My fellow pastor and I pass along the gray walls of our county jail and descend to the bottom floor. Each time I cross this threshold—after handing my badge to the attendant and stretching my arms to be patted down—my body still acts like I’m descending into hostile territory. Here, I’m more …
Beyond the Verdict: Finding Hope and Solidarity After “Still Convicted”
For years, I lived in and out of a system that monetized bondage while prioritizing finality over truth. I came to understand that the system was not searching for the truth but rather for what it could prove—or, more accurately, what I could not prove: my innocence. Without making excuses for …
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A Pastor’s Experience in Alligator Alcatraz
Christina Foor is joined by Pastor Wilber Marenco, who shares his story of detention in the South Florida Detention Facility, also known as Alligator Alcatraz. He shares his story of migration, reflects on his church’s response in this moment, and how this experience of detainment has affected him, …
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Counting the Cost of Reentry
I spent about ten years of my life incarcerated. Not all at once, but in pieces: going in, getting out, and going right back in again. That cycle is something people like to talk about in statistics, but living it is different. It’s not just bad decisions or bad luck—it’s the way the system was …
Prophets in Prisons: Locked in Solidarity 2026
By Rev. Kevin Burns and Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs This is an excerpt from the Locked in Solidarity Preaching Guide, which is part of CCDA's Locked in Solidarity Bundle. Click here to download the bundle and get resources to help you and your community stand in solidarity with your incarcerated …
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Profits and Prisons
Sam Heath is joined by Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises and Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs of Franklin Community Church to discuss mass incarceration and CCDA’s Locked in Solidarity Week. They discuss the profitability of prisons, stories of people behind bars, and ways that we can get involved in this …
Advocacy by CCDA Members in Florida
CCDA Central Florida Network Connector and Cohort 9 member, Megan Ginn, represented CCDA at a press conference calling for compassion, dignity, and respect for due process while affirming the God-given dignity of immigrants as vital members of our churches and communities. She beautifully …
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The Borderlands, Restored!
There are summer days in El Paso when it gets so hot that the sky crumbles into rain. It seems to come out of nowhere. That day, the sky was getting cloudy, then darker, as we drove the 15 minutes out to Sunland. On the Juárez side, they beat us to the spot. We arrived along with another car driven …
