Ethical Guidelines for Engaging the Archive
In preparing these histories for the public, each interview has passed through an extensive review process and received narrator approval. These oral histories will be physically archived at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, NY, and subsets of the archive will also be accessible at the Freedom Archives in the East Bay, CA, and at the Invisible Institute in Chicago, IL.
Movements Against Mass Incarceration is a public archive, and we encourage the use of these materials for public and community education and advocacy, journalism, research, and other endeavors that serve the public good and constructive social change.
Equally important, we wish to stress the ethical standards that all visitors to the archive are called to uphold. We are honored that you are taking time to explore this archive and ask that you enter the archive with the following principles in mind:
Respect the lives and stories of the narrators.
- Engaging in oral history is often a vulnerable process – we are deeply thankful to our narrators for entrusting us with their stories and hope the process of sharing these stories offers a kind of healing that only telling the truth can. Visitors to the website should recognize that our narrators are active, vital members and contributors to their communities; they have loved ones who care deeply about them. We entrust you to use the material respectfully and thoughtfully. As a witness, please refrain from misrepresenting their stories or taking things out of context, and please do seek out more context to better understand the issues and circumstances that narrators discuss. Witnessing the archives also comes with the expectation that you will not use this material as a mode for justifying harm or retribution. We hope that this project will inspire us to reconsider what real “justice” might look like.
Recognize that some of the content is difficult, and take care accordingly.
- Prison is a fundamentally violent institution, but people’s experiences with violence usually happen long before they experience incarceration. Therefore, some content explored in the archive may be distressing to some readers. We encourage visitors to read our full statement on these matters, and to take heed: we offer a general warning that the personal histories in archive do touch on themes of violence (physical, domestic, sexual, carceral, and self harm), substance abuse, injustice, and more that may be found across the archive. Please practice discretion when engaging the archive and take space as you need it. In particular, please take care when introducing younger audiences to the material or audiences for whom this material may be triggering.
Reference the archive and narrators appropriately.
- Our narrators own the copyright to their oral histories. When citing this material, please attribute it appropriately as: "Oral History of [Narrator First Name and Last Name]" by Interviewer First and Last Name, Movements Against Mass Incarceration. Month, Day, Year of publication, URL (accessed date). And as a courtesy, please inform us of how you are making use of this archive by filling out this short 4-question online form. It is helpful to us and our narrators to know how the archive is being used.
48Interviews
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Danny Dandridge(Birmingham, AL, and Pensacola, FL)
Danny Dandridge reflects on growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, his incarceration shaped by mentorship and advocacy, and his later work in reentry support and community-based services for formerly incarcerated and unhoused individuals.
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Erica Bentley(Chicago, IL;Chicago, IL)Legislative reform and healing justice advocate
Erica Bentley narrates her experiences teaching yoga in prisons and organizing with abolitionist groups in Chicago.
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Linda Small(New York, NY)Advocate for incarcerated women and founder of Reentry Sisters
Linda Small shares her journey from jailhouse attorney to founder of Reentry Sisters, a community-led support network for formerly incarcerated women. She advocates for collective leadership and comprehensive reentry support.
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Renaldo Hudson(Chicago, IL)
Renaldo Hudson reflects on his incarceration on death row and his involvement in the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, clemency efforts, and initiatives such as Stateville Speaks and the Building Block Program.
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Nikki Davenport(Decatur, GA, New York, NY, and Pensacola, FL)
Nikki Davenport narrates her experiences with incarceration’s impact on her family and community, highlighting her advocacy and organizing to address mass incarceration in Alabama.
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Pamela Neely(New York, NY)
Pam Neely reflects on the mentorship that shaped her organizing, her advocacy around HALT Solitary, challenges of reentry, and the importance of collective care and community among formerly incarcerated women.
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Marketta Sims(Chicago, IL)
Marketta Sims reflects on her incarceration in Illinois, her development as an organizer while inside, and her continued advocacy for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women through reentry, expungement, and community-based support.
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Tiara Cooper(Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA)Criminal justice organizer and strategist
Tiara Cooper discusses her path from finding community support networks while incarcerated to her later organizing and advocacy work around bail reform, jail decarceration campaigns, and support for directly impacted individuals in Dallas.
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Ronald Marshall(Atlanta, GA)
Ronald Marshall reflects on growing up in New Orleans, his legal and political education while incarcerated at Angola, and his organizing through the Angola Special Civics Project and VOTE to advance policy reform and legal advocacy.
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Norris Henderson(Detroit, MI)
Norris Henderson discusses his incarceration at Angola, the founding of Voice of the Experienced after his release, and the organizing strategies and legal knowledge informing his criminal justice reform work.
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Joe Moreno(Chicago, IL)
Joe Moreno reflects on his involvement with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, his work as an alderman from the 1st ward in the Chicago City Council, and his work to secure the Chicago reparations for Burge Torture Victims Ordinance.
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Michelle Clopton(Chicago, IL)Police violence and wrongful conviction activist
Michelle Clopton reflects on her incarceration in Illinois, her organizing while inside programs and resources access, and her advocacy for collective action, healing, and support for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
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Darrell Cannon(Chicago, IL)Police torture activist and educational reform advocate
Darrell Cannon reflects on his incarceration, organizing against police torture, and leadership in abolitionist organizing and reparations advocacy.
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Adamu Chan(Oakland, CA;Oakland, CA)
Adamu Chan narrates his experiences with incarceration, pandemic-era organizing at San Quentin, and documentary filmmaking to amplify incarcerated voices and drive systemic change.
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Dana Talbot(Chicago, IL)
Dana Jo Talbot reflects on her involvement with the American Indian Movement, her experiences of incarceration, and her commitment to substance abuse recovery and Indigenous-centered advocacy.
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Ayana Thomas(New York, NY)Reentry advocate and grief counselor
Ayana Thomas reflects on her Brooklyn upbringing, incarceration at Danbury Federal Prison, and how grief, healing, and advocacy became central to her life’s purpose.
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Eddy Zheng(Oakland, CA)
Eddy Zheng reflects on immigrating from Guangzhou to Oakland, his incarceration, and his community organizing that led to his founding the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and the New Breath Foundation.
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Yolanda Johnson-Peterkin(New York, NY)
Yolanda Johnson-Peterkin reflects on her experiences of incarceration, political organizing, and leadership in advancing prison reform and housing justice in New York City.
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Rahsaan Thomas(Oakland, CA)
Rahsaan Thomas traces how self-education, legal advocacy, and media work inside San Quentin enabled him to transform his incarceration into a platform for storytelling, organizing, and policy change.
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Maria Moon(Chicago, IL)Filmmaker, poet, and community organizer
Maria Moon reflects on her experiences in Illinois women’s prisons and her organizing work, including advocacy for the Cook County Just Housing Amendment and working in a transitional living program.
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Keith Peterkin(New York, NY)Criminal justice reform organizer and education advocate
Keith Peterkin reflects on his incarceration, reentry work, and leadership in youth justice, emphasizing mentorship, shared responsibility, and grounding advocacy in lived experience.
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Tiffany Vulcain(New York, NY)
Tiffany Vulcain reflects on her incarceration and her work as a mentor and educator supporting women returning from prison through trauma-informed healing, leadership, and community care.
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Marilyn Mulero(Chicago, IL)
Marilyn Mulero reflects on her experience of wrongful conviction and being on death row to her organizing work on the outside concerned with providing reentry support to formerly incarcerated women.
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Heather Jo Canuel(Chicago, IL)Restorative justice advocate and founder of Art from the Heart
Heather “Jo” Canuel reflects on her advocacy while incarcerated and organizing for policy efforts such as the Expecting Justice Bill and the Pretrial Fairness Act, as well as her founding of the organization Art from the Heart.
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Denise Spencer(Chicago, IL)Community organizer, gospel singer and wrongful conviction advocate
Denise Spencer discusses her son’s wrongful incarceration and her organizing through MAMAS, outlining her advocacy for policy reform and continued support for incarcerated people and their families.
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Stanley Howard(Chicago, IL)Death Row survivor and advocate for death penalty abolition
Stanley Howard discusses his coerced confession that led to his wrongful conviction, his work in forming the Death Row Ten to organize against police torture, and his advocacy work on the outside.
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Madeline Mendoza(Chicago, IL)
Mendoza recounts her childhood in Humboldt Park, the networks she built while incarcerated in Illinois prisons, and her commitment to organizing work centered on supporting children, families, and communities affected by incarceration.
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Leah Faria(New York, NY)Community organizer and activist
Leah Faria reflects on her incarceration, personal growth, and advocacy for women and gender-expansive people, as well as building solidarity across racial divides in prison and her continued effort to center women’s voices in advocacy.
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Cassandra Severe(New York, NY)
Cass Severe discusses her experiences with incarceration, the mentors that shaped her organizing, and her founding of Meet Her at the Gate, a reentry program for formerly incarcerated women in Newark.
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William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn(Chicago, IL)
Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayers discuss their roles in the movement to end the juvenile death penalty and their broader commitment to prison abolition.
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Bill Ryan(La Grange, IL)
Bill Ryan discusses his path from veteran and social worker to leading Illinois's anti-death penalty movement, sharing his death row connections and advocacy work.
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Robin Turner(New York, NY)Educator, advocate, organizer, and humanitarian
Robin Turner reflects on her development as an educator and organizer, and her sustained work in housing justice and reentry support for formerly incarcerated women.
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Sharon White-Harrigan(New York, NY)
Sharon White-Harrigan reflects on her journey from incarceration to a commitment to education and community care. She shares how her advocacy for Black women and collective healing was shaped from her leadership roles while incarcerated.
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Waleisah Wilson-Menefee(Atlanta, GA)
Waleisah Wilson-Menefee discusses her journey from the foster care system incarceration to founding NewLife Second Chance Outreach and her advocacy for reentry support and criminal legal system reform.
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ayoola mitchell(New York, NY)
ayoola mitchell reflects on her work as a trauma-healing practitioner and mitigation specialist, her decades of engagement inside prisons, and her commitment to survivor-centered healing and justice.
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Lauren Hansen(New York, NY)
Lauren Hansen reflects on leading the Adams State University Prison Education Program and advocating for equity in higher education while centering system-impacted voices.
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Susan Burton(Los Angeles, CA)
Susan Burton reflects on her experiences with violence, addiction, incarceration, and long-term work building community-based alternatives to punishment.
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Charles Hoffman(Chicago, IL)
Charles Hoffman narrates his work as a lawyer and advocate in the movement to abolish the death penalty, recounting decades of legal defense, coalition organizing, and efforts to shift public understanding of capital punishment.
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Charlotte Garnes(New York, NY)Mentor and educator
Charlotte Garnes reflects on growing up in South Georgia, her passion for education, and her advocacy work. She discusses founding ReNForce to empower justice-impacted people through reentry, workforce development, and community.
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Regnarian Jenkins(Philadelphia, PA)
Regnarian Jenkins discusses his incarceration, reentry experiences in Philadelphia and New York City, and the development of his advocacy work focused on housing, employment, and support services for formerly incarcerated people.
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Calandra Cali Hulit(Chicago, IL)
Calandra “Cali” Hulit narrates her experiences in Cook County Jail and Illinois women’s prisons, focusing on organizing, mutual care, and advocacy during and after incarceration.
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Teresa Njoroge(New York, NY)Founder and CEO of Clean Start
Teresa Njoroge discusses her wrongful conviction and her founding of Clean Start Africa to advance reentry support, leadership development, and reforms led by system-impacted women.
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Linda Evans(Santa Rosa, CA)Abolition and queer rights activist
Linda Evans recounts her evolution from antiwar student activism into decades of organizing, incarceration, and advocacy for incarcerated women and abolitionist movements.
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Katrina Butler(New York, NY)Life coach, restorative justice facilitator, author, and entrepreneur
Katrina Butler narrates her experiences of incarceration, reentry, and community advocacy, emphasizing the role of faith, mentorship, and education in supporting resilience and personal growth.
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Chanel Rhymes(New York, NY)
Chanel Rhymes traces her journey from early experiences of criminalization to her development as an advocate, detailing the roles and organizing work that ultimately led to her leadership at the Northwest Community Bail Fund.
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Leroy Orange(Chicago, IL)
Leroy Orange reflects on surviving police torture and decades on Illinois’s death row, his role in the Death Row Ten and anti–death penalty organizing, and his post-release advocacy for Chicago police torture survivors.
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Alice Kim(Chicago, IL)Advocate for death penalty abolition and justice reform
Alice Kim reflects on her work with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty and organizing efforts against capital punishment in Illinois. She also discusses her political development and organizing against life without parole sentencing.
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Anisah Sabur(New York, NY)
Anisah Sabur reflects on her experiences of incarceration and her leadership in advancing legislation that supports directly impacted women, emphasizing healthcare access and women’s leadership in advocacy and reentry efforts.