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Five Mualimm-ak is a prominent American criminal justice reform advocate and the founder of the **Incarcerated Nation Network (INN)**. He is best known for his work around **solitary confinement, prison reform, and closing Rikers Island**, one of the most infamous jail complexes in the U.S., located in New York City.
Five Mualimm-ak spent years in New York State prisons**, with years in solitary confinement**, often for non-violent infractions. After his release, he became a vocal critic of the prison industrial complex and a powerful advocate for people impacted by incarceration. His personal experience in solitary confinement helped shape his mission to expose the mental, emotional, and physical toll of prison conditions.

Close Rikers Campaign

In **2010**, Five Mualimm-ak played a key role in founding the movement to close Rikers Island**, which would become known as the **Close Rikers campaign**. His advocacy helped shift public discourse and policy around mass incarceration in New York City. The campaign brought together formerly incarcerated people, community organizers, and civil rights groups, demanding the closure of the notorious jail complex due to its long history of violence, abuse, and systemic neglect.

Rikers: An American Jail (2017)

Five Mualimm-ak was also featured in and helped produce the *documentary film* titled *"Rikers: An American Jail"**, released in **2017* and produced by **Bill Moyers**. The film aired on public television and was widely acclaimed for its stark, personal portrayal of life inside Rikers Island.

#### About the Film:

**Produced by**: Bill Moyers - Five Mualimm-ak
*Featured Participants**: The film consists of powerful **first-person testimonies* from formerly incarcerated individuals—including Five Mualimm-ak—who share harrowing experiences of violence, dehumanization, and trauma.
**Focus**: It aims to humanize those who have been incarcerated and shine a light on the deep flaws in the jail system, particularly at Rikers.
**Impact**: The film became a key cultural piece in the broader campaign to close Rikers Island and was used in advocacy efforts and educational programs across the country.

Legacy

Five Mualimm-ak continues to be an influential voice in justice reform, mental health advocacy, and the movement to dismantle the prison-industrial complex. Through his work with INN and other community-based initiatives, he helps elevate the stories of incarcerated people and advocates for healing-centered alternatives to incarceration.
Rikers Island is a large jail complex in New York City, located on an island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx. It has long been a symbol of mass incarceration, systemic racism, and the inhumane treatment of people held in pretrial detention—most of whom are legally innocent and awaiting trial.

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🔹 Conditions at Rikers
Rikers has been widely criticized for:

Brutality and violence by both corrections officers and among detainees

Solitary confinement, often for extended periods

Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions

Lack of medical and mental health care

Deaths in custody, including suicides and medical neglect

One high-profile case was Kalief Browder, a Bronx teenager who was held at Rikers for 3 years—mostly in solitary—without being convicted of a crime. After his release, he died by suicide, sparking national outrage and demands for reform.

🔹 Calls to Close Rikers
Advocates and organizers—including Five Mualimm-ak, the Jails Action Coalition, and the Close Rikers Campaign—have been fighting for years to shut down Rikers Island.

Their demands were based on:

The inhumanity of conditions

The disproportionate impact on marginalized communities

The failure of incarceration to address root causes of harm

In 2017, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to close Rikers Island within 10 years, replacing it with smaller borough-based jails and investing in alternatives to incarceration.

🔹 Current Status (as of 2025)
The plan to close Rikers by 2027 is still in progress but faces delays and political opposition.

The jail continues to experience deaths in custody, ongoing violence, and staff shortages.

Many advocates, including Five Mualimm-ak, are pushing for faster action and non-carceral solutions like housing, mental health care, and community investment.