Twenty One Birthdays

Half of the people imprisoned in America are parents, which means over two million children grow up with their parents in cages. In his essay, Twenty-One Birthdays, Kennedy Amenya Gisege celebrates a lifetime of birthdays separated from his daughter. Each year, he makes a quiet offering to a photo on the wall. The years accumulate until, at last, she is grown and he remains behind bars. Tender, heart-wrenching, and loving, Gisege's work illuminates the intimate human cost of prison's severings.