Mass incarceration is a deeply personal issue for me because I lived through it. I went from being awarded the Intel Innovators Award for Young Entrepreneurs in 2012 to being sentenced and serving three years in the Michigan Department of Corrections for breaking and entering felonious assault, and felony firearm in 2017. I never believed that in just five years that my life would take such an unexpected turn and change my world forever.
My time in prison was short in length but not short in lessons. My experience as an inmate had a profound effect on me. Getting to know my fellow inmates and hearing their stories, and sharing my own brought me to the realization that the overarching generalization of incarcerated people is unfair. Everyone has a story that’s worth being told, and most stories, like my own, are not black and white. That is why I have made it my life’s mission to amplify the voices of imprisoned people and aid in the cease of mass incarceration in the United States. I have been fortunate enough to get a second chance at life in the free world, and I believe others deserve one as well.
-Virgil Hare, Founder of Indulta Foundation
To End Mass Incarceration Through Knowledge, Truth, and Meaningful Legal Representation.