In this recording from the Oak Institute for Human Rights, attendees were invited to have a virtual lunch with Leo Hylton, a Columnist for Mainer News Cooperative and a Master’s Student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Leo is currently incarcerated in Maine State Prison, serving a 50-year sentence that began in 2010 when he was only 19. Since then, he has obtained both an Associate’s and Bachelor’s Degree while incarcerated. For more on Leo’s personal story, please read “The Awesome Power of Forgiveness” on Mainer News.

Leo is working to transform criminal justice in the U.S. He tutors and mentors his fellow prisoners, teaching a Restorative and Transformative Justice education-and-practicum course to help men see the humanity within themselves and others.

He is in his second year of a Master’s program at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. However, as an incarcerated person who is unable to incur debt, he cannot apply for school loans. If you would like to support Leo’s education, visit his Go Fund Me page.

By supporting Leo, you will help include his voice and life experience in the global conversation about Criminal Justice and Prison Reform, a conversation largely held by academics who have not seen, heard, and felt the injustices of the American criminal justice system.

Listen to Leo’s feature on the Freedom and Captivity podcast, ‘Finding Our Courage’: Alternatives to Incarceration for Addressing Harm. The Portland Media Center sponsors the podcast, which is produced by Catherine Besteman, edited by sound engineers Josh Riddle and Dino Raymond, and accompanied by the music of Samuel James.

This lunch was part of the Incarceration and Social Justice lunch series, organized by the Oak Institute for Human Rights, the Pugh Center, and the Office of Civic Engagement. The lunch series takes place every Wednesday at noon in the Dana common room at Colby College, featuring a front-line activist working on issues of incarceration and social justice in Maine.