Solitary

Woodfox was the subject of a major New Yorker profile by Rachel Aviv in January 2017, almost a year after his release from prison in February 2016, and featured in the documentary Cruel and Unusual about the Angola 3. Many individual journalists have doggedly followed his story throughout the years, from national publications like the New York Times and the Guardian to the local Louisiana Times-Picayune . His story will shine a bright light on the inhumanity of solitary confinement and be championed by those fighting to abolish it. The book will also appeal to today’s generation of activists—including members of the #BlackLivesMatter movement—who are fighting against related issues, including police brutality and the mass incarceration of Black people. Solitary will also help to recast the Black Panther movement: it was primarily socially activist as opposed to militant. Woodfox’s sense of purpose and ability to survive in solitary derived directly from his adherence to the principles and lessons of the Panthers: unity, courage, and pride. Woodfox has the support of many major political figures, activists, journalists, and even actors who have helped to spread his story widely up to and after his release from prison in 2016. He has spoken at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, University of Illinois, University of Pittsburgh, and many others. Woodfox recently returned from speaking engagements in Europe on behalf of Amnesty International and will be touring extensively in the United States. We will be pursuing the support of key writers and activists, including Bryan Stevenson, Michelle Alexander, Carol Anderson, and others.