David Luis Gonzalez

Biography

David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez is an American activist, artist, and podcast host who became a prominent voice for criminal justice reform following his own 31-year incarceration. Sentenced to mandatory life without parole in Pennsylvania at age 17 for a 1988 homicide conviction, Gonzalez entered prison illiterate but went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Villanova University and lead inmate education initiatives, delivering a TEDx Talk from inside Graterford State Prison in 2014. His decades-long dialogue and friendship with journalist Maria Hinojosa became the basis for the 2021 documentary p…