Podcast

Juan Parra served 11 months at Columbia River Correctional Institution where Juan worked as a tutor with the Prison’s GED program. Juan currently works in Interpreting Services and enjoys spending time with his dog Atlas.

Cody has been a resident of the pacific northwest for 20 years, absolutely loving the mountains, trees, and beautiful waterfalls. He is adventurous, with a passion for entrepreneurship, art, local activism, and yoga! He enjoys building positive friendships within his community, in order to strengthen and protect the people within it.

Ben Stiller is a Portland native, born and raised. He spent a better part of his life living in a busted mobile home with his single father and his older brother. Literally, there was a hole in the kitchen floor that went straight outside. He got in a lot fights as a child and had to move to a private school where he was picked on for being poor, until he got to high school. This is when he did a lot of his criminal activity. According to Ben, he didn’t learn his lesson until he went to jail the first time. He met a lot of good people in prison and learned a lot of good lessons. He also learned that prison doesn’t help people, that change comes from inside, and most importantly, that police should not have the power that they have of judge, jury and executioner. Ben’s hope is that people realize that the media’s depiction of prisoners as animals is the farthest thing from the truth.

Joe Cheadle was in prison for more than 23 years. Being incarcerated as a juvenile He received a life sentence with a minimum of 30 years. While incarcerated he participated in every program available to him and eventually earned a parole date. Now he reside in Oregon and and continues to support prison & sentencing reform. Especially for juvenile offenders.

Shawn McWeeney served a 25-year sentence for his role in a robbery when he was 18 years old. Released from prison in 2020, Shawn entered the University of Oregon Prevention Science Program. He is on track to graduate with a Masters of Education in the Spring of 2021. Shawn is passionate about trauma informed advocacy and mentorship of underserved youth.

Sunny was unable to provide a bio due to work and family obligations. We hope you enjoy his story.

Bell has been unresponsive for quite some time and as such, we have been unable to receive a brief bio or headshot from her. We hope you all enjoy her story however, as her powerful words are statement enough. Photo credit: The Alano Club of Portland: https://www.portlandalano.org/staff

Additional information: This is a link to a news story about the young woman who is mentioned in Bell’s interview. https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/dead-inmate-was-known-suicide-risk/article_7b41ff7c-eb83-11e2-b5bc-001a4bcf887a.html

Irvin Hines has been unable to provide a brief bio due to work and family life taking priority. We hope you enjoy his story. As a side note, we had to edit parts of the interview as we mentioned various prison staff and Correctional Officers by name, and want to avoid litigation. Please keep that in mind when listening. Thank you for your time.

https://www.facebook.com/beatzillapdx

Beatzilla PDX is a singer, songwriter, show emcee and host. A self-taught chef, husband, father, and social activist. You can visit his facebook page via the link above!

NaPP, a.k.a 2 Ps, is a father, an artist, business man, and activist. NaPP spends his days working on his crafts and passions, spending time with his family and working on his entrepreneurial dreams. He seeks knowledge and enjoys learning. Consistent Progression & Growth is a creed NaPP lives by.

Queaz is a 30 year old father of one (Jaylah). After being involved with the justice system for the majority of his life, Queaz decided to make a change within his self and now, instead of taking from the community, he spends his time giving back to the community he’s passionate about. Working with the youth; learning & teaching with the ones that come from the same things as him. Giving back to the youth is a passion of his.

Evelyn has been unable to provide a bio due to work and personal life. We hope you enjoy her story. And as always, thank you for listening to The Exiled Voice.

We are so happy to share our first international episode!

Damien Linnane served 10-months in prison in Australia, for crimes the sentencing magistrate described as ‘vigilante action’. Frustrated with the lack of educational and rehabilitation services in prison, he instead spent his sentence writing a novel by hand, which has now been published, and also teaching himself to draw. Since his release from prison, Damien has completed a master’s degree in Information Studies, and works primarily as an archivist and also as an illustrator. An outspoken activist for prison reform, Damien also lobbies on behalf of inmates around the globe.

A link to Damian’s novel: https://www.amazon.com/Scarred-Damien-Linnane-ebook/dp/B07XVQ63XF

Damian’s website: https://damienlinnane.com/

The link to sign a petition regarding Bobby’s release who Damian mentions toward the end of our interview.
linktr.ee/freebobbybostic

Zafar Abdullah is a 22 year old Portland-based Muslim who actively seeks knowledge. Now that his exterior has been freed from the confinement of the state he continues his pursuit in patiently preserving and promoting positivity, as well as being a part of various non-profit organizations, some of which are more specific to the Muslim Community and some of which have a broader spectrum in helping spread awareness, find solutions and help those who suffer from or have been impacted by the following social issues and many more such as: systematic discrimination, xenophobia, racism, and islamophobia.

Note: We were unable to use Zafar’s original interview so we did a second one. Because of that, this is a longer than normal episode to honor the time and energy we used in getting it out to you. We hope you enjoy.

Luther Arnett has been unable to provide a brief bio. We hope he is doing well, and we hope you enjoy his story.

Skyler Ray was born November 28, 1990 in San Jose, California. He grew up in foster homes, and was homeless for multiple years; from getting locked up, to sleeping on the sidewalks of downtown Portland. His music is primarily based off his experience with his life. Whether that be addiction, incarceration, homelessness, etc. He is a firm believer in spreading hope and giving back to the community he once helped destroy. Since being released from prison November 30th 2018 he is re-focused on his music and will stop at nothing to get it out to the masses. Skyler Ray still lives in Portland and remains clean and sober. https://www.facebook.com/therealSkylerRay/

3/30/21- Note: The above episode (featuring Skyler) will be the final episode of our first season of this podcast. We hope you enjoy it, and please share it with all that you can!