LSPC Program Director Dorsey Nunn Honored

"If I can see all my neighbors treated fairly, then I will have lived the American dream." - Dorsey Nunn

Dignity and respect for poor people is the most important achievement he hopes to accomplish in his work. LSPC’s Program Director was honored with an “In the Trenches” Award on July 17th by the Senior Ex-Offenders Program in San Francisco. The award included certificates of honor and recognition from city, county and state legislators, politicians, and a picture from President Bush.

The award is a recognition of the dedication and sacrifice with which Dorsey has served his community. He serves on many committees about prison and legal aid issues. In 1993 he was instrumental in establishing Free At Last, a residential treatment program for women and children and a drop in center for addicts and alcoholics in East Palo Alto. The center is close to his heart because it provides help and services to a lot of people and is the perfect way to make amends to his community.

Though pleased with the recognition that he is working hard for his community, Dorsey says he found it difficult to accept the award because all his achievements are the result of a collective and collaborative effort with so many other people.

He is also the co-founder of All of Us or None, a project of LSPC. All of Us or None is a national civil rights alliance by and for prisoners, former prisoners and their families. He has spoken extensively on issues relating to prisoners, their children and family members at numerous conferences, workshops and demonstrations.

Dorsey was sentenced to life in the California Department of Corrections under the felony murder rule in 1971 at the age of nineteen. He paroled in 1981 and discharged from parole in 1984. He emphasizes that incarceration does not benefit the community. He reflects on all the ways in which he has been able to assist his family and community, ways in which those still incarcerated cannot be of service to their own families communities.

He knows more about prisons than most people. He has studied prison systems and has visited prisons in South Africa, El Salvador and New Zealand. He remarks that the incarceration of large sectors of people of color is thoroughly wasteful, resulting in fractured communities.