The prison system sees me as worthless. I’ve known this since my first day inside.  Due to my sentence and security level, I was rushed to solitary confinement within an hour of arriving. There I have remained for the last 10 years, across four different facilities, each somehow worse than the last.  At one of my facilities, the entire building flooded when it rained. Water trickled into my cell from the window, door, ceiling and both neighboring cells. At night, the light was so dim, I could hardly read — and the electricity went out multiple times a day anyhow. The prison was infe ..read more

The same, these many years in the same state. Forever staring motionless at that self-same spot. Absolve me, for I am. My dream is the dream of a pond, not just to mirror the sky — but to let this one rose bleed me dry. I’ll climb from her roots to her veins and when leaves wither and fade, I will refuse to mourn because I was dying to live. My joy is the joy of sunlight. Pardon me, hounded hope, for laughing now and again. In a moment of creation, I will leave shining words. Whenever seedlings sprout, I shall sing a song of greenery. I am. My grief is the grief of birds, flying over hardship ..read more

April 17, 2024 — Prison Journalism Project (PJP), a national initiative that trains incarcerated writers to be journalists and publishes their stories, today announced the launch of a “Prison Writer’s Guide to Media Writing,” a first-of-its-kind handbook and certificate program designed to educate prison writers about journalism, with expert insights, guided coursework and a reporting style guide. The handbook is unique in that it offers university-level journalism instruction tailored for student reporters with limited access to reporting tools in often high-risk environments where they ca ..read more

In late February, my state of Idaho tried to execute a person for the first time in 12 years. According to an Idaho Statesman article, the execution team searched for an hour for a suitable vein to inject Thomas Creech with lethal drugs, but was unsuccessful. The execution was eventually aborted and he was sent back to death row.  Creech has been incarcerated for nearly 50 years and on Idaho’s death row for close to 44 of those years. He has been convicted of five murders and received his death sentence after killing a disabled inmate in his prison in 1981. According to The Associated Pr ..read more

On his 18th birthday in September 2023, my nephew committed to playing football for the University of Texas Longhorns. He is widely considered one of the 50 best players in the 2024 recruiting class. He currently plays for the No. 1 high school football team in the nation, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.  His name is Brandon Baker, just like me. I remember when he was born and my brother Gary told me that he named his son after me. I couldn’t believe it.  “Why would you name your child after a felon?”  “Because I’m my brother’s keeper,” Gary said. That gesture p ..read more

bruised skinned bloody knees always betray steel face and mission statement gait, because in your freedom there is power over me; I, forced to rely on you, my need incremental pours down on you torrential eroding that which was once concrete, solid until the remains are sediment and I, corrosive — please, pick up the phone. The post begging appeared first on Prison Journalism Project ..read more

Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote, “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”  Then what can be said of a society that sends teenagers to prison? In 2009, when I was 17 years old, I got involved in gang violence and was soon charged with first-degree murder. I’ve had many family members and friends who were locked up, which led me to expect incarceration for myself. Initially, I assumed I would face 20 to 60 years and only serve half my sentence. I was sent to an adult division of the Cook County Jail in Chicago — even though I was just a teenager at the ..read more

Late last year, California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office said in its 2024-25 fiscal outlook report that it expects a budget deficit of $68 billion, the largest deficit in state history. The state is scrambling to stop its cash hemorrhage, but there is an obvious solution they are overlooking that could put a significant dent in the shortfall: Grant parole to incarcerated seniors.  According to the LAO’s own estimate in May 2010, elderly people in California prisons cost two to three times more than an average prisoner. This report said the costs are due to health care services and facil ..read more

Waves of līlā2 Lap the sands of my skin — I feel its circulation In my blood, Oozing out as ink — In spite of laying “forgotten in broken jars”3 I too wield the seven aisvaryas, Like the Great Sentinel4 A century ago. One day, I wield anima5: I become a monarch caterpillar, Fattening on milkweed leaves, Awaiting my metamorphosis; I become a ladybug, Sheltering against the monsoon rain, Under a mango tree leaf; I become a black ant, Leading my comrades atop a black granite kitchen slab, Towards bunches of ripe, native, finger-length bananas That sit uneaten in an open-topped jute basket … The ..read more

As I trailed my hand along the railing of the pen, I felt the cool touch of steel and the warmth of the morning sun on my face. A breeze rolled through, soothing my brain. The round pen was situated in an open expanse of green. Two quarter horses, one taller than the other, plucked lush grass. Their tails swished and noses snorted. The last time I stood this close to a horse I was 11 years old. My childhood friend Janet had introduced me to her horse Midnight. I remember the horse snorting its disapproval of me as it stomped the ground. I fled, terrified.  I waited many decades until now ..read more