Excerpt from The Philadelphia Inquirer November 24, 2024
by David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez
I entered prison at the age of 17, with a life sentence for a crime I didn’t commit. I couldn’tread or write and had an IQ of 56. Three decades later, I walked out with a bachelor’s degreefrom
Villanova University and a Pulitzer Prize for my podcast, Suave, which focuses onreentering society after prison.
My educational journey began in solitary confinement, a harsh environment with little hope. Ididn’t want to rely on others to read my mother’s letters to me while I was there, so I decided to teach myself how to read, no matter how long it took.