OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024
October
10th: World Day Against the Death Penalty
October 10: World Day Against the Death Penalty Through the Eyes of a Death Row Survivor
By Stanley Howard
My name is Stanley Howard. I am a Chicago police torture survivor who spent 39 years of incarceration in Illinois - 16 years of which on death row for crimes I did not commit before being pardoned in January 2003.
Stanley Howard sitting at his desk at the Uptown People's Law Office
In 1998, while I was still facing the executioner, Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mose Harrison II wrote:
"My colleagues turn aside [a condemned man's] constitutional challenge with the observation that the American criminal justice system is one of the best in the world. The sentiment has a pleasant and reassuring tone, but it overlooks an important fact... the U.S. is now the only well-established democracy that has not abolished the death penalty expressly or in practice... Innocent people are being sentenced to death Examples of innocent people who were arrested, tried and convicted of capital offenses are numerous and well documented the only conclusion I can draw is that the system does not work as the constitution requires it to. If [the innocent] dodged the executioner, it was only because of luck."
We know that the death penalty is racist, punishes the poor, condemns the innocent to die, is cruel and unusual punishment, and does not deter violent crime. There is absolutely no difference between the lynching of yester-year and today's modern day form of lynching
As a matter of fact, there's no real difference between the lynch-mob of yester-year and the lynch-mob that lynched Marcellus Williams in Missouri despite evidence of innocent, objections from the prosecutors and the victim's family.
We must continue the fight to finally KILL THE DEATH PENALTY.
Stanley Howard sitting at his desk at the Uptown People's Law Office
Stanley Howard (he/him) is a survivor of police torture who spent 39 years in Illinois prison, including 16 on Death Row. He currently works as a paralegal with the Uptown People’s Law Center He has worked as a jailhouse lawyer, organizer, and social justice advocate for over 30 years He is an accomplished author who has written about his experience both in a solo performance piece and in his book, Tortured by Blue
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. (Image: Courtesy of Marcellus Williams’ legal team)
The grief altar at the Chicago Torture Justice Center.
Lynching Me
By Stanley Howard
America, why do you hate me so... it can't be because I’m black and po... I'm your mother's son from many centuries ago. America, why are you intent on lynching me could it be because you actually envy me.
America, you can't rid your social ills by hangin me... your troubles existed long before the coming of me
America, these legal lynchings must stop...
I'm tired of being on Death Row watching the clock. I'm like the Statute of Liberty standing tall for all to see... now imagine me and her hangin from a tree.
Re-entry dinners are back!
It's been a while since we've hosted a reentry dinner, but we finally had the opportunity to bring our system-impacted community together again for a lovely dinner These dinners are a way for people to gather together and enjoy each other's company. Our holistic reentry program welcomes home all those reentering back into society. Through our individualized and relational approach, we aim to work with you to equip you with the tools and resources needed to navigate reentry, and to offer guidance and support along the way. CTJC reentry specialists have navigated the waters of reentry themselves, and they are ready to walk alongside individuals who are beginning their own journey.
Voice from Inside
Leading with Humanity...
by Elbonie Burnside
Leading with humanity should be the motivation in how we conduct ourselves every second of each day, regardless of the circumstances demographics foster.
If the interests in incarcerated people were valued instead of discarded as sub-humans, the conditions in prisons wouldn't be dilapidated and the healthcare system people inside depend on would not fail millions across the nation. The fight George Jackson and many other great leaders have led for better conditions inside prison institutions remain more imperative today.
We cannot remain complacent with the terminology 'prisoner' because not only does it reduce the lives of incarcerated people to simply 'things' of destruction, it also has the potential to diminish character and discard people as criminally unfit to be of productive value in society. It is also one of the compounding factors that has led to decades of humiliation and dehumanizing living conditions.
The prisoner community is suffering mentally and physically due to the complexities the industrial prison complex has the ability to force on the lives trapped inside. While souls inside continue to endure daily torture and with the recent loss of a fellow Northwestern graduate in Stateville, Michael Broadyway, mourning invaded the routine schedule of people inside.
The fear of their own lives perishing from the pressure of harsh conditions is a reality that dwells within the walls
While the souls inside men's prisons continue to endure daily torture, it will be remiss to not acknowledge the ongoing torture that women in prison endure as well.
Neither of institutions are promising better for the people inside. Those whose livelihoods are in peril due to closure deliberations are the only concerns for policy makers.
It is time to involve the people who are affected by difficult decisions to be a part of the conversations. It is time to create an avenue for the voices inside to be heard because they're stakeholders as well
If the lives inside are valued, inhalation of mold wouldn't be an issue, ceilings wouldn't be caving in, there will be proper ventilation, and bracing for 100 degree weather throughout the summer would be a concern of the past.
Until the negative connotations surrounding people incarcerated aren't extracted from the minds and language of civilians and shared communities, a new prison build will result in the very same deplorable living conditions that already exist.
We call for effective legislation to produce pathways into productive citizenship after serving decades behind bars We call for funds to be allocated into better programming inside and community-building outside. We call for better neighborhoods, not better 'state of the art' prisons. We call for a better chance.
Are you an artist? Submit art to be featured in CTJC’s next community art project!
We’d like to put together a community art project for 2025 Last year, 15 incarcerated artists participated in our first inside-outside collaborative project, a wall calendar. This year’s concept comes from a prompt we’ve been reflecting on this year: What do you see when you look in the mirror?
Submit your work to us, including a description of your art and a short artist biography. Visual art and poetry will be considered.
Chicago Torture Justice Center
Art Submission
6337 S. Woodlawn Ave Chicago, IL 60637
Meet our interns!
We have three wonderful interns for this academic year: Malia, Harley, and Peyton, who will be with us through May 2025.
Malia is a second-year Master's student in Social Work at the University of Chicago. She is passionate about decarceration, education, creating connections, and above all, Arsenal Football Club.
Harley is working towards their PhD in Social Work at UChicago, but they spend most of their time organizing with people inside to rewrite the systems that confine all of us.
Peyton is in her first year of her Master’s in Social Work at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where she’s all about transformative justice and healing When she’s not hitting the books or getting involved in community organizing, you can find her getting lost in one of her many hobbies, staying active, or hanging out with loved ones.
Write to Malia, Harley, or Peyton any responses to the following prompt: Tell us about something that inspires you It can be a person, book, movie, team, song, concept, whatever have you / Tell us about something that moves you
Write to Malia, Harley or Peyton at 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave. Chicago, IL 60637
Hearing from our community
The Chicago Torture Justice Center is the first and only Center in the United States dedicated to serving survivors of domestic torture. This work is truly unprecedented, and we can only do it with the power, wisdom, and brilliance of our community Feedback from our community and participants is crucial to the growth and impact of our work
We would love to hear from those who have participated in any of our programs or activities
While we are working on a survey exclusively for people inside, we unfortunately cannot accept surveys from incarcerated participants at this time. If you are incarcerated and your loved ones are CTJC participants, we encourage you to share this survey with them.
For any questions about the survey, please write to Gina Tarullo at CTJC or send an email to gina@chicagotorturejustice.org.
6337 S. WOODLAWN AVENUE
The 2024 collaborative wall calendar project
