Walk In Those Shoes grew from seeds of empathy. Those seeds came full circle when two men with over forty-five combined years living on Death Row had a conversation about relations with correctional staff. These are a few of their thoughts.

Who are we to ask or expect better from them, when we’re willing to put our own humanity aside?  

I think that if we see an officer in need, if we really believe that we’re all people, and we’re deserving of kind treatment, then at some point we have to take a stand and just buck the notion that we ain’t supposed to deal with them, we ain’t supposed to help them, they’re the po-leece.  I think we’re s’posed to. 

One of the ways to first break that division, it gotta start from us.  We have to take ownership of our part, to our role in this equation.  

Terry ‘Chanton’ Robinson and Jason ‘Mumin’ Hurst are WITS writers committed to changing the narrative, sharing their reform through writing as well as their voices In The Cellar.