In this first of a two-part series we speak with Brian Carmichael, HIV/AIDS and prison activist, who recalls his time incarcerated at California Medical Facility in Vacaville: though HIV-negative himself at the time, in 1992 he and Charles Perry launched a hunger strike demanding better care and treatment for inmates with HIV/AIDS — a protest that helped secure the first-ever hospice within a US prison.

Brian and his comrades were the first to join the facility’s new Pastoral Care Services team, supporting prisoners with HIV/AIDS; he remembers holding solitary vigils to ensure inmates did not die alone. Brian also played a huge part in the AIDS Quilt’s visit to CMF — the first time it had ever been displayed inside a prison — a stitched testament to the suffering and humanity of those behind bars by Brian and his comrades.

Across this ...