Hello, my name is Jason W. McDonald (#1196192), and I am 42 years old. I have been incarcerated for 11 years now. I was sentenced to 26 years active imprisonment despite Virginia’s state guidelines calling for a range of only 5.5 to 12 years (these guidelines reflect the presentencing report done for everyone convicted of […]
Greetings to you all! My name is Derek Jamal Stephens. I was born and raised in a townhouse in Portsmouth, Virginia, the second oldest of five children. I come from a family led mostly by hard working women. The men in my family either worked in the shipyard or in construction, and I have an […]
Dear Reader, My name is Marlon Johnson, and I’m so much more than my conviction. I’m a father, a son, and I’m a brother. But in here, now, I’m just inmate 1066348, even as there is so much more to me than what the official court documents read. I started off my journey raised by […]
I am a member of society, just like anyone else. Only now I have become a victim of the institutional branding that stigmatizes human beings to be treated like animals, labeling us as unworthy of grace and mercy, seeding the thought that we are all undeserving of compassion. I am a loving father and uncle, […]
Stupid as can be, something I swore I would never do, but I went and did it anyway. A few robberies back to back because, well, I felt like I had no other options. A man is supposed to take care of his kid, and I had no other way I could see to do […]
I’ve never been perfect; not even close. Always a work in progress, that’s for sure. But I was finally getting ahead, success built on my sweat and tears after being out on my own in the world since I was old enough to get a job after being kicked out. Now, they stuck this label […]
“Sticks & Stones May Break Me, But Your Labels… Can Socially Kill Me!” As you read this, I sit in prison, convicted of first degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of use of a firearm, and one count of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle. I know that’s a lot to […]