Prison chaplains – Brown University, Mass Incarceration Lab

Muhammad A. Salahuddin oral history interview, 2021 April 22

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Muhammad A. Salahuddin oral history interview, 2021 April 22

Chaplain Muhammad decided to follow the steps of others in his family by becoming a chaplain of correctional facilities to pursue a mission of helping and bringing hope to those who are less fortunate than him. In this interview, he discusses how fulfilling this purpose is sometimes challenging partially because of the inhumane conditions and mistreatment in the prison system. He also talks about the importance of the spiritual support that chaplains like him offer to people in prisons.

TITLE

Muhammad A. Salahuddin oral history interview, 2021 April 22

DATE

April 22, 2021

CATEGORY

Uncategorized

TAGS

African Americans, Black Americans, Cruelty, Faith, Islam, Law enforcement, Lay ministry, Legal, Mistreatment, Muslims, ORAL HISTORY, Prison chaplains, Racism, Religion, Sex offenders Staff, Spirituality, Stereotypes (Social psychology), Volunteerism

CREATOR

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University

LANGUAGE

English

RIGHTS

In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted

TYPE

moving image

Transcript

2021-04-22_Muhammad Download

Abdus Sami Encarnación oral history interview, 2021 April 18

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Abdus Sami Encarnación oral history interview, 2021 April 18

In this interview, Imam Encarnación narrates his experiences of serving as a chaplain of maximum and medium-security correctional facilities for twelve years. In his work in the prisons, he witnessed continuous violence against incarcerated people, from verbal abuse to rampant negligence to physical torture. He is highly critical of the structural conditions that bring people to prisons and subject them to “brutality,” in his words, once they are there. “The system is built to destroy Black and Brown men,” he concludes. As a warning, this interview contains detailed descriptions of physical violence, verbal abuse, overt racism, and torture that may be disturbing to some.

TITLE

Abdus Sami Encarnación oral history interview, 2021 April 18

DATE

April 18, 2021

CATEGORY

Uncategorized

CREATOR

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University

LANGUAGE

English

RIGHTS

In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted

TYPE

moving image

Transcript

2021-04-18_Abdus Download

Daniel Coate oral history interview, 2021 April 12

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Daniel Coate oral history interview, 2021 April 12

Chaplain Coate’s first contact with incarcerated people happened when he was in college and started writing letters to people in prisons. He continued developing meaningful bonds with incarcerated people as a volunteer vising correctional facilities every week for over six years. Finding his purpose in serving incarcerated people as a faith-based leader, he decided to leave the Ph.D. program he attended and become a chaplain of correctional facilities. In this journey, he has encountered many challenges but has remained inspired by his service’s contribution to the lives of people he has reached. In this interview, he discusses how his position allows him to see many angles of prisons’ apparatus. These angles include the slow bureaucracy involved in implementing educational programs for incarcerated people, the “wall of silence” among staff to cover their abuses and wrongdoings, and the overrepresentation of African Americans in the carceral population of Wisconsin. Chaplain Coate also reflects on the stigma against incarcerated people that he sees in his Muslim communities in Wisconsin and the conversations that he has with fellow Muslims to dismantle these stereotypes.

TITLE

Daniel Coate oral history interview, 2021 April 12

DATE

April 12, 2021

CATEGORY

Uncategorized

CREATOR

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University

LANGUAGE

English

RIGHTS

In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted

TYPE

moving image

Transcript

2021-04-12_Daniel Download

Suni-Ali Islam oral history interview, 2021 April 10

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Suni-Ali Islam oral history interview, 2021 April 10

In this interview, Imam Islam reflects on his mission as a chaplain of correctional facilities and the lessons that he shares with the communities and incarcerated people he has worked with throughout his many decades of faith-based service. He offers his thoughts on policing, racism, criminality, morality, politics, and Black social movements, among other topics. He talks about his first personal contact with prisons when, as a young man, he was shot by the police and incarcerated in New York City soon after returning from his military service in the Vietnam War. He also discusses the regrets he feels from having dealt drugs in his community. At the time of the interview, he works on a memoir narrating his life history and the stories of African Americans who convert to Islam while incarcerated.

TITLE

Suni-Ali Islam oral history interview, 2021 April 10

DATE

April 10, 2021

CATEGORY

Uncategorized

TAGS

African Americans, Drug dealers Criminality, Faith, Islam, Law enforcement, Lay ministry, Masculinity, Muslims, ORAL HISTORY, Prison chaplains, Punishment, Racism, Spirituality, Vietnam War (1961-1975), Volunteerism

CREATOR

Mass Incarceration Lab @ CSREA Brown University

LANGUAGE

English

RIGHTS

In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted

TYPE

moving image

Transcript

2021-04-10_Suni-Ali Download