Teresa 'Tree' muldrow

Philadelphia, PA

Well my brother, when he was 18 he was arrested and he was sentenced to life without parole for murder. This year he told me that he didn’t commit the murder.  He was 18, he was a kid. For 30 years he just let on people to believe he was guilty because he was ashamed that he let somebody beat him into signing a confession.  So for the past four months, I've been trying to get him lawyers and legal help. Hopefully, his conviction will be overturned. I call him my hero. He has so much bravery and strength.  He has, he has optimism and he's not bitter. I would be so bitter. You know, he looks for the future. He's got his bachelor's degree in philosophy, which is, you know, like amazing. You know I’m proud to be his sister.

My 97 year-old aunt for we passed away Monday night - Monday morning sorry.  I had been telling her I was coming to the poor people's campaign and I told her I was going to be arrested.  When I saw her Sunday I knew the last time and I wanted to say goodbye to her. I said, “How about if when I get arrested, I do it in your name?”  And I said, “Yeah.” I said, “Aunt Ethel, Thursday you’ll be in heaven.” I said, “but Thursday you're going to be arrested in Washington, DC on a civil disobedience action.”  And she smiled. She sort of laughed. She snickered. So I said, “I really got my 97 year old aunt’s official last laugh.” It felt great.