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Akiba Solomon

Senior Editor

she/her

I assign, edit and oversee the fact-checking of “Life Inside,” our personal essay series about living or working with the American criminal legal system. I also edit long-form narrative features and produce packages such as “The Language Project.”

My Background

I’m a Howard University graduate from West Philadelphia. I got my start in (now-defunct) print magazines such as Jane and The Source and have since written, edited and fact-checked hundreds of thousands of words about culture, race, gender and politics. Prior full-time positions include senior editorial director at Colorlines and health editor at Essence. I’ve written for a range of publications, including Dissent, Glamour, POZ and Vibe, and I once performed one of my essays at the Whitney Biennial. I also co-authored two books: “How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance” and “Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips and Other Parts.”

Work I’ve edited at The Marshall Project has earned a 2024 Dart Award for Excellence in Trauma Reporting and a 2021 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism. Back in my print days, I won an NABJ award in magazine writing.

email asolomon@themarshallproject.org
A man wearing blue pants and a white T-shirt dangles from and holds onto the threads of an American flag against a city skyline.
Life Inside July 4
What, to the American Incarcerated Person, Is Your Fourth of July?
In the spirit of Frederick Douglass’ historic speech, 20 currently and formerly incarcerated Americans explain what Independence Day means to them.
Reported by , , , , , , and

Edited by
Armour, a Black woman wearing dark jeans and a white long sleeved shirt with a chest cutout, and Moses, a Black man wearing an olive green T-shirt and pants, sit on a couch holding hands. A painting of blue butterflies is visible in the background.
Life Inside May 23
Love Beyond Bars: Larry and Gloria
Larry Moses and Gloria Armour first dated in their 20s. The New Orleans duo reunited in their 60s, after Moses was wrongfully imprisoned for 29 years.
Photographs and Interview by
Camille Farrah Lenain
Written by
A Black man wearing a tan prison uniform holds a tablet while looking up at light, faded images of family members. On the left is a person in a graduation gown, in the center is a child running to a woman, and on the right is a woman helping a child ride a bicycle.
Life Inside May 9
When New Jersey Switches Prison Tablet Companies, I’ll Lose 10 Years of Family Memories
Writer Shakeil Price uses his JPay tablet as a hard drive for his photos and videos. He’ll soon have to mail it home or have it destroyed.
By Shakeil Price
A magazine called News Inside set against a grainy tan backdrop. The cover says “Sing Sing Film Fest" and features a raised hand holding a film reel. Light refracted through prison bars shines onto the magazine.
News Inside December 11, 2024
Lights, Camera, Action
News Inside Issue 18 provides a glimpse into the first-ever Sing Sing Film Festival.
By
An illustration of a parole board table with two women seated and looking through paperwork while a man in a tie stands as he reads papers in his hands. Images of parole board hearings hang on the walls.
Life Inside November 8, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: A Criminal Justice Reformer Takes on ‘Conveyor Belt Justice’
Carol Shapiro joined the New York parole board to make change. Marathon days, copious paperwork and dysfunctional hearings brought her to tears.
By The Marshall Project
An illustration of a dark-skinned man in an orange jumpsuit carrying a painter’s palette while using a small paintbrush to create a purple comet above him.
Life Inside November 1, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: An Incarcerated Artist Learns to Paint Through the Chaos of Prison
Rafael Rodriguez’s artistic mentor and cellmate, Memo, taught him how to pour his anger and pain into oil painting.
By The Marshall Project
A black-and-white illustration of a man alone in a prison cell with his left leg up on his bed, as light streams in from the windows.
Life Inside October 25, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get the goods they need.
By The Marshall Project
An illustration of a pink-colored woman sitting on a chair with her back to the viewer, holding a phone, while her young, bushy-haired son sits across from her, one hand holding a phone to his ear and his other on his face in a distraught pose.
Life Inside October 18, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: The Emotional Toll of Visiting a Son in Jail
Ymilul Bates’ first visit to her son exposed her to cold, distant corrections officers and left her with a question: Did they know her son was loved?
By The Marshall Project
An illustration of a Black man with a goatee and glasses seen from the waist up holding a pile of dirt in his hands from which a plant rises. He is surrounded by flowers and other plants.
Life Inside October 11, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: How I Found Peace in the Prison Garden
Bobby Bostic was only 18 when he was sentenced to 241 years behind bars. To his surprise, weeds, water and soil put the St. Louis native on the path to healing.
By The Marshall Project
An illustration of a brown-skinned man wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit sitting at the edge of a bunk bed, as two bunk beds sit empty in the background.
Life Inside October 4, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: What 90 Days in Jail Taught a Poet About America
Ravi Shankar was born in D.C. to South Indian parents. But it took going to jail for him to fully understand what many other Americans of color face.
By The Marshall Project
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