Eric Paris Whitfield is an Afro-native West Indian genderqueer student and activist from Harlem, NY, who remains unjustly incarcerated in the Eastern New York Correctional Facility after 20 years. During their sentence, Eric has worked hard to prove that they are more than their past. He obtained two degrees and will complete his third degree as a Bard College student in December 2022. They are currently writing their senior thesis about how Black lgbtq+ youth find safety, self-respect, and family in a hegemonic system that is at times hostile and marginalizing. In addition to academic achievement, Eric is actively involved in his community. For instance, he is a team leader at the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center, a Prison Advisory Committee Member at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and an Inside/Outside Coalition member.

Eric has a passion for writing and poetry, as well. They are an Empowerment Avenue Writer, under Director Emily Nonko, and recently a National Writer's Union member. They founded a Book Review Club at Eastern Correctional Facility under the guidance of Yale professor and co-Founder of Study and Struggle, Garrett Felber. Additionally, Eric is a recently published poet at Tufts University for their "New National Literary Arts Journal Resentencing Journal," and he's a Resident Poet for "What's the Tea." If you would like to read some of Eric's written work, see here.

Additionally, Eric has the support of Bard College's Bard Prison Initiative, the Fortune Society, and the Exodus Transitional Community, as well as the support of multiple officers and staff of the New York Department of Corrections.

While these leadership and community engagement positions are commendable on their own, Eric considers their greatest accomplishment to be becoming a better person, son, brother, uncle, and friend to their family, both chosen and biological. He attributes this to his strong and large family support system. Eric has the unwavering support of their family and friends in his fight to return home.

Eric remains in prison today because of an unjust law known as the felony murder law. This rule allows a defendant to be charged with first-degree murder for a killing that occurs during the commission of an underlining felony, even if the defendant is not the killer. In his case, Eric is innocent, yet they were convicted of murder in the 2nd degree and robbery in the 1st degree, with a sentence of 25 years to life. They have served 20 years; meanwhile, the actual killers and their codefendants are free in society. Please sign and share this petition, and help us bring Eric Paris Whitfield home!

If you would like to read more about Eric’s campaign against the New York State Felony murder Law click here. If you would like to support Eric’s reentry please go here.