Advisory Board
We at SWASC believe that the voices of those who were directly impacted by incarceration and solitary confinement must guide and inform our mission. Together with our Advisory Board, we work to abolish this barbaric practice.
Robin Benton
Robin Benton is an anti-racist activist, community organizer, and human rights educator. He presently works as Chairman of the Racial Equity Committee for his neighborhood association. He also sits on the US Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee.
Committed to grassroots organizing, Robin was involved in organizing the 2012 national gathering for the Occupy Wall Street movement. He led organizing efforts to establish the Black Lives Matter movement in Asheville, NC. He also led efforts to organize the Carolina Human Rights Organizing Conference in 2016. Robin developed virtual organizing strategies and tactics as a social media manager of anti- racism media with 2 million reach a month before being removed from Facebook in 2019.
Dolores Canales
Dolores Canales, Director of Community Outreach with The Bail Project, a National organization designed to combat mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system ‒one person at a time. Dolores has extensive experience in management, community organizing, and is co-founder of California Families Against Solitary Confinement. Having a father that was in prison, Dolores is personally familiar with the intergenerational impacts of incarceration. She brings a wealth of leadership experience in organizing with those personally affected by incarceration, drawing from her own experiences as well as having a son who is incarcerated and participated in three of California State Prison hunger strikes to end the use of indefinite solitary confinement. She currently serves on the steering committee of the Unlock The Box campaign, a National movement to end the use of solitary confinement. Dolores' work has been featured in The Guardian, Mother Jones, TruthOut, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic, Democracy Now and the Oscar nominated documentary 13th. She has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for her work on solitary confinement and was recently granted the Changemaker Award by The Center for Constitutional Rights. Dolores is a 2014 Soros Justice Fellow and a 2019 Initiate Justice Fellow. Dolores was recently appointed a voting member by LA Supervisor Janice Hahn on the Alternatives to Incarceration work group and is currently organizing Community Engagement workshops across Los Angeles in neighborhoods with a high impact of incarceration.
Frank DePalma
Having been in prison for forty-three years, starting as a teen in a maximum security prison, and not getting out until the age of sixty-two, has for me been a myriad of nightmarish unnatural experiences that have taken me to the depths of human endurance and beyond into an emptiness that very few have experienced and were later able to talk about. But perhaps the very worst of it occurred during my time in solitary confinement: 22 years and 36 days.
There are guys I have had lucid conversations with in years past, only to find them beyond reach anymore for they got lost in the emptiness I mentioned. Why am I here and able to articulate my experiences? Why am I of normal intellect and fully functional? Why is my mind intact? I don’t have answers to those questions, but I have answers for what needs to be done in order to do away with solitary, and though I’m not a psychiatrist, I understand intimately the process of a person essentially losing their mind from extended stays in solitary. No one is ever quite the same after doing tomb time. It is a practice that is archaic and was borne of desperation, ignorance and “anger” though most would not confess that. Minds are forever lost due to this torturous punishment. Families are forever impacted. Humanity is a powerful force that can lift us above all of life’s adversities but I have found humanity is also very fragile and must always be nurtured. Let’s educate society to the truths about solitary confinement and let them together tell elected lawmakers what they want: abolish solitary. End this barbaric punishment as it is truly torture. We must stop the torture.
Ending solitary confinement has been my mission since my release from prison. To this end, in April of 2024, I am thrilled to share that I published a book: Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary! The Battle for my Soul in a U.S. Prison. Find more about the book at my website: nevertosurrender.
Thank you!
Nathaniel B. Evans
Nathaniel Evans brings more than ten years of dedicated experience as a social justice advocate, focusing on addressing the systemic injustices entrenched within the prison system. Throughout his career, Nathaniel has collaborated closely with prominent advocacy groups including JustLeadership USA (CloseRikers Campaign), Vocal NY, Halt Solitary Confinement, and Freedom Agenda, actively working to combat the harms perpetuated by incarceration.
Jon McFarlane
Having faced incarceration several times early in my life, I know what it means to have support from family and friends and I recognize that lots of incarcerated individuals aren't so lucky. That is why I have dedicated my life to being an activist and an advocate for those currently suffering in our nation's prison industrial complex.
Victor Pate
Victor Pate - Statewide Campaign Organizer. Victor brings years of organizing experience into his role as The NY Statewide Campaign Organizer for the Campaign for Alternatives To Isolated Confinement. Is Formerly Incarcerated, a member of multiple Criminal Justice Reform organizations and recently became a Certified Chaplain.
A founding member and current Chairman of The NYC Chapter of the National Action Network Second Chance Committee that assists formerly incarcerated men and women transition from Prisons and Jails into community.
Victor has been a part of the many NYS Criminal Justice reform coalitions from the Rockerfeller Drug Laws, Raise the Age, Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, NYS Prisoner Justice Network, Release Aging People In Prisons, Campaign to restore Tuition Assistance to incarcerated persons and Voting Rights for people on parole and probation.
Victor continues to engage in advocacy work from a broad perspective.
Johnny Perez
Criminal Justice Reform Leader
Drawing on the wisdom of thirteen years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system, Mr. Johnny Perez works as the Director of the U.S. Prisons Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an interfaith membership organization comprised of 325 religious organizations working to end U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Through his leadership, Mr. Perez coordinates NRCAT’s existing campaign efforts to end the torture of solitary confinement, adding value and strategic insight to building the capacity of faith leaders and directly impacted communities to engage in education and legislative advocacy across the United States.
He adds insight and guidance as a proud participant on the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Law Center and the Urban Justice Center, both non-profit public interest law firms advocating for the rights, dignity, equity and opportunities of underserved populations. Additionally, after three years in solitary confinement, he now leads a national movement to end the practice in coalition with the Unlock the Box Campaign. Mr. Perez recently joined as advisory board member and research consultant of the Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, a comprehensive effort to spur innovation to make prisons humane, safe, and rehabilitative environments.
Christa Pike
Christa Pike is currently serving a sentence of death on Tennessee's death row and is the only female on death row in the state. She has been in solitary confinement for over 20 years and has been instrumental in helping advocates and others understand the solitary experience. In addition, Christa has been an advocate for the those with medical, psychiatric, or intellectual impairments residing in solitary confinement at Tennessee Prison for Women. Her assistance as a member of the SWASC Advisory Board has included a Q&A discussion with the SWASC task force and an availability for mail correspondence with those interested in learning more.
Saint Solomon
“How Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement Saved My Life”
Solitary confinement coffined my outgoing persona into a closed casket fitted precisely for an isolationist. My memory vividly reminds me of past decades when I was the life of plenty of parties. However, nowadays, I don’t even party. If, and or when, I leave my humble dwelling, I walk with my face cast downward, avoiding any and all eye contact.
My entire persona mirrors that of an introvert. I no longer possess a desire to be friendly to my friends. In fact, I view former friends as potential enemies and I'm reluctant to befriend any strangers. All of this occurs despite the gravity of their politeness or the depth of their generosity.
I try to rest while a naked light bulb shines brightly into my swollen and sleepy eyes. In my humble abode, the bleakness and blackness breathes life into the lungs of shadowy silhouettes of sadistic correctional officers. They are raping and molesting my mind, body and soul in ways unimaginable to the average human being. Their uniforms are simply costumes designed to subliminally heighten anxieties and exacerbate fears. Similar to Batman these bad men wear utility belts equipped with weapons reminiscent of phallic symbols.
For example, imagine sleeping in a cage that is as small as a baby’s casket; or, certainly no bigger than a puppy’s dog house. Thrice a day, a metal tray scattered with slop is delivered through a miniature mail slot.
It’s a Godless environment because the only prophets are the sinister guards who profit off the misery and mayhem that perpetuates and circulates throughout these hellholes. I thank the higher powers for SWASC. I believe that without the help of these social workers and the officiousness of these caring officials; there would be no oversight of these fire breathing dragons; all of whom guard, serve and protect these inhumane dark and dusky dungeons.
Marvin Wade
Marvin Wade is a justice impacted individual who was released from prison in 2019 after 25 years incarcerated.
He was born in 1970, Brooklyn NY, to a single mother of 3.
Marvin is a gifted and accomplished writer of published work that you can read in publications such as the Project Mend Journal and Voices of fortune, and at his website http://marvinmwade.com.
As a Prison and Social Advocate, as well as a Spiritual Activist, Marvin believes that his purpose in life is to be that light for those to finding their true self and path in life.