Time for Advocacy

Why I’m Asking

I served 26 years in federal prison. I learned from leaders—Frederick Douglass, Nelson Mandela, Socrates, Viktor Frankl—and from thousands of people inside. What carried me was a simple idea: document your work and make your progress easy to verify. That’s why I’m asking you to build a Profile on PrisonProfessors.org. I want to help more people earn higher levels of liberty sooner, and I need your help to do it at scale.

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The Advocacy Goal

I’m advocating for more work-release, more home-confinement placements, and more merit-based pathways. To persuade agency leaders and employers, I have to show them a body of work: people inside who avoid disciplinary problems, learn, serve, and prepare. 

Your Profile is the evidence. When we can point to thousands of biographies, journals, book reports, release plans, and testimonials—visible on our dashboard—it’s harder for decision-makers to ignore the people who are ready for more liberty.

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What the Data Suggests

We already know the system can manage people safely outside a fence. During COVID, the Bureau of Prisons sent more than 15,000 people to home confinement—some with years remaining. Recidivism from that group was fewer than 20 people, not 20 percent. Meanwhile, traditional recidivism in federal prison remains high. 

The lesson is straightforward: when people are prepared and supported, outcomes improve. Your Profile helps us show who is prepared.

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What I’m Asking of You

I’ll keep doing my part—meeting with leaders, speaking publicly, writing, and pressing for change. I’m asking you to do your part by publishing a record that shows who you are, what you’ve learned, and how you’re preparing. Don’t let a prosecutor’s press release define your life. Write the truth, then live it—memorialize your journey in writing, with dates.

How to Build Your Profile

You don’t need to pay a “prison consultant” to build a Profile or a plan. Most of what’s sold in that space is recycled material at a high price. Their experience is thin, with no broader expertise, no historical context, and no real track record of helping others. Everything on PrisonProfessors.org is free. 

Use your Profile to memorialize your progress. Keep it current and plain.

• Biography — Tell your story beyond the conviction and the direction you’re building toward; explain what you’ve learned and what will be different.
• Journals — Post dated entries that show steady work—what you did this week to prepare (study, service, programming, discipline).
• Book Reports — For each title, say why you chose it, what you learned, and how the lesson helps you succeed after release.
• Release Plan — Outline near-term steps for housing, lawful work, education, transportation, and restitution—a plan someone can follow.
• Testimonials — Add short statements from people who have watched your present conduct and can speak to your reliability.

A family member can serve as a Profile partner to post updates while you focus on the work.

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Why This Helps You Now

Profiles aren’t only for advocacy meetings. They help at every stage: pre-sentence, custody, halfway house, supervised release, and job interviews. When someone asks, “Why should I trust you?” you hand them a record instead of a promise. 

I did this through my term and brought that file with me to the halfway house. It led to more liberty than anyone expected and gave me room to build a career and businesses, and expedited my early termination from supervised release.

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Key Takeaways

• A Profile turns private effort into public proof.
• Visible proof helps open work-release, home confinement, and merit-based pathways.
  
  
• COVID home confinement showed extremely low recidivism; documented preparation matters.
• Use Biography, Journals, Book Reports, Release Plan, and Testimonials—dated and plain.
• Don’t buy what you can build yourself; use free tools and publish your work.

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Self-Directed Exercise

• Your statement: Write a 10–12 sentence biography that owns what happened, states what you’ve learned, and names three specific changes you’re making now. Post it to your Profile.
  
  
• This week’s work: Publish one dated journal entry and one short book report (why you chose the book, what you learned, how you’ll use it).
  
  

Your plan: Add a one-page release plan with concrete steps for housing, work, and education over the next 90 days.