The following piece was written by Kempis “Ghani” Songster as a speech he planned to deliver to the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Only select speakers are allowed two minutes to share their words before the permanent forum, and Ghani was ultimately not allowed the time to share this speech in …
A Call to the United Nations to Abolish Death by Incarceration Read More »
A Letter to the United Nations In an effort to secure international support for the movement to end Death by Incarceration (DBI) sentences in the United States, the Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Drop LWOP Coalition, and the California Coalition of Women Prisoners collaborated with the University of …
On November 8, 2021, John L. Buckalew, or Buck, was released from SCI Frackville after serving about ten years in prison. Five months later, on April 13, 2022, two women walking their dog reported to the police that they found a man “sleeping in his car.” When the police arrived, they found 34-year-old Buck dead …
Post Traumatic Prison Disorder and the Fight to Heal Our Communities Read More »
Kyle Rittenhouse is free. I served thirteen and a half years for taking the life of my abuser. Which is self-defense?
When initially sentenced as a child to between 40 to 80 years in prison, Kevin Butler struggled to grasp what a virtual life sentence meant. It seemed like the beginning of forever, a time too long to understand. An exceedingly rare commutation brought him freedom after 32 years of that sentence.
Ian Manuel grew up in Central Park Village in Tampa, Florida. In 1991, when he was 14 years old, Ian was sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime in which he shot and wounded a woman. Ian served 26 years in Florida prison, including 18 years in solitary confinement. The Equal Justice Initiative …
My Time Will Come: A Dialogue on Transformation and Death by Incarceration Read More »
This year is my first father’s day. But for the decades I spent incarcerated in an Alabama prison, I dreamt of him every day. I’ll spend the day at church, parading around the baby the congregation had been waiting for—one that I’ve been waiting for much longer. I’ll probably reminisce on the birth of my …