I was a teenager when I met Earl Gale (Shakur) in Graterford prison, in Pennsylvania. He had already been in for nearly 15 years. He was the first person I met who was sentenced to remain in prison until death. Today, he has nearly 35 years in, and he's being reviewed for commutation, which is like a pardon for good behavior. I have thought about our conversations we had many times as I grew up. Words of wisdom that could only come from someone who has been through what he has been through. Being in prison since 1992, he has lost a lot many friends and loved ones. He could use our support, with a letter or email to the board of pardons in Harrisvurg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Gale's pardon # is C - 9543 and his application # is 55839.

The irreparable damage to a persons mind begins in the county jail as they await trial. The not-knowing what's about to happen to you becomes so overwhelming that it makes you beg the court to just sentence you...to anything...just get it over with. It takes years in prison to develop the patience to handle things like that. I have spent nearly two decades of my life in prison. That's half. My friend Aaron is my age, and he has been in prison since he was 15 years old. When he was sentenced as a child, he was told "life in prison without the posibility of parole." This past December the judge was forced to re-sentence him (because the U.S. Supreme court deemed it unconstitutional to sentence a child to prison for life with no chance of parole) he was given 50 years to life. The trauma we have endured has made us who we are today. Products of a so-called justice, raised by our flawed system designed to profit from our lives. Like some sick form of torture...forced to sit in a concrete cell to generat money for a few of our contries elite. Many of us are eventually cut loose and sent back into a world unfamiliar to us. Some of us will never see your world again, but through a few pictures. Take a journey with Aaron and I as we try to make sense of it all.

When I first got out of prison I turned to websites like YouTube, Quora, and Reddit to understand a lot of the new technology and changes made to the world. As I asked my own questions, I read many about prison life. While talking to my friend Jay, I thought of asking some of the questions posted, for him and I to answer. Jay has nearly a decade in prison and has been in since he was nineteen with a sentence of life without the posibility of parole. I had also begun another episode, with a few of the mothers I know of those incarcerated, to answer some of the questions asked by the mothers of those in prison. I shall post that in the near future. I hope this helps, and feel free to email me with any other questions. I know how hard it can be, but you're not alone.