Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch: Ep. 12

On this episode of Our American Stories, every Sunday, Our American Stories host Lee Habeeb speaks with Mitchel “Big Mitch” Rutledge, who has spent more than forty years serving a life sentence in Alabama for killing a man. Mitch has never denied his crime or offered excuses for it. Instead, their conversations focus on what responsibility, faith, and accountability look like when lived out behind prison walls.
In this episode, the discussion continues with Lee’s longtime friend Bo, who is grappling with the fallout of infidelity. This time, Bo’s wife Donna joins the conversation, sharing her own struggle to remain grounded in faith while navigating betrayal and uncertainty.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories.
This next story is about a friend of mine. We're
close in age, but have little else in common. Mitchell
Rutledge aka Big Mitch, was born black and poor in Georgia.
I was born kind of brown and middle class in
New Jersey. He never met his father. I still talk

(00:33):
to my ninety four year old father every week. He
dropped out of high school in his early teens and
was illiterate into his early twenties. I was surrounded by
books growing up and finished graduate school in my early thirties.
Big Mitch spent the last forty four years of his
life in Alabama prisons for killing a man. But this

(00:55):
is not a story about an innocent man sentenced to
prison for a crime he didn't commit. Big Mitch never
denied the crime or made excuses for it. This is
the story of my friend's spiritual transformation while serving his
life sentence. It's also about a friendship. Only God could

(01:15):
have engineered a friendship that began with a single Sunday
morning call. Through these weekly conversations, I hope you come
to know and love him as much as I do.
Here's episode number twelve. Our conversation on April seventh, twenty
twenty four. A few episodes ago, we heard from one
of my close friends, Bo as he sought counsel from

(01:38):
Big Mitch regarding his struggle with infidelity. Today, we hear
his wife, Donna's perspective as she discusses her side of
this story with Mitch.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Here's Donna, this is a free call from an incarcerated
individual at Alabama Department of Corrections to accept this freak
call press one to refuse this pre called press two.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Thank you for using.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
It's a curious you may start the conversation. Now.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
By all accounts of the world, I could walk away
out of this marriage. Of course I could have years ago.
But something is keeping me fighting and it gets me
mad because I think, is it me? Or is it God?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
What is it?

Speaker 3 (02:22):
And so anyway, when you ask the question of how
are we doing it, it's just a lot of wrestling.
I'm doing a ton of wrestling in my soul because
I wanted to what God tells me to do, and
that looks like to stay married. But I know the
way we've continued going these years has it keeps going
the wrong way. So I'm like God, this is in

(02:42):
your hands. It's not me. I got to get out
of the way and see what you're gonna do. That's
what I'm trying to do.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
You know, well, it's not you, it's not good. It's
the enemy. Well I mean, by Edie, you can't get
to you. We want to school here. Use both. And
the only way you can feed that is both gonna
have to give spiritual strength and honor to be able

(03:10):
to not allow the enemy to mislead him. But he
wants you to lose your favor. He wants you to
excelf thing that you ain't got no beny nexcepting. And
if I can say anything right here and when you
going through trial, if you can just put some of
your emotions to the side and look at it from

(03:30):
a spiritual perspective and understand what you're rattlating with. You're
not ranslating with flesh and blood right there. You can't change. No,
don't care how much you pray for it and ask
God to hindle in. But both gonna have to take
a step toward God.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
I have Tobo. I said, you have got you hate
this so much, and then I got to the point
where I was like you got to be afraid of
God not being in your camp anymore, because God can't
be in your same camp if the enemy's in it.
It can't work like that.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Sure O, gant you right? You one to percent? Right?
All you're telling the truth. Now you're telling the truth.
You told him the truth. Oh you already on point.
I ain't got to tell you nothing. Well, you already
living in here. You you you see so much, see

(04:29):
so many kidding and and just stabbing and just all
kind of a mann of abuse and you living in
it and you can't get away from it because you
live in it. And it runs some people's crazy. It's
just caused men and just to just piw up on life.
But what I did, I ran to Jesus Christ. That's

(04:50):
what I did. And so even after forty some years
in here, by His grace and much, I still got
light shining in me. So I would advise anybody even
out there, when you drive, when you wake up in
the morning, Thank you, Thank you Jesus watch old me
to day and keep me saved. When you at work,

(05:12):
action for favor with your coworkers and stuff like that.
Thank you for the loved ones in your life. People,
don't do that. I do it all the time because
my situation demands that because like it's because it's so
ever pressing. It's prison in my life twenty four seven.
It's like a nightmare, but out there in society where

(05:36):
you don't see it as if a present like it
is in prison, but it's there. So you don't pray,
and you don't you don't pray, and you don't think
it's Jesus. And that's what's going on a lot of
and uh men's like you said, when it comes your
money in six most of them just stop thinking. They

(05:56):
don't do no more facts. It's just going with it.
They just go right on with it whatever make it
feel good.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
To go with it right every second, Like like you said,
every present in times of trouble. That's a verse right there,
that you just keep saying, Mitch, every present, that's right,
every present, every present. We're lulled to sleep on this
side because like you said, you're not having the lines
and the tigers, if you will, like like it is
in prison, but we still have it. It's just being hidden,

(06:24):
likely he said earlier.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
That's right, that's right. It's more deceptive. And I would
like to touch on one thing and going back to
what you said about you know, like with men's you
know where we don't want you know, when everybody said
where we use a SKUs say no, men's weak in
that area, So what do you do? He comes and
get them in that area. But I used to teacher

(06:48):
class called changing lenses and that's being able to look
at it from someone that's perspective. So I was I
was just a donald or any female if they was
has changed lens and be able to look at from
a man perspective. But men's need to do the same thing,
change lenses and look at it from a female perspective.

(07:09):
Because we're two different mens you understand, and you might
say we're mitt you know, uh usually been allowed to
us for oh so many years, or you don't know
that much about a relationship where knowledge is something that
God gives you a wisdom, knowledged understanding and transcend all thames.
But if the enemy know that man is weak in

(07:32):
the area, but if you connected with God, he can't
get you. See, he can't get me right there because
I've overcame that he can't get me because I have
more revege for God. I feel God they say at
the beginning, or willdim is to feel God, So I
got more revetue for God to play with God like that.

(07:53):
You can't you can't get me like that, at least
I don't hear it. Give me like that if I
haven't been in society. But it's don't think you get
me like that. I would sit down if you had opportunities,
you know, for any female, you know, change lends this
for a second, and and try to look at it
from a male perspective. You guys, the females are they'll

(08:16):
more for whatever reason, Satan over that. He can't come
to them with that. But now we all have our cryptiize.
Whatever female of kryptonize it is, Satan will come in
disguise and get damn well. Most men's kryptonize is they
connected to God. It's it's sex and money and power.

(08:39):
That's they kryptonize. That's their weakness and and and just
on individuals there. But we all have kryptodize. You know.
Some people kryptonize it's food. Some people kryptonize is video game.
Cambily alcohol where you got to get it at.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Your life and a terrific job on the production, editing
and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler and Reagan Habib.
And what a piece of storytelling, what a piece of
advice giving, And how Big Mitch was able to do
this without ever having been married, and without ever having
left prison. But yet, my goodness, he broke through not

(09:22):
just with Donna but with bo and I can report
that one year later their marriage is stronger than ever
and they thank Mitch for it in large part. And
this whole idea of changing lenses is so good. And
this whole idea that we all have our kryptonite money, power, status, gambling,
booze food. Whatever your kryptonite is, Big Mitch says, you

(09:45):
gotta get it out of your life. Sunday Mornings with
Big Mitch, Episode twelve. Here on our American Stories