Britney Gulley is his legal name, but this female to male transgender inmate is better known as Xandan. He's a political prisoner, activist, and published writer. Xandan Gulley enjoys football, reading, astrology, Greek mythology, women’s basketball, dogs, and listening to NPR. One minuscule tranquility for Xandan is being able to watch the sunrise and sunset every day, out his small window in the 6X9 solitary cell (where he has been a victim of prolonged solitary confinement for over 14 years). Xandan Gulley has been published in the Texas Observer, The Advocate magazine, LGBTQ Nation, San Francisco Bayview newspaper, Prism, and Black Lipstick magazine, and recently won a 2025 Stillwater Award. Naturally down-to-earth with a great sense of humor and contagious smile, Xandan doesn’t allow his dire circumstances to break his soul or dictate his spirit. He loves making people smile and laugh while continuing to bring awareness to the concealed injustices within a flawed prison system. In this episode, you'll hear his story of discrimination, loneliness, strength, and courage living as a Black trans man in a woman's prison in Texas, locked alone in a cell with no human interaction other than phone calls to his mother, and an occasional correctional officer grunting as he passes by the cell door. Through the story he shares, Xandan proves how “a single candle has the power to defy darkness."

Richard Strong was convicted of First-Degree Murder for the 2011 shooting of Ygnacio Bermudez, Jr., on the streets of Lansing, Michigan. Rick, who was sentenced to Life without Parole, claims he was wrongfully convicted of the murder and has polygraph test results to prove it. He admitted, however, that his past history of selling drugs and hanging around the wrong people contributed to his downfall, and he knew he "needed to just change everything." It was then that he made a conscious decision to stop thinking about himself and discover his God-given purpose: helping others. So for the past 14 years, incarcerated at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan, Rick Strong has worked as a GED Tutor, a mentor to new inmates, and has received an Associate of Arts and and a Bachelor's Degree. In prison, Richard Strong says he is never alone, but always lonely. That's why he hopes to meet a pen pal who values honesty, kindness, and real conversation, and who believes that everyone deserves to be seen as more than just their mistakes. Read more about him at https://penpals.buzz/inmate/richard-strong

Robert, a PenPals.Buzz Super Fan, works as a caretaker in Illinois. After some personal experiences with friends and family members being arrested and incarcerated, he decided it was time for less judgment and more kindness. In addition to helping the free-world senior citizen residents as his place of employment, he felt a strong desire to help those behind the walls, too. That's when, about a year ago, he happened across PenPals.Buzz and began writing to male and female prison inmates around the country. (He did his homework and learned, from our podcast, how to avoid being manipulated and taken advantage of.) Robert shares his personal experiences writing to prisoners and talking to some on the phone. He feels he's doing God's work by offering a supportive ear to those who need it most. "Sometimes, it just takes a listener. People just wanna feel heard," he shares. Robert also offers helpful advice to others about what to do (and what not to do) when beginning a pen pal friendship with a prison inmate. Most important, he says, always remember to "come with confidence, because you are the boss."