David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez is an artist and activist who was sentenced to life without parole at age 17. He was released from prison in 2017 but given a sentence of lifetime parole, after a Supreme Court ruling that banned life sentences for juveniles. The podcast Suave, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2022, recounts his story as someone re-entering society after three decades in prison.
Gonzalez grew up in the South Bronx. [1] After his grandfather was murdered in front of him, his family moved to Philadelphia. [2] When he was 17 years old, Gonzalez was arrested for the first-degree homicide of a 13 year old boy. He was accused of shooting the boy while trying to steal his leather jacket. [3] [4] Gonzalez was sentenced to life without parole, [3] which he served at State Correctional Institution – Graterford. [5] Gonzalez later stated that he did not commit the crime. [6] [7]
According to Gonzalez, he was suicidal in prison and took part in many fights. [5] [8] [4] He convinced his friend to invite journalist Maria Hinojosa as a guest speaker at Graterford after hearing her on the radio. [5] After her talk, he asked for advice, and Hinojosa told him he could serve as her source about the criminal justice system and be a "voice for the voiceless". [5] [3] [4] He credits this conversation with motivating him to improve his life. Hinojosa and Gonzalez met in 1993, stayed in touch, and eventually became friends. [5] [4] Gonzalez has said that having a friendship with someone outside of prison gave him hope and indicated that his "humanity wasn’t really lost". [9] [8]
When Gonzalez met Hinojosa, he was illiterate and believed that his IQ was 56. [4] [6] With the help of another inmate, Gonzalez learned how to read. [6] [10] After eight attempts, he completed his GED and later attained a Bachelor's Degree in education and marketing from Villanova University. [2] [6] [10] Gonzalez served as president of LACEO, an organization which provides scholarships funded by incarcerated people, who are paid as little as 19 cents per hour. [4] [11] In 2014, Gonzalez gave a TEDx Talk at Graterford about LACEO and his life. [12]
While Gonzalez was in prison, his mother died, and he was not permitted to attend her funeral. [4] [7]
In 2012, the United States Supreme Court found that mandatory sentences of life without parole are unconstitutional for juveniles in Miller v. Alabama. [10] [13] Four years later, in Montgomery v. Louisiana, the Court found that this also applied to people who had previously been sentenced. [5] [14]
At age 48, Gonzalez was released on November 20, 2017, on lifetime parole. [4] [15] That same day, he visited Esperanza College in Hunting Park, Philadelphia, to ask them to provide educational programs to incarcerated people. Additionally, he gave a speech at Esperanza Academy Charter School in which he asked for forgiveness from the community and urged students to stay out of prison. [4] Hinjosa and a video crew accompanied him and filmed the events. [14]
Since 2022, Gonzalez has worked with I Am More, a program at the Philadelphia Community College that assists formerly incarcerated individuals with re-entry through supportive services and education. [14] [2] [16] Gonzalez still deals with trauma from his incarceration [3] [5] [13] and has pointed to education, especially about technology, as key for preventing recidivism. [6] [10]
Hinojosa recorded her conversations with Gonzalez, some of which were later included in Suave, a podcast about Gonzalez's life and the US criminal justice system. [3] [5] [9] Due to the closeness of her relationship with Gonzalez, Hinojosa did not produce the show and recruited journalist Maggie Freleng to serve as her co-host. [13] [3] Suave was produced by PRX and Futuro Studios and released in 2021. [9] The podcast won a International Documentary Association Award for Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series and a Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting in 2022. [14] [9] The official Pulitzer announcement called Suave: "a brutally honest and immersive profile of a man reentering society after serving more than 30 years in prison." [9] [17] Season 2, which premiered in April 2025, focuses on Gonzalez's life after prison. [18]
Gonzalez is a painter and mixed media artist. [16] [19] While in prison, he created art with whatever materials he could find including coffee grounds and markers; he fashioned paint brushes from plastic spoons, glue from toothpaste, and paint from magazine photos and water. [20] [21] In collaboration with other artists, he painted a mural called Healing Walls in Graterford that was later installed in Philadelphia. [21] [22] After his release, Gonzalez participated in the 2018 Reimagining Reentry Fellowship run by Mural Arts Philadelphia. [14] [23] [24] His artwork has been included in shows with other formerly incarcerated artists including "We are all doing Time" at the Morton Contemporary gallery in Philadelphia [20] [19] and "Faces of Resilience" at Mason Exhibitions in Arlington, Virginia. [25] [26] He continues to incorporate a wide variety of materials into his art including notebook wire, shoelaces, paint chips, and court documents. [20] [19]