WATCH: Mujahideen Muhammed and Columbia Professor Noah Remnick Share About Book Club for Men with Life Sentences

During the 2024 Rise Up conference, Columbia Professor Dr Noah Remnick, who teaches in correctional facilities with our Justice-in-Education Initiative, and Mujahideen Muhammad gave a presentation about a book club they help facilitate for men with life sentences at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Mujahideen and other men incarcerated at Sing Sing conceptualized and created the Miller's Children Book Club while Mujahideen was still at Sing Sing and is continuing to facilitate the group through our Justice-in-Education Initiative. Mujahideen came home from prison in April of this year after spending over 24 years in prison after being sentenced to 25 years to life as a 19-year-old. 

The Miller's Children Book Club is named after the book Miller's Children by James Garbarino about the US Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Miller v. Alabama, which outlaws mandatory life-without-parole sentences for people who were convicted of murder as a juvenile. Participants in the book club are all serving exceptionally long sentences, many of whom were sentenced at a young age. They meet weekly and discuss topics around guilt, remorse, and forgiveness. Men from the book club recently participated in a panel discussion inside of Sing Sing and shared about how the book club is impacting their lives. You can watch the panel here. 

Watch Mujahideen and Noah's full presentation on the Miller's Children Book Club below: