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Collected Item: “Philip Melendez Oral History, 2020/07/24”

Give your story a title.

Philip Melendez Oral History 2020/07/24

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

oral history interview

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

Philip Melendez was born and raised in Sacramento, California. His interactions with the police began in high school. He later committed a crime and served almost twenty years in prison. He was released from prison a few years ago and now works for Restore Justice, a California based non-profit, focused on criminal justice reform. Now married, with three grown children, he discusses his thoughts on the criminal justice system, reform, and the impact of COVID-19 on the incarcerated population within the United States, specifically California.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

incarceration, prison, pandemic, criminal justice, oral history, lifer, violence, social distance

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Chris Twing

Give this story a date.

2020-07-24
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