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The Fight to Staying Alive
Dontie Mitchell
There are those who think I should give up my fight for UFD, and I should just accept the fact that these people who run the New York state prison system don’t want UFD to… Full Transcript
David Wade Continues to House Prisoners in Solitary
Keith Rogers
David Wade Correctional Center—located in Homer, Louisiana—continues to house prisoners in solitary confinement despite ongoing litigation. It was estimated in 2017 that over 87,000 prisoners across America are being held in solitary confinement. Despite the… Full Transcript
Every Little Bit Counts
Dontie Mitchell
I was recently in the law library getting copies of the federal lawsuit I prepared to challenge, among other thing, doctor’s decision denying my request for approval to form a prison chapter of my UFD… Full Transcript
The Truth Hurts but TRUE Works
Dontie Mitchell
In my last commentary, I talked about the TRUE program in the Cheshire Correctional Institution in Connecticut. It’s a program where young prisoners, 18 to 25 years old, are housed together along with a small… Full Transcript
UFD is the original TRUE
Dontie Mitchell
Two days ago, I received an article entitled quote, “How Scott Semple Helped Turn Connecticut’s Prisons Into a Nationally Recognized Laboratory of Reform,” end quote, which was posted @wwdotconnecticutmag.com. I had just come back to… Full Transcript
A Call for Prison Reform; Norwegian Style
Dontie Mitchell
I had a conversation the other day with a good lady named Dianna Goodwin. She’s a senior advisor to New York state Senator Lewis R. Sepúlveda, who is also the chair for the State Senate… Full Transcript
UFD
Dontie Mitchell
Hello. My name is Dontie S. Mitchell reporting from Great Meadow Correctional Facility. I’m the founder of UFD, which stands for the Ujamaa Fraternal Dynasty. UFD is a mutual self-improvement fraternity that I use as… Full Transcript
PA DOC Juvenile Lifers Initiative Excels Under Robert Hammond
Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall
“Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Juvenile Lifer Initiative excels under Robert Hammond,” by Kerry Shakaboona Marshall. One of the most successful projects by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in the past decade has to be the… Full Transcript
Education
Terri Harper
“Education.” You cannot expect many, let alone all of us, to be rehabilitated over the decades. It takes for legal relief. Be it through the courts or commutation, if we have no continuing education avenues… Full Transcript
Long Term Solitary Confinement
Peter “Pitt” Mukuria
“It will be six years this October when my son has been locked up. He’s not the same person he was when he first went in. I don’t know who’s done what to him, but… Full Transcript
American Prisons as Senior Citizen’s Warehouses
Charles Karim Diggs
Hello everyone. My name is Charles Karim Diggs. I’m at Graterford, uh, prison. And my number is AK7945, Box 244, Graterford, PA 19426. I wanted to, uh, share my feelings about the senior citizens in… Full Transcript
Long Term Solitary Confinement
Peter “Pitt” Mukuria
Greetings, my name is Peter Kamau Mukuria. I’m calling from Red Onion State Prison in Virginia. This commentary is about: is long-term segregation, is long-term solitary confinement currently being practiced in Virginia? On February 2013,… Full Transcript
The Return Of The Missing Citizens
Charles Karim Diggs
“Return of the Missing Citizens: Why So Many Citizens in Prison?” American prisons, on any given day, have over 3 million or more women and men in jail. These prisons are local, county, statewide—also the… Full Transcript
How Prisons Create Criminals
Ozzie Mannwright
My name is Ozzie Mann Wright, and I’m at the Summit County Jail in Akron, Ohio. Ever see an assembly line in a big factory where various parts are being ushered down the line and… Full Transcript
The Three Strikes Reform Act of 2016
Speech to the National Convention of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Statistics
What is PREP?
Dortell Williams
California prisoners love PREP. You know why? Because PREP offers faith and hope. PREP stands for Partnership For Re-Entry Program. What PREP does is to offer rehabiltative correspondence lessons to prisoners thristy for self-help and… Full Transcript
I was in the prison yard this morning, trying to get my young [] together to have a discussion about their future, when two of them were pulled away by guys from their town to… Full Transcript