Pittsburgh
Chicago
2 Enlighten is a book club for prisoners which serves as a way for these individuals to spend time wisely gaining lessons that will stay with them forever. Reading a book gives us human knowledge that will last a lifetime. Writing about it allows us to reflect as individuals on what that knowledge means to us personally.
The book club was founded through 2 strangers that met via www.WriteAPrisoner.com: Alex Avakian, who was born on March 18th, 1987 in Pittsburgh, PA and Tacorey Killebrew, born March 30th, 1987, in Chicago, IL. Avakian first began sending Killebrew letters in 2018 while he was in Cook County Jail in Chicago. What started as paper correspondence between the 2 eventually turned into phone calls and then a friendship. In 2019 Avakian started sending Killebrew books mostly centered around business, philosophy, spirituality and entrepreneurship. 1 became 100+ and in time those books would begin to be distributed to other inmates as well. As time passed, Killebrew found himself in a teaching role, discussing and elaborating on the book matter at length with other prisoners. Eventually it was determined that a fun and educational way of enriching the prisoners' world would be to have them write book reviews on what they read. Killebrew came up with the name "2 Enlighten" and the book club was born. All are welcome to join the book club, and several of the guards even borrow books from Killebrew as well. Killebrew was moved to Pinckneyville Correctional Center in 2023.
2 Enlighten: 2 people of similar age, yet very different upbringings, and living in 2 very different worlds, connected through their love of reading and the pursuit of enlightenment.