Seattle Singer Confronts Emotions Of Having A Son In Prison For Life
Josephine Howell used to find it too painful to talk to her eldest son.
Charles is in prison on the East Coast, serving to two life sentences for second-degree murder. He was convicted at the age of 17 and has been locked up since 1999.
Howell fronts Seattle band Radio Raheem. They’ve written a new song about her son called, “Dear Charles.”
Howell told KUOW’s Jeannie Yandel that the song is a way that she attempts to express depths of her feeling in grappling with Charles’ situation.
“In all actuality I believe sometimes you have to be in the position in order to understand, and I never, ever want anybody to have to be in this position to understand it. So I tried my best to explain it,” Howell said.
Listen to Howell’s emotional interview to hear her explain how victims of crime can be empathetic to her situation.
WATCH: Josephine Howell gives a teaser of "Dear Charles" in the KUOW studios.
-
Jeannie Yandel
Special Projects Editor
Jeannie Yandel is a special projects editor focusing on podcasts and broadcast shows. She created and co-hosted the KUOW podcast Battle Tactics For Your Sexist Workplace and ran and edited KUOW's podcast about local curiosity, SoundQs. She also co-created and co-hosted KUOW's YouTube interview series, Are We Going To Be OK?. Previously, she was senior producer for The Conversation and KUOW Presents, and was Executive Producer for The Record.
More stories from Jeannie Yandel »
