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Michael Saavedra was released from prison in February 2017 after being inside for over 19 years, where he was kept in solitary confinement for over 15 years. During that time, he helped organize, lead, and participated in all three separate California prisoner hunger strikes against solitary confinement between 2011 and 2013.
He also educated himself while in solitary and was able to learn and utilize the law to successfully sue the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation several times, as well as assist and teach others to do the same.
Michael graduated as a Pathway to Law School student at Riverside City College in 2020 and is currently an undergraduate student at UCLA, majoring in American Indian Studies with a minor in Chicanx and Central American Studies.
Michael founded Riverside City College’s first formerly imprisoned student organization. As he continues to pursue his law degree, he has been selected as a 2020 and 2021 Harvard Law Justice Catalyst Fellow, a 2022 UCLA Law fellow, and more recently, a 2022 Loyola Law School Activist in Residence Fellow.
Michael has worked with many social justice grassroots organizations like Dignity and Power Now in an effort to help end mass incarceration and continue to build peace and solidarity amongst Black and Brown communities in Los Angeles.