From Supermax to Purpose: Coley Gates’ Journey of Faith and Redemption

In this powerful episode of YANA: You Are Not Alone, host James Trice sits down with Minneapolis native Coley Gates for a raw and deeply moving conversation about faith, accountability, and transformation. Coley opens the episode with a powerful spoken-word piece from his book Common Sense: We Are Bigger Than the Box You Put Us In, reflecting on identity, pain, and the legacy of Black men in America. But his story goes far deeper. As a young man, Coley was sentenced to 999 years, 99 months, and 99 days in prison for a crime he did not commit. Instead of “snitching” on the person responsible, he accepted the consequences of the life he had been living. Behind the walls of Supermax prison in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, Coley began a profound journey of self-discovery.