Just released from prison after only two years of knowing that he qualified as a veteran, Patrick talks about his experience with gang affiliations, mental health, and motivations about getting out of prison.

A formerly incarcerated veteran, Al, talks about his experience in the Navy and how being a veteran has impacted his experience with the criminal justice system.

Leslie describes her experience supporting her brother while he was incarcerated. She speaks about the emotional struggle she endured, heightened by the fact that he was disabled. She not only details her reaction to his incarceration, but also the experiences she had following his incarceration, leading her to give thoughts on the mass incarceration system as a whole.

Ronald is a formerly incarcerated person who defended himself in prison, succesfully advocated for his own release, and now works as a nationally recognized activist for prison reform. The interview goes over Simpson-Bey’s experience as an incarcerated person, and as a leader within his prison family. In this, we hear stories of dehumanization, found family, and the barriers to education within the prison system. Simpson-Bey also describes life after prison and his vision for the future of incarceration through the decarceration movement. Simpson-Bey calls for an end to the systemic injustice of mass incarceration as it exists today.

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Corvain expressed his disdain towards the harsh sentencing of cannabis-offenders and the lack of rehabilitation efforts towards those released from prison. He spoke about the shock of coming home, reuniting with family and the frustration at the social handicap he faced. Corvain channelled these emotions into his initiative, the 40rty Ton Project, a brand with the aim of restoring justice and rebuilding communities

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Ayana talks about building a relationship with her father who was incarcerated for 17 years of her childhood and how family dynamics changed once he was released. She also discusses channeling these experiences into co-founding and leading an organization that supports young women affected by parental incarceration.

Kevin shares the story of his crime, incarceration, and reintigration process. When Boyd was 16, he gave his mother the keys to his abusive father’s residence. Although she had previously spoken about murdering Kevin’s father, her ex-husband, Kevin did not take her seriously. He wishes he had, because his mother murdered his father that night and framed him for the crime. After over 25 years of incarceration, Kevin was finally released when his case was re-tried with new laws and new evidence. He attributes his relative success reintegrating to his profession as a tradesman and his optimism. Boyd calls us to attend more to law and less to politics when it comes to performing and assessing legal proceedings. Otherwise, he says, “we play chess matches with people’s lives and we don’t think there’s consequences to that.”

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The interviewee shares his experiences with the abuse and trauma that he faced as a juvenile serving a cumulative 13 year sentence in New York State prison. Now, he is a community organizer who helps in the re-entry process for others who have recently been released from prison.

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Lori Strong details her experience working as part of Parenting with Purpose and helping incarcerated parents and their families build stronger relationships and with various aspects of life after incarceration.

Lisa was sentenced to life in prison at age 17 and spent over 30 years in prison before getting out 4 months ago at age 51. She discusses her relationship with her parents, the relationships she formed in prison, and the way the system treated her as a child. She also discusses the transition out of prison.

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