January/February 2025 by Chicago Torture Justice Center

‘You can rage on stage, you can pour your heart out, you can walk in someone else’s shoes’

Searching for Justice—featuring four formerly incarcerated actors—sells out its first major performance at Steppenwolf. by Dilpreet Raju

Can art deliver more than just catharsis for its performers and audience members? Could a play spur meaningful change toward state policy? Two nonprofits, Mud Theatre Project and Restore Justice, teamed up—and sold out Steppenwolf Theatre on Thursday, January 16—to ask those questions by marrying a stage performance with advocacy for a clearly defined cause and community.

Searching for Justice explores warring ideologies about the American prison system adopted by a journalist who is also a professor, an Illinois state politician, and a conservative law professor; the trio is loosely connected from childhood in Chicago.

Mud Theatre Project was born out of a prison theater group organized by Mud executive director Brian Beals while he was serving 35 years for a crime he did not commit. The group last held a stage performance in 2023, within Dixon Correctional Center.

“I guarantee you there has never been a play at Steppenwolf with this many formerly incarcerated, or currently incarcerated, persons before,” Beals said.

Searching for Justice was the ensemble’s first major production outside prison walls for a large audience (the Ensemble theater seats 400 people all around a center stage). The performance was followed by a short discussion between members of both nonprofits.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for us to be completely healed, if ever,” Beals said during the discussion. While he is not in the play, Beals was always within earshot of rehearsal and was instrumental in its creation as a member of both nonprofits.

The play features self-referential story beats and lines, including direct mentions of Restore Justice and indirectly using some of the actors’ own histories.

In recent years, Restore Justice lobbied Illinois lawmakers to abolish life without parole for youth and grant more opportunities to younger people in prison for parole—which Illinois originally eliminated in 1978—though the ability to get a chance at parole is not available to those who had been sentenced before 2019.

That’s why Searching for Justice focuses on retroactive sentencing reforms. A bill in the previous Illinois congressional session would have extended the possibility of parole for people convicted from 1978 through 2019, but it stalled shortly after introduction.

The cast of Searching for Justice from left to right: King Moosa, Darius “DF” Franklin, Darrion Benson, Tekamia “Queen” Cannon, Toussaint Daniels. Photo by Tone Stockenstrom.

This article was originally published in the Chicago Reader on January 23, 2025.

“I guarantee you there has never been a play at Steppenwolf with this many formerly incarcerated, or currently incarcerated, persons before,” Beals said.

The play features self-referential story beats and lines, including direct mentions of Restore Justice and indirectly using some of the actors’ own histories.

After a rehearsal less than a week before the one-night show, King Moosa, a multihyphenate who plays Amiri Clark—a journalist and professor—told me he’s always remembered a tough-on-crime narrative from politicians and public spheres. “Politicians, and the propaganda they ran on, got people to rally around these conversations about public safety,” he said, referencing the federal 1994 crime bill. “None of these [hard on crime] tactics have worked.”

Moosa, who was barely a teenager when he was prosecuted as an adult, said some crimes don’t happen out of hate or malice, but circumstance and desperation.

“People are hurting from a harm that’s being done, and then we harm other people,” he said. “I was 14 when I caught my case, I wasn’t a fucking murderer. I wasn’t somebody who hated people. My environment provided a situation where I needed money, and I tried to get money, and someone ended up losing their life.”

Darrion Benson and D.F. play a politician and a conservative professor, respectively. Benson, who is technically still imprisoned but out on a work release program, was sentenced to two decades inside Illinois prisons as a 17-year-old.

Benson’s sister, Queen Cannon, plays a student with a brother serving a life sentence.

“This was my reality for so long, just with my brother being in prison,” Cannon said. “It is very personal.”

Benson had to report back to his work release program by a 10 PM curfew the night of the show.

Toussaint, who prefers to go by his first name, completed work release a month prior to performing in Searching for Justice as a university janitor and is officially no longer incarcerated. He said the January performance was the first time he got to swear on stage. Toussaint also served as lead writer, though the play was written as a collaboration.

“I remember watching Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited, and watching Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson kind of go at it,” he said, “I could never imagine, in that moment, to actually be a part of a theater community.”

Brooke Bennett, a professional actress who has been on TheChi and ChicagoFire, served as an acting coach for the production.

Left: Mud Theatre actors King Moosa, DF, and Darrion Benson; Right: Brian Beals, Executive Director of Mud Theatre. Photos by Photo by Tone Stockenstrom.

Darrion Benson portrays Michael Blackstone in the Searching for Justice. PhotobyToneStockenstrom.

“I was so impressed with where they were already, without any formal training,” Bennett said. “It’s so personal for everyone.”

One performance attendee, Brenda McClain, said the play reminded her of systemic problems she learned about years ago but also reassured her of people’s capacity to care about one another.

“It’s still a sad situation, but it’s good to see people still care about the youth,” she said. “I can see this group is trying to get that type of support [to Chicago youth].”

Coincidentally, one day after Mud Theatre Project’s performance, the film Sing Sing, a drama centered around men in a New York prison performing arts program, was shown in more than 1,000 prisons nationwide.

For Beals, who is now more than one year removed from being exonerated and freed from prison, theater just makes sense regardless of who you are.

“You can rage on stage, you can pour your heart out, you can walk in someone else’s shoes,” he said.

LOVE-A-THON 2024

The 2024 Love-a-thon raised nearly 29,000! While we didn't reach our goal of $50,000 we are always grateful for all the ways people show up and support our work. As a gift to our donors, we created a postcard set featuring work from ten incarcerated artists and poets in our community: Marvin "Prince Saleem" Alexis, Dennis Morland, Michael Carter, Darrion Benson, Raymond Galloway, Tarius Washington, Eric Tessner, Nickolas Haselrig, Carnell Jackson, and Terrance Williamson.

6337 S. WOODLAWN

Left: Wendell Robinson, Executive Director of Restore Justice, speaks to the audience in the sold out theater; Right: Wendell Robinson with the actors and Mud Theatre members after the show. Photos by Tone Stockenstrom.

The Searching for Justice program. Photo by Tone Stockenstrom.

Chicago Torture Justice Center’s

Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated. In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the immense violence of the prison system, we want to do what we can to connect people with radical books and opportunities for political education.

By filling out this form you are signing up your loved one to receive free radical books published by Haymarket Books.

We will try to send out the requested book within a month of receiving the completed form. Please feel free to email info@haymarketbooks.org with any questions or concerns and include "Books Not Bars" in the subject line.

Solidarity with all oppressed people and free them all!

REQUEST A BOOK:

MA IT’S A HARD LIFE

I know you ain’t materialist / but I’m realistic

Momma you deserve the world / and everything that’s in it

Everything you sacrificed / How could I say you didn’t I remember fighting life / You showed up every visit

Way too young to understand / I wish I woulda listened

I was forced to a MAN / I guess that came with prison

Seen the tears fall down your face / I’m like get out your feelings

I was only tryna be your rock but deep inside it killed me

We done been through ups and downs / But we hold it down

Sorry that I opened up that door when we lived in the town

Sorry that I left you all alone wasn’t no one else around

Sorry that that n**** did you wrong wish I can put em down

Word is bond / Unless you say / I need you here to stay

Your word is the breath / So if it’s yes / Den momma Imma stay

I’m grateful and I’m thankful that we here can’t see no other way

Momma I just wann let you know that you my shining star

The love I got for you I sound like Buzz infinity and beyond

Yea I know it’s corny but it’s true, I mean it from the heart

Ain’t no love like momma’s love can’t nothing tear this love apart

You can count on me until the day that God want us part

You rode with me when I was wrong in public bu tcheck me in the dark

Stood with me until end and never left me from the start

I don’t think y’all know what loyal is until you met my moms!

Streetbaby Greedy Jose Saucedo and Ned James aka King James

House Bill 5219

House Bill 5219 would eliminate mandatory minimums, also known as truth-in-sentencing, which prevents you from getting sentence credits.

With it, excluding natural life sentences, folks who are currently required to do 75-100% of their time would now be eligible for 50%.

Policy experts estimate this bill would get 5,700 people imprisoned in Illinois free. And not only that, but it would save taxpayers $1,029,709,774 in just three years.

What would HB 5219 do for you?

• You would earn one day of credit for each day served in prison, except those sentenced to natural life.

• Everyone’s sentence would be recalculated according to the new law.

• Those with a natural life sentence would be eligible to get credit if your sentence is reduced to less than natural life.

• You would be eligible for discretionary earned sentence credits of 180-365 days depending on the length of your sentence.

• More people would be eligible to get sentence credit for completing programs or reentry planning provided by DOC.

Where is HB 5219 now?

The state legislature is really confusing, and differs from how bills get passed on the federal level. Here’s how bills like this get passed:

1. A legislator introduces it.

2. The bill is reviewed by committees in the state House and Senate.

3. It gets passed by a majority of votes in both the state House and Senate.

4. The governor signs it.

5. In the event the governor vetoes it, the House and Senate can try to override a veto with another vote.

HB5219 was introduced by Rep. Barbara Hernandez on February 9th, 2024—step one. Reps Kevin John Olickal and Lilian Jiménez have since signed on as co-sponsors. Now the bill has gotten sent back to the Rules Committee to be reviewed. This is an important step in the process, because a lot of bills get killed in committee. Despite misinformation circulating, HB5219 HAS NOT PASSED OR GONE INTO EFFECT, and won’t without serious pressure.

Get Organized

So, if you like the sound of HB 5219 and want to get it passed, we have to build a strong coalition and put pressure on legislators. They can’t silence our voices with prison walls. Nor can they keep fooling us with bullshit legislation that promises more money for prisons that get bigger, but seem to never get better. We have to fight for laws that actually get people free.

So, what do we need to do it?

Tell your family about this bill so we can start to organize a real coalition of people across the state. If even five people on each tier of one division got a couple of their loved ones involved, we’d have the start of an incredibly strong coalition.

Here’s a sample phone script you can use with your loved ones:

Hey [Name], I just got some information about a new bill in Illinois, called HB5219, that would give me a chance at day-for-day credit. Right now they’re trying to kill the bill. Could you start calling these state reps in support of the bill? Tell them you have a loved one locked up in Illinois, and are in full support of giving incarcerated people a chance at life by passing HB5219.

-Rep. Robyn Gabel (217) 782-8052

-Rep. Norine Hammond (217) 782-0416

-Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (217) 782-3186

When enough of us speak up they have to listen.

-Rep. Natalie A. Manley (217) 782-3316

-Rep. Ryan Spain (217) 782-3316

Taken from the Jail Solidarity Network’s zine about House Bill 5219

Long-Term Offender Transitional Program

The Long-Term Offender Program at Danville Correctional Center is a peer-led program. The idea for the program came from an individual who transitioned from a maximum security institution to Danville. It is a culture shock for those who have spent decades in a maximum security institution to then be transferred into an institution like Danville. Danville and institutions like it were envisioned for those serving a sentence of 2-7 years. The hope for the program is that younger prisoners will pick up on some of the pearls of wisdom the older prisoners can provide. The group facilitates peer-led group and one-on-one conversations that are indispensable to the betterment of the individual.

The curriculum has expanded throughout the year since its inception. It currently covers topics like: the Importance of Change, Critical Thinking, Effective Communication, Healthy Relationships, Civics, Trauma Informed Care, Life Plans, and What Does Success Look Like to You.

Fathers’ Rights for those Incarcerated

by Carl Williams

Fathers who are incarcerated often face unique and challenging obstacles in maintaining their parental rights and relationships with their children. Despite the physical separation, their role as a father remains vital for the emotional well-

being and stability of their children. Advocacy and awareness about these rights are essential to fostering family connections and reducing the cycle of generational incarceration.

Understanding Parental Rights

Incarceration does not automatically terminate a father’s parental rights. However, prolonged separation and lack of communication with children can lead to legal challenges, including termination of parental rights in certain cases. States have varying laws regarding parental rights, and it is critical for incarcerated fathers to understand their rights and responsibilities.

Maintaining Relationships with Children

Programs Supporting Incarcerated Fathers

Several programs and initiatives are designed to support incarcerated fathers in maintaining their parental roles. These programs often include:

Parenting Classes: Providing tools and skills to strengthen fatherhood, even from behind bars.

Family Reunification Programs: Facilitating communication and providing resources to reconnect fathers with their families.

Legal Assistance: Offering guidance on child custody, child support, and maintaining parental rights.

Advocacy and Policy Changes

Advocacy groups are working to reform policies that disproportionately affect incarcerated fathers and their families. Key efforts include:

Extended Visitation Policies: Advocating for more frequent and meaningful visitation opportunities. Support for Reentry: Providing resources to fathers upon release to help them rebuild relationships and meet their parental responsibilities.

Alternatives to Incarceration: Promoting programs that keep non-violent offenders engaged in their communities while addressing rehabilitation needs.

The Role of Community Support

Communities play a vital role in supporting incarcerated fathers. Family members, social workers, and community organizations can:

Facilitate communication and visitation. Provide emotional support to children. Advocate for fair treatment and access to resources for incarcerated parents.

Conclusion

Incarcerated fathers face significant barriers, but their rights and roles as parents remain essential to the well-being of their children. By understanding and advocating for these rights, we can help preserve family bonds and support successful reentry into society. Together, we can break the cycle of separation and create a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive with the love and guidance of their parents.

Getty Images

An Interview with Mr. Clarence Trotter

by Abdul-Malik Muhammad and Sherron Dillon

Note: This interview with Mr. Clarence Trotter is from February 2024. It is with heavy hearts that we share that Mr. Trotter died inside Stateville Correctional Center in the summer of 2024. Stateville Correctional Center has also since closed since this interview. We thank Abdul-Malik Muhammad and Sherron Dillon for capturing some of Mr. Trotter's last words and sentiments.

We share this interview in honor and legacy of Mr. Trotter. No one should be made to die in prison.

Aging prisoners throughout Stateville Correctional Center are dying, suffering from a list of deplorable conditions that include rodent-infested food, water insecurity, and inadequate healthcare service, where many medical issues have gone untreated. Many of these medical issues have led to a countless number of prisoners dying during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, 41% of deaths in Illinois prisons were due to COVID.

Mr. Clarence Trotter sits in a wheelchair withering away, dying from stage four cancer in one of Illinois’ most notorious state prisons, Stateville Correction Center. As Abdul-Malik Muhammad and Mr. Sherron Dillon approach him, he clutches the Holy Quran to his chest. His state prison blues are draping off his body, his eyes are wide open, and his mouth is moving. “How are you doing, Mr. Trotter?” Malik asks. “Trying not to think about dying in prison, and asking Allah for his mercy”.

Mr. Clarence Trotter prays that he gets relief under the Joe Coleman Act. The Joe Coleman Act was intended to reduce state sanctioned violence, in which it has failed Mr. Trotter.

The Joe Coleman Medical Release Act, also known as House Bill 3665, was signed into legislation on Friday, August 20, 2021. The act was designed to create a pathway for compassionate release of medically incapacitated individuals in custody. Governor J.B. Pritzker said, “By signing the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act into law, it’s my intention to honor Joe Coleman’s legacy as a father, veteran, and man who spent his days raising funds for charity from behind bars”.

However, this is a far cry from the truth. Countless prisoners who request medical relief are being denied over and over again, partly because their fate lies in the hands of the Prison Review Board (PRB), which operates secretly deliberating behind closed doors, refusing to offer an explanation as to why someone is denied medical release under the Joe Coleman Act.

It’s difficult to comprehend why Mr. Clarence Trotter is being forced to die inside a prison cell with stage four cancer, being that he doesn’t pose a threat to the public. Mr. Trotter should be at home with his grandchildren.

The staggering cost for caring for ailing prisoners is jawdropping and head-scratching. In January 2024, IDOC renewed a $4 billion 5-year contract with Wexford Health Sources. Yet, the sad reality is that many of the ailing prisoners are cared for by untrained wheelchair pushers, a job assignment recently created.

Mr. Trotter has spent nearly four decades in prison, and the only thing he says he is guilty for is “being born Black in a country that thrives on systemic racism”.

Recently, Mr. Muhammad and Mr. Dillon had a chance to sit down with Mr. Trotter to ask him a few questions.

How are you? How’s everything with your health?

Mr. Trotter: I’m dying, I’m getting right with Allah, and I’m trying to make peace with those that I have harmed before I go.

Why are you in prison?

Mr. Trotter: In 1986, Betty Howard was killed. Area 2 police detectives arrested two teenage boys for it, beating them both until they confessed. The two people who actually raped and murdered Ms. Betty Howard walked free without being charged. I was named in a statement by someone who was tortured for days because I bought property stolen from the victim. I didn’t know she had been killed at the time. Then Area 2 detectives arrested me on 70th and Chapel at my home.

What happened once you got arrested?

Mr. Trotter: Detectives took me to Area 2 police station. I already knew what time it was when they sat me down in the interrogation room and put my hands under the chair, handcuffing me awkwardly underneath the chair. They questioned me for three days in that position while beating me. I tried to request a lawyer, but the police wouldn’t listen. So I provided them with statement after statement trying to get them to stop beating me. The police punched me in the face, legs, body, hit me with a phonebook, and spit on me.

What happened next?

Mr. Trotter: After spending three days being tortured at the police station, I was charged. They put together a story line from all the torture sessions.

What judge did you go in front of?

Mr. Trotter: The honorable Kenneth Gills.

Getty Images

What happened to the teens?

Mr. Trotter: We all received separate trials. I told detectives that the two boys who were charged prior to me getting arrested didn’t have anything to do with the crime. They thought I was lying. They beat me to say the two boys were involved, but the honest to God truth, they didn’t have anything to do with it.

Why are you in prison?

Mr. Trotter: No one!

Tears begin to trickle down Mr. Trotter’s face.

Is there anything you wish to say to the Howard family?

Mr. Trotter: I’m sorry for any role I played in your loved one’s case, and I hope that my death provides your family with some closure.

Is there anything you wish to say to the others involved in the case?

Mr. Trotter: I’m sorry for the pain that this case has caused you.

What made you want to do this story?

Mr. Trotter: I wanted to make peace with those I have hurt on earth, and I hope it isn’t too late to say I’m sorry

Is there anything else you wish to share?

Mr. Trotter: I was charged for a cold case since I’ve been in prison, and I hope that my death provides the family with some closure too. I hope that the detectives who tortured me would have listened to me the first time when I told them that the two teens had nothing to do with the crime. I hope that with my dying decree, the PRB changes these policies on how they deny people. Although I’m not a moral saint, I don’t believe anyone deserves to die in prison.

Sources Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority https://boltsmag.org/illinois-prison-health-care-wexford/

The Toussaint Daniels Emerging Writers Award

The Chicago Torture Justice Center is partnering with The Mud Theatre Project to present the inaugural Toussaint Daniels Emerging Writers Award.

The Toussaint Daniels Emerging Writers Award seeks to uplift incarcerated writers inside IDOC, and share their work with a broader audience. Toussaint Daniels is an award-winning playwright and poet, and founding member of The Mud Theatre Project. Throughout his incarceration, Toussaint used writing as a form of expression and means of healing. The Emerging Writers Award aims to support and encourage emerging artists to continue growing in their craft.

The 2025 Emerging Writers Award will focus on poetry.

The top 3 selected writers will each receive a prize of $200.

The top 10 selected works will be read aloud by Mud Theatre performers at the Resilience Arts Festival in the fall of 2025.

Submission requirements:

Writing submission must be poetry

Each individual may only submit one piece of work

At this time, submissions will be limited to those inside IDOC

Send submissions to: Mud Theatre Project 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave Chicago, IL 60637

Submit by August 1st, 2025.

Toussaint Daniels