Life and Death in a Carceral State

2017-2023

The Life and Death in a Carceral State Collection consists of oral histories gathered through a collaborative effort with Texas Advocates for Justice, Grassroots Leadership, Texas Justice Initiative, Texas Observer, and other organizations to document the experiences of individuals who have been impacted by the Texas criminal justice system. Members of the organizations and formerly incarcerated individuals received training on oral history interviewing to cultivate a safe space to empower narrators to share their story, in their own words without fear of judgment in order to shift the narrative and reflect the reality beyond the state’s account.

There are 21 oral histories in the Life and Death in a Carceral State Collection that consist of audio and video files. These oral histories document experiences and interactions with the Texas systems of punishment from the perspective of directly impacted individuals, family members, and advocates, and reflect upon the relationship between institutional “justice” and its role in the perpetuation of violence and trauma within communities. The collection aims to provide knowledge and context beyond the statistics and narratives established by the state and call attention to the lived experiences of people who have endured difficult situations such as the loss of a loved one by execution, incarceration, and reentry. The collection also highlights individuals in advocacy, and how their experiences have shaped their paths towards making a change within the criminal justice system.