Wendell Robinson: Life Sentence to Reentry Reform

Sentenced to life in prison at just 19 years old, Wendell Robinson drew his own map to freedom. Now, through his work at Restore Justice, Robinson uses his experience and knowledge to help other formerly incarcerated people navigate the reentry system and find their place in society.

Produced by Skylah Martinez, Bing Wang, and Eliza Westhusing for Reparations Media NFP | In collaboration with Wendell Robinson and Restore Justice Foundation 

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
You don't have to be afraid of people that have
served extended periods of timein prison.
We can come home with the right,you know, support.
We can come home and adjust andcontribute.
Sometimes a person just needs achance, a fair shake at whatever

(00:22):
it is that they want to do.
And having a fair shake can bethe difference in, you know, a
person really making it.

SPEAKER_01 (00:30):
That's Wendell Robinson, Executive Director of
Restore Justice.
I'm Skyla Martinez with aninterview with Wendell Robinson
alongside co-producers Bing Wongand Eliza Westhusing, and this
is Change Agents, the podcast.

(00:53):
In 1992, Robinson was just 17when he was arrested for the
murder of two men.
He was then charged andsentenced to life without
possibility of parole.
He remembers the judge saying, Iwouldn't give it to you if I
didn't have to, but I have tobecause this is what the statute
reads.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
I was 19 years old.
I ended up in probably one ofthe tougher maximum security
prisons in the country at thetime, being Stateville.

SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Robinson denies firing the gun that killed the
men.
Under Illinois law ofaccountability, He was
considered guilty even if hedidn't pull the trigger.
The law states that a person isresponsible for another's crime,
including murder, if theyknowingly aided, abetted, or
attempted to aid in the planningof it.
Despite his sentence, Robinsonnever gave up hope that he would

(01:54):
one day be a free man.
He was offered a chance to growthrough a mentor he met at
Stateville Correctional Center.

SPEAKER_00 (02:02):
When I got to prison, it was an older guy.
I had knew his brother, youknow, prior to me coming to
prison.
He was someone that was prettymuch established.
People respected him orwhatever, right?
He and I had a conversation.
So his thing was, while youhere, I'm gonna put some fat on
your head.
Meaning like, I'm gonna teachyou something while you here.
He started me to just like, orjust giving me books.

(02:25):
Like, okay, read this and we'lltalk about them, right?
It became a habit of me, youknow, having that.
thirst for knowledge.
His biggest thing was,everything that I've done for
you, I just want you to do itfor someone else.
That's where the pay it forwardcame from with me.

SPEAKER_01 (02:49):
In 2012, the U.S.
Supreme Court case, Miller v.
Alabama, ruled that mandatorylife without parole sentences
for minors under 18 wasunconstitutional.
Robinson decided to pursue aresentencing under Miller in
January of 2018.
His faith was rewarded and hewas released from prison that

(03:11):
year.
After decades of incarceration,he knew the transition would be
hard.
His success would hinge onfinding work.

SPEAKER_00 (03:21):
I obtained a CDL, but I had a background.
It was so many recruiters, somany companies that didn't want
to give me a chance.
And then I did finally find workwith a particular company.
They just treated me so bad.
They treated me so bad.
It was so bad that I had tochange.

(03:41):
I had to do something different.

SPEAKER_01 (03:43):
After eight months of driving trucks...
different became working inprison advocacy.
Robinson was introduced toadvocacy while at Menard
Correctional Center.
It was there that he met JobyCates, executive director of the

(04:04):
nonprofit organization RestoreJustice.
The program was at the prisonhelping people prepare for life
after incarceration.
When Robinson decided to leavetrucking for advocacy work in
May 2019, he reached out toCates, looking for a space where
his skills and passion would beappreciated.

SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
But by me having an existing relationship with the
organization, I was able to tellher the position that I was in.
And she came up with the ideathat I'm going to make you my
apprentice.
I'm going to teach you what itis that I know about, you know,
just this nonprofit space.
Everything is going to behands-on.

SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
Robinson never forgot the promise he made to
his former mentor to pay itforward.

SPEAKER_00 (04:47):
And I think from me having that opportunity to grow
with her, to learn from her,learn her management style, it
kind of just developed into thenext thing.
The next thing was I wanted tocreate an opportunity like I had
been given coming into RestoreJustice for other system
impacted people.

SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
After starting as an apprentice, Robinson rose to
executive director in just fiveyears.
In that time, he founded theFuture Leaders Apprenticeship
Program, or FLAP.
FLAP mentors formerlyincarcerated people who possess
a deep commitment to socialjustice.
Robinson knew that for theprogram to succeed, it would

(05:34):
need to address the mostimmediate needs of its mentees.

SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
You know, people need to be stabilized, and
oftentimes stabilization comesby way of a wage, a livable
wage.
So we wanted to give that topeople.
We wanted people to come in, andwe were going to pay them to
learn.
But also, we wanted to givepeople the idea or the concept
of what a healthy benefit packetlooked like.
I mean, to come home and haveaccess to health, dental,

(05:58):
vision.
And then even we also took it astep Flap

SPEAKER_01 (06:05):
is specifically designed to equip
system-impacted individuals withthe skills needed to become
prison reform advocates.
Robinson used his own experienceas a roadmap.

SPEAKER_00 (06:16):
We felt like let's bring people in and train them
up so people directly affectedby our carceral system and then
now having the opportunity tocome home and be a part of an
organization like RestoreJustice and really kind of learn
the landscape.
The idea is, you know, after theapprenticeship program, a person

(06:38):
will have all the skill set ifthey want to start their own
nonprofit.

UNKNOWN (06:43):
you

SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
So I think the thing about the apprenticeship program
that I am really proud of isjust we've created something
unique, something to helpstabilize people.
We don't have the luxury ofsquandering opportunities.
I liken the Future LeadersApprenticeship Program to that
of a launching pad.
Utilize, restore justice tocatapult you into being a part

(07:13):
of this social justice movement.

SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
Robinson is also proud of the work Restore
Justice does to improve prisonconditions.

SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
We have a piece of legislation that we just got
passed.
We want the Illinois Departmentof Corrections to report
quarterly how it is that theyuse solitary confinement.
When you think aboutinternational standards, anyone
that serves more than 10 days inisolation, that is considered
torture.
But in Illinois, you have peoplethat have indeterminate

(07:50):
sentences.
I know people that have been insolitary of confinement for 20,
25, 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 (07:56):
He also strives to improve the lives of those
exiting prison with parolereform.
Without parole, thoseincarcerated are forced to serve
their entire sentence with nopossibility of early release.

SPEAKER_00 (08:15):
One of the things that we are really proud of at
Restore Justice is our youthfulparole bill that we were able to
pass in 2019.
So with this piece oflegislation, we were able to
bring back parole opportunitiesfor people who were charged and
convicted before their 21stbirthday.

SPEAKER_01 (08:43):
Robinson continues to use his story to inspire
anyone who is systems impacted,including current and formerly
incarcerated people, as well astheir families and friends.

SPEAKER_00 (08:55):
We are going totally against what people like to
think about our carceral system,it being a landfill.
Those places, gold mines, likeseriously, gold mines.
I can say for a fact that I'mnot an exception.
I'm definitely an examplebecause there's so many people

(09:16):
that's still there that if theyget the opportunity, we'll do
some amazing, I mean, somereally amazing stuff.

SPEAKER_01 (09:23):
For more information about Wendell Robinson and
Restored Justice, visitrestoredjustice.org.