Rebuilding the Community from within the Community
Megan McDrew Prisoner Lives Matter, or at least they should. Yet, I’ve come to wonder if society actually sees the incarcerated as valuable or worthy of protection, especially in recent light of the pandemic? It pains me deeply to think of their plight but it hurts,...
Today, some seven years after the historic California hunger strikes, the general attitude on the yard is not that of resistance but compliance…
In Souls of Black Folks W.E.B. Du Bois tells of the story of John Jones, a happy-go-lucky Negro from the small town of Altamaha, Georgia. John is a free spirit who’s always laughing, smiling, and singing. He’s loud and boisterous. Unfortunately, John is not very...
FACING DEATH PENALTY, AGNOSTIC STARTS TO PRAY–RADIO INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR IVAN KILGORE.
…the social death of the African American has always been part of the American Experience
He’s gone years without touching or being touched by another human being (except when the guards put handcuffs on him to escort him from his cell).
I was in prison sentenced to spend the rest of my days on earth locked in a cell. Still and yet, I possessed the ability to make a conscious decision to not allow these circumstances to define me….
Here, we have those closest to the problem and those seeking to better understand and change our country’s position as the world’s largest incarcerator, both invested with the power to shape the narrative….
"After years of waiting and counting down, it is almost time for the gates on the Iron House to open and your loved one to step through and come home. Your greatest dream and your worse nightmare are about to be realized...yes, it is your loved one and no, you don't...
Family members talk and chat, girlfriends talk to boyfriend’s, kids run wild jumping and running in the background over the feet of people they don't know or care about. A baby hollers, all mothers turn and make sure their child is okay; some complimenting the mother...
On August 21st, 1971, George Jackson, best-selling author and founding member of the Black Guerilla Family was shot to death in the San Quentin prison yard. Prison officials said Jackson had been trying to escape from the isolation unit where he was housed. Three...
Going from prison yards to a university campus is quite the contrast of a life once lived; however, the brightness of his future blinds all doubts from his view.