In 1991, I was wrongfully convicted of the assault and attempted murder of a Detroit woman. I ended up spending nearly 30 years in prison for a crime I didn’t commit. And while I’m grateful to be free and fully exonerated now, there were times I struggled to stay positive during my decades of wrongful incarceration.
In those difficult moments, I turned to my “strength box” — a cassette player and collection of recordings of Aretha Franklin, gospel singers Shirley Caesar and Mahalia Jackson, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s speeches, in particular, gave me inspiration and power to move forward. I could walk eight miles after listening to them. I was just 11 years old when Dr. King was assassinated, but I still find so much strength and truth in his words.
This time has been a blessing. I’ve been loving everything, especially being with people I haven’t seen in decades. We take these things for granted, but all the small things are to be cherished. I even love just to look out a window. But the thing I’m most passionate about is my art.
In the next year, I plan to return to leather and woodwork, which I first discovered a talent for while helping my brother fix up houses when I was younger — and it, too, became an expressive outlet for me in prison.
Dr. King’s words were so powerful for me because I’d seen what he had struggled through, being unjustly incarcerated. They gave me the strength and hope to believe that the world would one day see my innocence and that I would be free — and now I am.
The civil rights icon continues to inspire me as a free person, and his words remain relevant.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
