This is Yusef. 16 (left) when condemned to life w/o parole. 41 now (right w/ his dad). The Supreme Court ruled his sentence unconstitutional. He's been waiting in Michigan prison for last 5 years for resentencing. Prosecutor delay. Now friends dying around him. "I might be next." 
Yusef on his father: "We’re not guaranteed tomorrow. So knowing who my father is to me now & knowing that there’s something out there that has him at risk, that’s one of the hardest things to deal with right now. That’s what scares me most, right now."
On his family: "They knew me when I was a teen. I’m 41 now. They don’t know me. One of my older sisters came to see me on a visit & broke out crying. And I asked her why she was crying and she explained to me that I had grown up. There were times when I felt completely alone."
On his life in colors: "If I wanna explain my life in stages using colors, the colors exactly aren’t exact. But in the beginning there was light. And then there was a lot of darkness. And then there’s light. Hope is a different kind of color all together." Some of Yusef's art:
On his friend, also sentenced at 16: "A man who I spoke to every single day. Who I knelt with. Broke bread with. He’d tell me “man, I’m not really feeling so hot”. I said “man, how long have you felt like this?” His friend died days before his release.freep.com/story/news/loc…
A few days ago, I had the good fortune to be on the phone w/ Yusef. He told his story to playwright, Lemon Anderson. Prison line cut out 4 times. He kept calling back. His story became a script. Performed tonight. "You used to be able to trust the air." instagram.com/tv/CAG7kU5p9RK…
Yusef's dad commented on the video: "All I wanted was that the playwright humanize my son. So his humanity & creativity would come forth despite the circumstances. I believe he accomplished that end. His words came to life through actor, his words showed life of a tortured soul."
Yusef is not alone. He & about 200 other juvenile lifers in Michigan are still awaiting their re-sentencing. Please demand that Attorney General @dananessel & @GovWhitmer instruct prosecutors to re-sentence these men & women before they die in prison. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
To view all the @24HourPlays Special Edition of “Viral Monologues” on COVID & incarceration, as well as learn more about the subjects & their calls for action, please check out NowHearUs.org.
