I'm a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles covering social justice. Just trying to help good people expose shitty systems!
Los Angeles, CA
Joined February 2021
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Suicide is a leading cause of death in prisons and jails. Incarcerated people who self-harmed or felt suicidal reported feeling ignored, powerless, or isolated, and for some, it becomes the only way to be heard.
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Victoria Elena Valenzuela retweeted
California incarcerates the second-most people — almost 90,000 — in state prisons across the U.S., but still lags behind other states in media access. @Victoriaevalenz covers the ongoing struggle for more transparent news coverage of the state's prisons.
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Check out this about what Easter means to and looks like for people in prison.
Easter is hard for people in prison who are away from their families. This group helps incarcerated people find liberation, freedom and connection in the holiday.
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…
Easter is hard for people in prison who are away from their families. This group helps incarcerated people find liberation, freedom and connection in the holiday.
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…
From tap dance to partner lifts, people in prison are working with advocates to find freedom, expression and storytelling.
Read my article about Dancing Through Prison Walls here:
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…
Amid more attention to Dilley Detention Center, advocates are sending lawmakers paper dolls with messages as the latest tactic in protesting against family detention.
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My latest Substack post: People in prison are still human beings — they like to watch sports, root for a team, listen to Bad Bunny and share a meal just like everybody else.
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Tommy Lee Walker, who was 19 years old at the time he was wrongfully convicted, was posthumously pardoned 70 years after his execution.
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Victoria Elena Valenzuela retweeted
Jails and prisons around the country are starting to ban mail for incarcerated people, and families are saying it takes away from the sentimentality and privacy from sending letters, artwork and greeting cards.
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…
Jails and prisons around the country are starting to ban mail for incarcerated people, and families are saying it takes away from the sentimentality and privacy from sending letters, artwork and greeting cards.
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…
In California, families impacted by incarceration passed a law for free prison phone calls, and they are urging other states to do the same.
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Today Trump carried out the 75th annual presidential turkey pardon while about 2,100 people will spend another holiday on death row.
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The Silver Platter may be the oldest existing Latinx bar for LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles. It’s a living piece of local history.
Yet now, after many years of supporting this diverse community, the bar faces demolition.
For @latimes
latimes.com/delos/story/2025…
Victoria Elena Valenzuela retweeted
“In this moment, there is a beautiful hope that exists in this solidarity and that people are standing up for what is right,” said an organizer.
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Since the Trump administration took office — but especially in recent months — ICE has been snatching primarily Latino people off the streets and detaining them without identifying themselves or giving due process.
Communities are fighting back.
truthout.org/articles/racial…
Tremane Wood, Bryan Jennings and Stephen Bryant are scheduled to be murdered by the government this week. Advocates are petitioning to stop the executions.
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While most of the country will be celebrating the holiday with a freebie from work, nearly 145,000 veterans are locked up and ousted from society, despite their years of service protecting what is (ironically) called “the land of the free”
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Lately in my Substack — California passes six new prison reform laws this fall, false narratives about incarceration, and FCC hikes prison communication rates cap by 83%
Check it out:
victoriaevalenzuela.substack…