Lift Every Voice: The Humanizing Work of Children’s Testimony in Response to the Effects of Parental Incarceration

This article examines the ethical and theological significance of narrative testimony in addressing the impact of parental incarceration on children. It critiques the overreliance on quantitative data to describe the effects of mass incarceration and argues for centering children’s voices as authoritative truth-telling. Drawing on Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed, the article demonstrates that liberation emerges from the testimonies of the marginalized themselves, not from external definitions of their oppression. Testimony, rooted in African American religious and cultural traditions, is presented as a humanizing practice that creates communal meaning, fosters resilience, and disrupts dehumanizing narratives. Through testimonies of children with incarcerated parents, the article reveals how stories illuminate systemic failures while also opening possibilities for hope, identity formation, and social transformation. Ultimately, it calls for scholars, advocates, and communities to stand in solidarity with children, recognizing testimony as both an interruption of oppressive discourse and a catalyst for justice.