Poetic Justice

Stories from the Inside

✨ Staff Spotlight: Becky Hatton, Development Director ✨
This month, we’re celebrating Becky Hatton, our Development Director, whose passion for justice and service helps strengthen the mission of Poetic Justice every day.
Throughout her career in the nonprofit sector, Becky has served in programs, operations, development, and senior leadership roles supporting causes such as foster care, refugee resettlement, death penalty reform, pre-trial incarceration, and children with incarcerated parents. Across every role, her commitment has remained the same: working to transform unjust systems and serve those most impacted by them.
Becky holds undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma State University and an MSc in Social Justice & Community Action from the University of Edinburgh. When she’s not advancing the work of Poetic Justice, she enjoys sewing, gardening, drinking good coffee, serving on the board of Tulsa Girls Art School, and spending time with her husband and dog.
We’re grateful for Becky’s leadership, compassion, and dedication to creating meaningful change. Thank you, Becky, for all that you do! 💜

Stories From the Inside ✍🏽
“I Am My Safe Place”
By : T

!!BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!!
Tickets are $10
Click on BUY TICKETS for either REDEMPTION SHORTS
Poetic Justice documentary showings are:
Thursday, June 11 @5:00 pm
Sunday, Jun 14 @4:00 pm
Ticket Link: dcff.eventive.org

26th Annual deadCenter Film Festival

🎓✨ Graduation Day at Mabel Bassett ✨🎓
We celebrate the women of Mabel Bassett Correctional Center who completed this semester’s Poetic Justice program.
Over the course of three 10-week sessions, participants journeyed through Voice, Hope, and Change, exploring identity and memory through poetry, writing stories centered on healing and resilience, creating personal chapbooks, and bringing passion projects to life through a variety of creative mediums. Together, they built a community grounded in trust, courage, and self-expression.
This graduation marks the culmination of 30 weeks of hard work, creativity, vulnerability, and growth. It is a celebration of every poem written, every story shared, every artistic risk taken, and every project completed.
We are incredibly proud of each woman who crossed the stage today. Thank you for sharing your voices, your stories, and your creativity with us. Your work reminds us of the power of art and storytelling to inspire connection, reflection, and change.
Congratulations, graduates. We are honored to celebrate this achievement with you. 🤍

✨ Staff Spotlight: Jordan Howard, Oklahoma Operations Director ✨
This month, we’re highlighting the incredible people behind Poetic Justice, including our Oklahoma Operations Director, Jordan Howard.
Jordan joined Poetic Justice in 2023 as a Tulsa Service Year Fellow, bringing with her a passion for justice reform and a commitment to creating meaningful change. A recent graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Communication, Jordan now serves as Oklahoma Operations Director, helping oversee and strengthen programs that support women impacted by incarceration, including initiatives like our Distance Learning Program.
Jordan is deeply passionate about working alongside justice-involved individuals and advocating for evidence-based, restorative approaches to rehabilitation. Her work focuses on addressing the shame, stigma, and reentry barriers often associated with incarceration while supporting policy reforms that create opportunities for lasting transformation.
At the heart of Jordan’s work is a belief that every person deserves dignity, support, and the opportunity to thrive. Through her dedication to inclusivity, advocacy, and community impact, she continues to help build pathways toward healing, growth, and hope for the women we serve.
Thank you, Jordan, for your leadership, passion, and commitment to creating a more just and compassionate future. 💜

In Session 3: Change, creativity becomes a tool for reflection, healing, and self-expression.
Over the course of 10 weeks, participants develop personal passion projects using painting, weaving, collage, scrapbooking, dream catchers, and more. Each project is shaped by the interests, experiences, and creativity of the individual creating it.
These photos offer a glimpse into the process—the gathering of materials, the careful planning, the experimentation, and the work taking shape. While the final pieces are still in progress, the creativity and intention behind them are already shining through.
Every piece is different.
Every story is personal.
Every creation carries meaning.
We’re excited to share the completed projects soon. For now, here’s a look at the journey. 💜

✨ Staff Spotlight: Ellen Stackable, Executive Director✨
This month, we’re highlighting the people behind Poetic Justice, starting with our Executive Director, Ellen Stackable.
In 2014, while pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma, Ellen became aware of the impact of Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis on women. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience as an English teacher and her belief in the transformative power of storytelling, she helped launch Poetic Justice and began teaching writing classes to incarcerated women at the Tulsa County Jail.
What started as a desire to create space for women to tell their stories has grown into an organization that uses writing, art, and community to support healing, self-expression, and personal growth. At the heart of Ellen’s work is a simple but powerful belief: every person has immeasurable worth.
Today, you can still find Ellen in our classrooms each week, building relationships, encouraging creativity, and helping women discover the power of their own voices.
Her work has been recognized through honors including the CNN Hero Award Finalist, the YWCA Tulsa Women of the Year Pinnacle Award, and the University of Oklahoma Women and Gender Studies Courage Award.
Thank you, Ellen, for your vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to the women we serve. 💜

Stories From the Inside ✍🏽
This series shares writing created by women inside correctional facilities in Oklahoma — words shaped by lived experience, reflection, memory, and hope.
Each piece is a reminder that storytelling does not stop at confinement. Through writing, these women reclaim voice, identity, and perspective in spaces where they are often spoken about, but rarely heard from directly.
These are their words, in their own language, on their own terms. 🤍