Stories
Prison is designed to disconnect people from the rest of society. As we listen to their stories, we begin to heal those connections.
Here you will encounter challenging and sometimes difficult language and ideas: Please take care as you explore. We share it all in the spirit of broadening our collective understanding and envisioning a different future.
Lost and Found by Raymond L. Carr Jr.
My name Is Raymond L. Carr Jr., and I am an author of several books. It is my hope that we may start a working relationship. Let me start by sharing a little about myself. At one point in my life, I was a totally different person. I had been traumatized many times...
Living or Just Alive by James Liptrot
My name is James B. Liptrot, Prison number 144170 Dreams are real...
So Long by Edward T. Walton
I’ve been incarcerated for so long. I spent three years in the juvenile system and was sentenced to two natural life sentences, eight months after my release from juvenile. At 36 years of age, I’ve spent about 21 years of my life incarcerated. However, that’s not...
Three Poems by Paul Carter
Thoughts From A Man Sentenced As A Boy To Die In Prison 26 Years Later Covid in prison is a death sentence religion makes no difference nor does repentance they simply don’t care The masks we wear are cloth and made by prison factory workers which have been proved...
Senseless Crime (Drinking and Driving) by Russell Dunham
I was born June 6, 1976, with both parents having drug and alcohol problems. I never really got a chance to know both of my parents, being that I got tossed around. My mother lost me to my father, and my father gave me to his parents to either raise or give me to...
Before Prison by August M. Williams
My name is August M. Williams, and I’m giving you, the reader, brief insight on me as a young person. I was born in a middle class homestead, and was blessed enough to experience more joyful moments than sad ones. Both of my parents were in the house until I was...
The Miraculous Season of Christmas by Dennis Vertin
In my hierarchy of favorite holidays, there is not even a close second. My all-time favorite holiday, more favorite than all the other holidays put together with a birthday thrown in on top, is Christmas. I am a true fan of the season. I love shopping for gifts. I...
An Honest Conversation by Torrance Graham
It has been 6,417 days since I have looked into a refrigerator. Allow me to save you the trouble of having to figure out how many years 6,417 days is. It’s 17 years and seven months. I know looking into a refrigerator is something most people do not think about,...
Inside Prison by A’more D. Bass Bey
Hello, Can I tell you about my prison experience while serving a life sentence? There is a lot that people do not understand about those doing time. I have done a lot of time while fighting hard for well deserved freedom. I have changed so much while doing time. I...
Proud of the Man I’ve Become by Brandon Marsh
Eighteen years ago, I was sentenced to 32 years in prison for a crime committed at the age of 15. It has been a long, difficult road at times, but I haven't allowed the circumstances of my life to defeat me. I may not have gotten everything right, but I can say...
What is Forty-Five Years of Your Life Worth? by Michael Edgerton
Every day I wake up with a sore and aching back. Bones that feel every bit of eighty years old, and I wonder, how in the world did the Michigan Department of Corrections figure out how to make a mattress made of lava rocks? After 25 years of sleeping on these beds...
Painting A Picture of Regret by Darrell Sharpe
First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the picture I am about to share with you because of what it has done to me, and what it will likely do to you. I searched through my stack of pictures carefully to find one that would vividly illustrate to you the...