Justice pairs incarcerated young writers at the DC Jail with composers and singers to turn their poems into new music, performed inside the facility and for the DC community.
Founded by Ryan Alexander · a program of the New Uncertainty Collective
The founder
Ryan Alexander, founder
Project Poetic Justice began with Ryan Alexander in the classroom. Teaching with the Inspiring Youth Program inside the DC Jail since 2019, he saw week after week how much of the young people's writing was already music waiting to happen. Through his work at the Peabody Institute, he knew the composers and singers who could meet it.
So he built the bridge himself: the ten-week, three-part model the program still runs on, in which writers develop original poems with mentors, composers set those poems to music, and the finished songs come back to be performed for the writers first, inside the facility, before anyone else hears them.
Ryan continues to lead the program's work at the jail and its relationships across the DC arts and education communities.
How it works
Over a ten-week program in three parts, young people incarcerated at the DC Jail develop original writing through in-person tutoring and mentorship from Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars students. Composers, Peabody-affiliated and beyond, set those texts to music, and the resulting songs are performed by Peabody Institute vocalists: first inside the facility, then in public performance in Washington, DC.
The writers remain the primary authors throughout. They keep ownership of their words, license them to the project on non-exclusive terms, and share in anything their work earns. The justice in Poetic Justice includes the economics.
Two years, and counting
2025
year one
Ten songs, two concerts
Ten original vocal works on texts by incarcerated writers, developed across the spring and performed twice in May: inside the facility, and at a free community concert and panel at the Church of the Epiphany in downtown DC.
2026
year two
The program returns
Weekly in-facility sessions February through April; culminating performances in May for the facility and the DC community.
From the 2025 program
Countdown to Lockdown · music by David Carlton Adams · text by DaMarco Utley
Freedom · music by Luis F. Ruiz-Pacheco · text by Jeremiah Evans
Video Visits on Me · music by Ahmed Karam · text by Damari McLaughlin
Memory · music by Juwon Lim · text by Jordan Grice
"Woodman, We Must Hurry Back to Dorothy!" · music by Ahmed Karam · text by Damari McLaughlin
Prayer · music by Aleksandra Woźniak · text by Trevon Thompson
One day I'ma be free · music by Young-Jun Lee · text by Kharris Akinola
I can Predict the Future · music by Zac Fick-Cambria · text by Dallas McKinney
Don't Play My Game! · music by Meg Huskin · text by Mark Fletcher
Tomar's Song · music by Marie Herrington · text by Tomar McWilliams
…with poetry readings by Trevon Thompson, Marquis Derby, and Teonne Carson between sets, and Dr. Xin Wu as collaborative pianist.
Press
WTOP · "Project Poetic Justice offers incarcerated young people at DC Jail a way to express themselves"
Peabody Creative Wire · feature on the program's first year
Vocal Arts DC · retrospective by Ryan Alexander
I Care If You Listen · "5 Questions to Ryan Alexander" (2026)
Thank you
Project Poetic Justice is made possible by the Peabody Institute, the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, the Petey Greene Program, Free Minds Book Club, Peabody LAUNCHPad, the DC Department of Corrections, and many individual donors and supporters.
Support
The program runs on artist fees, materials, transportation, and a great deal of donated time. If you'd like to help Year 3 happen, write to newuncertaintycollective@gmail.com.