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.

By Women, Family

Before Prison by Shameka Layton

 The household I grew up in consisted of myself, and six siblings. Since we lived in a two bedroom house, all the children shared one room, with the boys in one bed and the girls in another. Religion was optional so I chose to attend Catholic Services with my...

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Creativity

You Live and You Learn by Joei Alexander Jordan

Greetings, My name is Joei Alexander Jordan, but many people know me by my stage name, "Joei Average." I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 16, 1993. My mother struggled with drug abuse until I was 11, and my biological father was incarcerated for the majority...

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Change / Growth, Solutions

Harsh Reality by Keith Rappuhn

My name is Keith Rappuhn, and I have spent the last 48 years in a Michigan prison on a sentence of Life Without Parole for beating and stabbing a friend to death after a night of drinking and an argument. That was in 1973, when I was 22 years old. Shortly after...

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Change / Growth

My Rebuild by Jeff Hoaglin

Aggravated, Outraged, Bitter, Empty and Angry. Why? That was the 21-year-old me just sentenced to 25 to 50 years. Heartbroken for what I allowed myself to do. I could only be mad at myself and no one else. I was my own worst enemy. I disappointed my family,...

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Family, Memories

Only In America by Mark Anthony McCloud El

I grew up on the northwest side of Detroit, where, although I lived with my mom, dad, two sisters, and niece, I came from a pretty large family of 12. Six boys and six girls. I believe that my upbringing was typical. My parents preached education first and...

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Life in Prison

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...

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