In the first entries of her Rikers Diaries, the Felonist begins writing to her younger self — "Little Felonist” — in a series of raw, unguarded letters that trace the origins of pressure, silence, and self‑erasure. From the dorms of Rikers Island, she reaches back into a childhood shaped by impossible responsibility, emotional suppression, and the demand to be the “good girl” no matter the cost. These diary pages reveal how perfectionism, caretaking, secrecy, and the need to appear “fine” became survival strategies long before incarceration. As she writes, the Felonist begins to see the architecture of her own undoing — and the first fragile outlines of who she might become without the roles she was forced to play. Letters to Little Felonist marks the true beginning of the Rikers Diaries: a private reckoning, a return to the child she left behind, and the first attempt to tell the truth without being punished for it.

In this first episode of The Rikers Diaries, the Felonist introduces herself with unflinching honesty — a returning citizen, an addict in recovery, and a storyteller finally ready to confront the past she spent years trying to bury. This episode isn’t a diary reading; it’s the origin story. The moment she steps forward and says: Here’s who I was, here’s what happened, and here’s why I have to tell these stories now. Through raw reflection, she shares how she survived Rikers, why she began journaling, and how a single black‑and‑white marble notebook — handed to her by a bunkie on Christmas Eve — became the lifeline that kept her sane. She speaks openly about rage, shame, addiction, injustice, and the brutal contradictions of incarceration: the depravity and the unexpected beauty, the trauma and the grace. This episode sets the emotional and spiritual frame for the entire season. It’s the threshold moment — the split between “before” and “after” — where she decides to stop hiding her past and start telling the stories that shaped her. This is where the journey begins.

Verification code for Apple Podcasts: 669569