Jimmy Soto and Renaldo Hudson met on unfortunate terms—as incarcerated men behind bars. Join them as they now share their stories and pathways to freedom. Both men survived decades of incarceration. Exonerated after forty-two long years, Jimmy Soto is a human rights advocate who hit the ground running when he walked out of prison just before Christmas in 2023. While incarcerated, Jimmy earned his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program (NPEP) and was an active member of the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project's (PNAP) Think Tank.

Renaldo Hudson survived thirty-seven years of incarceration, including thirteen years on Illinois' death row, before Governor Pritzker commuted his sentence. During his incarceration, Hudson developed and implemented groundbreaking programs inside the Department of Corrections, including the prison newspaper Stateville Speaks and the Building Block initiative. Renaldo is now the Education Director at the Illinois Prison Project.

Join Chicago Humanities in partnership with the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project for a conversation with these activists led by Alice Kim, Director of Practice at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago.

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