Criminal Justice

San Quentin Stories: I Ran a Marathon in Prison
By Steve Brooks Steve Brooks is a student at the Prison University Project (PUP) at San Quentin State Prison. His story is one in a series of oral histories that Voice of Witness has collected …


Oral History at San Quentin Prison
by Cliff Mayotte (former Education Program Director at VOW) The Voice of Witness education team is always looking for opportunities to create deeper engagement and partnership with the communities represented in our book series, so …


10 Actions to End Solitary Confinement
Six by ten feet. That’s the average size of the cell in which tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the United States linger for weeks, months, and even decades in solitary confinement. With little …


Inside an Immigrant Detention Facility
The topic of immigration has been a critical political issue since borders were built, yet immigrant voices continue to be excluded from these conversations and policymaking within the United States. In recent years, we’ve seen …


Amplifying Indigenous Stories
What’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day? In 1992, the city of Berkeley, CA declared that the second Monday of October, also known as Columbus Day, would become a day of solidarity with Indigenous peoples around the globe. …


Back on the Shelves! Stories from Undocumented Immigrants & People Inside the Criminal Justice System
We are pleased to announce that three of our most popular backlist titles—Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated, and Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women’s Prisons—are now …


Dispatch from the Field: The Latest on Current Projects
This summer, VOW’s editors have been making big strides on their oral history projects. (Thanks in no small part to everyone who supported the Seed the VOW Story Fund Campaign this past spring!) Here are the latest …


VOW Panel at the Bay Area Book Festival on Sunday, June 5, 2016
Amplifying Unheard Voices: Voice of Witness Editors on Social Justice Storytelling What: Panel & Discussion When: Sunday, June 5, 5:00 – 6:00 pm Where: Dharma College in Berkeley, CA Who: Ayelet Waldman, Mateo Hoke, and Robin S. Levi, moderated by Natalie Catasús …