In loving memory of Daniel Jones

As his friends, colleagues, comrades, family and loved ones, we are fundraising in loving memory of Daniel Jones.

Danny Jones was a gentle warrior. 

When he was young, he made terrible decisions that resulted in him taking another person's life. He was locked away with a life without parole sentence at the tender age of 16. 

He then turned his eyes to his own personal transformation. After he found his grounding and developed his gifts as a leader and facilitator, while still in prison, he committed his in-prison time to collective transformation. 

In collaboration with other men who possessed various gifts, he led groups for his peers that were powerful programs for people serving life and long sentences. Through the National Lifers of America, he was able to help people left behind by the state—the Michigan Department of Corrections does not care about people serving long sentence and leaves them out of all department provided programs until they might be on their way out. 

Danny and his siblings in the work filled a huge void at whatever prison they were at. 

Then he came home. With all his self-made gifts shining through his beautiful face and heart. Danny all easy on the eyes. Danny full of humor and tenderness. 

Upon his return home, he hit the ground with a fierce and powerful wind. His energy seemed boundless (though many of us knew him to also carry too much; it taxed him). He facilitated national gatherings out of the gate and found his groove working in many different movement organizations as a consultant and volunteer (Voting Access for All Coalition, Nation Outside, Open MI Door, Human Rights Watch, ICAN-Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth). He became the coordinator for the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration just a few months after his release. While in prison, he worked with the American Friends Service Committee on the development of the program for his peers, then he consulted with AFSC, and finally earlier this year he became a fulltime program associate with AFSC—one of the main arteries in a beautiful team of people working to end life and long sentences in Michigan. 

Danny knew his struggle was intimately connected to all our struggles. He also loved reaching back into the prisons to give back to the people he left behind. He had just started going into the women's prison to help women serving life and long sentences prepare for the commutation process. 

It is in his spirit of service and the spirit of his ability to embrace all of us no matter who we are or what we have done in our pasts, that we reach out to you to help sustain Danny's ethos of love and care.

So many people have asked: "how can I support?"

We are asking for donations in his name to cover any final expenses for his family and then to dedicate resources to children of incarcerated parents (examples: back to school kits, books, creative supports like music classes or day camps) and books to people still locked up in prison serving long time.