Mac Hudson
AccessMA
Boston, MA USA
"Every challenge is supposed to bring something out of you. And if you meet that challenge, you grow."
Career Roadmap
Mac's work combines: Non-Profit Organizations, Law, and Upholding a Cause and Belief
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
Bachelor's Degree
Media, Literature, and Culture
Emerson College
Certification
Law
Paralegal Institute
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I entered prison not wanting to focus on anything except the law and what went wrong with my case, but a persistent peer pushed me to consider education.
2.
I became obsessed with learning the law, not just to fight my own case but to fight for others who were overlooked or mistreated.
3.
Inside, I helped build a movement of incarcerated Black and brown men who united under shared struggle to demand better conditions.
4.
I turned lawsuits into tools for justice—winning halal meals, legal access, and religious rights that hadn’t existed before.
5.
After years of resistance and struggles—like the Pell Grant cuts—I finally enrolled in a six-credit Emerson course, which propelled me into a bachelor’s degree program.
6.
When I crossed the graduation stage with my bachelor's degree, my tears weren’t just for me, they were also for my family and everything we’d survived.
7.
Coming home, I founded AccessMA to bring resources, healing, and hope back to the same neighborhood that raised me.
8.
I also serve as a community liaison and paralegal for the Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
I'm not good enough. I won't succeed.
How I responded:
One of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was self-hate. Self-hate plagues our community. You have to meet the self-hate with great love. It takes time for people to get over their own self-hate as well. But if they see you being consistent and you show them that you believe in yourself and your vision, you'll start to win them over. When trying to accomplish something big, ignore the politics and just make it about the work. That's how you'll find success and longevity.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I served 33 years in prison, most of which for a crime I did not commit. I pursued education and learned the law so that I could move forward and fight for others who were also mistreated.
We, as Black and brown men, weren't given the same access to resources inside prison as our white counterparts—from hygiene products to jobs and out-of-cell time. I helped build a movement of Black and brown men in prison to demand better conditions.