Cell Block Feminist, Hip Hop Artist & Co-founder of Initiate Justice
Richard Edmond-Vargas, aka Richie Reseda, questions concepts of patriarchy while inspiring powerful conversation about topics in cellblock feminism, mass incarceration and restorative justice.
In April 2018, Richard was featured in the CNN documentary The Feminist on Cellblock Y, which highlighted his unlikely but impactful work as an inmate teaching feminism in an all-male prison. The inmate education and rehabilitation program he created, “Success Stories,” is designed to help young men challenge patriarchy to better achieve their goals.
Richard is a co-founder of Initiate Justice, a non-profit that was founded while he was serving 10 years in California state prison for a crime that he committed as a teenager. He encourages others, especially those directly impacted by incarceration, to get involved in grassroots legislative efforts aimed at ending punitive justice systems and investing in people, communities and restorative means of reducing harm.
Richie Reseda released the rap album Forgotten But Not Gone from prison in 2015. Upon release from prison in 2018 Richie launched the social impact media company Question Culture. On stage, he enlightens audiences with reflective stories of building a feminist movement behind bars and inspires us to reconsider gender stereotypes and to live a more compassionate life.