“I’ve never belonged in a democracy”

Part 2 of our interview with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re:Store Justice

This week, Adnan Khan talks about why learning the legislative process is so essential to any advocate. He talks about why he loves writing and how it served as therapy from his first day in a cell at eighteen. He shares how “determination through spite” drove him to succeed, and how that spite evolved into empathy, healing, and understanding for those in his life who had hurt him—and more broadly for humanity. And he shares his hopes for his baby boy, who was born last year. 

If you missed Part 1, it’s here.

In San Quentin, Adnan also founded FirstWatch, a filmmaking project fully staffed by incarcerated people. Source: Adnan and KQED.

Michelle: You and your organization were instrumental in passing a bill that scaled back prosecution of felony murder. Could you share the big things you learned? What was the legislative process like and how does that inform the way you think about advocacy? 

Adnan: At that time, my incarcerated colleagues and I didn't know anything about the legislative …