Jose DiLenola

February 1, 2024

2024 Community Engagement Fair

Hosted by the University of Rochester’s Center of Community Engagement and Students’ Association Government. The purpose of this event is to provide local organizations with the opportunity to share what they do, connect with students and faculty who are eager to serve the community and identify ways for students and faculty to get involved.

November 7, 2023

University of Rochester – Rochester Education Justice Initiative

Panel discussion on decarceral work within the Rochester, NY community and strategies for ways the University of Rochester can support local decarceral work.

October 28th, 2023

Columbia Law School and the Society of Fellows/Heyman Center for the Humanities

The conference is centered on the artwork of Kenneth Reams, who was on death row for over 25 years. While he and his legal team pursued a federal habeas petition to overturn his conviction, Mr. Reams turned to art as one way to tell his story and the story of mass incarceration in America.

Part of this conference will include a legal panel that will focus broadly on questions related to parole, clemency, and mass incarceration. We are aiming to discuss what it’s like to go through the parole process, the pain points in the parole system, and the value/need for clemency.

For more information see: The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities presents Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?, an exhibition of art by Kenneth Reams and Isabelle Reams

April 29, 2023

Flying Squirrel Community Space – Town Hall

This is a call to all members of the Rochester community who have a passion for social change – no matter your prior exposure to community organizing movements or in decarceral work. Release Aging People in Prison Campaign and the University of Rochester Decarceral Student Organizing Committee will be gathering in the community to increase awareness of the many issues of incarceration here in Rochester. We will gather at the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 5 pm on April 29th, 2023.

This event will emphasize local decarceration efforts centered around the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP), with various community activists, students, leaders, and members coming together to raise awareness and promote our collective strength toward fighting injustice. This will be a chance to promote education and to center essential discussions. Whether you are knowledgeable about the realities of mass incarceration in our country or not – we want you to come!

April 29, 2023

Columbia Law School -Clemency Town Hall

The event will feature an academic overview of clemency in NYS and give information about the current state of clemency in NY (compared to other states). Our panelists will include law professors, community organizers, and directly impacted folks working on this issue. Together, they will discuss tactics to open up the clemency process and encourage Gov. Hochul to follow through on her promise and release the aging population in New York prisons.

April 18, 2023

On The Record: Bearing witness to incarceration – Interview

Founded in 2012, the American Prison Writing Archive contains more than 3,000 essays by people incarcerated in the U.S. Last year, the APWA was awarded a grant from the Mellon Foundation and moved from Hamilton College to the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins professor Vesla Weaver describes the purpose and potential of the collection. And Jose DiLenola shares how writing helped him make sense of his time in prison. Today, DiLenola is the Clemency Campaign Director for Release Aging People in Prison.

Search the American Prison Writing Archive. Learn how to submit work to the archive.

April 1, 2023

The Sanctuary for Independent Media – A Woman on the Outside

Growing up, Kristal watched nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected, both as a social worker and with her van service that drives families to visit loved ones in far-off prisons. But when Kristal’s dad and brother return to Philly, her happiness meets the realization that release doesn’t always mean freedom.

Join us on April 1 for a film screening of “A Woman on the Outside,” a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them.

Directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville and protagonist Kristal Bush will begin at 5 pm with a Be The Media! workshop on “Participatory Design in Journalistic Process.” At 6:30 pm there will be a brief opening reception for the exhibition “Women on the Outside.” Then at 7 pm will be the film screening of @awomanontheoutsidefilm followed by a panel discussion that includes Jose DiLenola and TeAna Taylor of @RAPPCampaign.

More information at https://www.mediasanctuary.org/events

Sponsored by: @rpi_hass

Co-sponsored by: @chriswilsonfoundation, @RAPPCampaign, @plsny_org, @cfljalbany, and Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration

March 25-26, 2023

Columbia School of Social Work – Beyond the Bars: Seeding Justice

We will analyze ways to move from punishment to healing using community outreach and support strategies to undermine key pillars of the racist punishment system. We aim to organize participants to join us in our work against mass incarceration and towards healing, and support groups using other strategies that support our collective goals. We will discuss how on-the-ground organizing and building power from the ground up is key to attacking parts of the racist power system.

Presenters: Jose Saldana and Jose DiLenola

March 2, 2023

Just Deserts – Attica: 50 Years Later

Viewing of the 2021 documentary, Attica, by Traci Curry, and Stanley Nelson, with discussion and Q&A on the roots of the 1971 uprising and what has/has not changed at Attica Correctional Facility.

March 1, 2023

St. John Fisher University, Rochester, NY – Symposium: Clemency in Criminal Justice

This presentation covered the historical roots of clemency, from ancient Western philosophers to present-day United States jurisprudence. It outlines the clemency process in New York State; its use to present-day and current problems in NYS; and proposes reform by way of clemency being granted frequently, transparently, and inclusively.

February 8, 2023

St. John Fisher University, Rochester, NY

Q&A Session on Attica Prison and about whether or not conditions seemed improved at Attica post-1971. The experience of incarceration as a juvenile and older person. Questions about the experience of reentry.

December 1, 2022

New Yorkers for Clemency – YouTube Video

These and many more incarcerated individuals and families are waiting for NYS Governor Hochul to start granting clemencies.

For more information visit:

• New Yorkers for Clemency
• Release Aging People in Prison New York State Executive Clemency Assistance

• #HochulBringThemHome

September 9, 2022

Rochester Labor Film Series 2022, Dryden Theater Rochester, New York – Q&A Session

(Traci Curry, Stanley Nelson, US 2021 116 min., DCP) On September 9, 1971, the prisoners at Attica Correctional Facility, citing systemic abuse and human rights violations, took control of the prison and over thirty hostages. The bulk of the facility’s workers were from Attica, NY, which had been a prison town for four decades, while the mainly black and brown inmates were brought in from around the state, dividing the population along racial and cultural lines. The standoff between the prisoners and the police ended four days later in a violent re-taking of the prison. This searing new documentary uses rarely seen footage and new interviews with former prisoners and the families of the guards to take a new look at the events of that week, especially in mate demands such as ending the convict labor sanctioned under the 13th amendment to the US Constitution.

For more on the Rochester Labor Film Series, Attica.

September 8-9, 2022

RiseUp – A Conference on Higher Education and Prison

The conference featured speakers from throughout the country as well as from around the world! We were honored to hear the stories of system-impacted individuals who have been released and are now working in incredible positions once thought unattainable, such as physicians, lawyers, directors, professors, and more. For more on the Rise Up – A Conference on Higher Education and Prison.

Truth in Rehabilitation

Outlines the rehabilitation courses offered within the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Explores the motivations (or lack of) for rehabilitation, and efficacy of these courses. Exposes the use of falsified participation data and how it misleads society.

May 3, 2022

Hamilton College, Clinton, NY – Q&A

Session with second-year literary students.

March 23, 2022

Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester New York – Q&A

Session with first-year criminal law students.

January 30, 2022

The Little Theater, Rochester New York – Q&A

The Interview

Directed by Jon Miller and Zach Russo, formerly incarcerated people describe what it’s like trying to convince a group of strangers that they are more than the worst thing they ever did.

For more information on The Interview.