Adnan Khan

Founder, FIRSTWATCH

Grantee Cohort Fall 2019

Location California

Adnan Khan, a filmmaker, writer and policy advocate, serves as the Fund’s advocacy fellow. Khan created FIRSTWATCH, a media filmmaking project produced entirely by incarcerated men at San Quentin State Prison.  He works in collaboration with survivors of crime, currently and formerly incarcerated people, district attorneys, and other stakeholders to build a case and encourage action towards restorative justice practices. While incarcerated at San Quentin, he co-founded the organization Re:store Justice where he advocated for the successful passage of Senate Bill 1437. 

With its Art for Justice grant, Re:Store Justice will extend its pandemic response activities – focusing on where its work is urgently needed – and create a short mini-doc that pieces together the humanitarian crisis of COVID-19 inside prisons. Its COVID-19 response efforts range from direct support through donations of PPE and personal hygiene and food for incarcerated people to community-led grassroots advocacy. In these efforts, Re:Store Justice will partner with a wide range of partners, including Initiate Justice, Amend at University of California San Francisco, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, White Coats for Black Lives and others.