“99 Days: A Call For Support.”
My clemency application has been pending now for 21 months. I thought Governor Cuomo would have made his decision on it during the holidays last year. Instead, he made his clemency decisions on New Year’s Day. And I wasn’t among none of them. I guess that’s a good thing because I didn’t get a denial.
It means the governor’s office is still considering my application, maybe. What I know is that I have 99 days to build enough public support to get the governor’s attention. It’s the only way to increase the likelihood of me getting clemency. As I said before, clemency is just as much a political decision as it is a moral one.
If the public support granting me clemency after I spent 22 years in prison—more than half my life—when I didn’t hurt, harm, or injury anyone; and when I diligently worked to better myself and serve as a positive role model for others, especially young prisoners; then the governor is much more likely to grant me clemency. There’s really no reason for him not to do so. But if the public isn’t behind me, then my clemency application can easily be tossed under the rug.
I say all that to say this: I need help. I need people to step up and help with my Free Dontie Mitchell campaign. The person helping me now is overwhelmed. She does what she can, but she has her own life. As desperate as my situation is, I can’t ask her to sacrifice her life for me. At times, I feel that if someone decides to help me, you should know what it’s hitting for. Fighting for clemency on behalf of anyone requires a lot of dedication and commitment, but I realize now that people want to help you, yet can only do but so much.
It’s not really fair to me that I can’t demand more from the one person helping me. But it’s also a blessing that she is doing anything at all. She doesn’t have to do nothing. And then where would I be? She’s not my wife. She’s not my girl. She’s not my mom. Nor is she my sister. She’s just a really good person wanting to help. But she’s only 23 years old, working to provide for herself and her grandmother and cousin who she is putting through school with her own money. So how fair is it to her if I demanded that she does more for me? Therefore, I’m begging for other people to step up and help out. If many people step up to do small things, that adds up.
If you’re willing to help, please hit up my Free Dontie Mitchell Facebook page and write me at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. PO box 51, Comstock, New York. Zip code 12821. I repeat, right me at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. PO box 51, Comstock, New York. Zip code 12821. And don’t forget to include my prison identification number, which is 98-“APPLE”-0071. I repeat, 98-“APPLE” as in “A”- 0071. That goes next to my name, Dontie S. Mitchell. I repeat, my prison number goes next to my name, Dontie, spelled D-O-N-T-I-E. Middle initial, S. Last name, Mitchell.
This is Dontie S. Mitchell better known as Mfalme Sikivu, reporting to you from Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, New York. Follow me on Facebook @FreeDontieMitchell. Thank you for listening, and God bless. Shout out to Brittany Biaz, the young lady helping as me as best as she can, appreciate you.
(Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)