My Midnight Years

Surviving Jon Burge's Police Torture Ring and Death Row

By: Ronald Kitchen, Thai Jones, Logan M. McBride

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi

Ronald Kitchen was 21, on his way to buy milk for his four-year-old, when he was picked up by the Chicago police, brutally tortured, and coerced to confess to five counts of heinous murder. He spent 22 years in prison, 13 of those on death row, labeled as a monster. Kitchen was only one of the many victims of Jon Burge and his notorious Midnight Crew that terrorized and incarcerated Black men - 118 have come forward so far - on the south side of Chicago for nearly two decades.

Not one to give up, Kitchen co-founded the Death Row 10 from his maximum security cell block. Together, these men fought to expose the grave injustices that led to their wrongful convictions. The Death Row 10 appeared on 60 Minutes II, Nightline, Oprah, and Geraldo Rivera and, with the help of lawyers and activists outside, were instrumental in turning the tide against the death penalty in Illinois. Kitchen was finally exonerated in 2013 and filed a high-profile lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department, Jon Burge, Mayor Richard Daley, and the Cook County State's Attorney.

Kitchen's story is outrageous and heartbreaking. Largely absent from the current social justice narratives are the testimonies of the victims themselves. Kitchen is a rare survivor who has turned his suffering into a public cause and is poised to become a powerful spokesperson. The atrocities of the Midnight Crew have been brought to light through Kitchen's actions and are now part of the discussion as the nation engages in an unprecedented conversation about racism.

©2018 Ronald Kitchen, Thai Jones, Logan M. McBride (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Decades of police torture and prosecutorial complicity devastated black Chicago and filled Illinois’s prisons. In this moving memoir, Ronald Kitchen chronicles what that violence meant for him, his family, and so many others.... Don’t miss this harrowing, heartbreaking tale of injustice, survival, and resistance.” (Dan Berger, author of Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era)

The beautiful voice

Loved the way the story was told . I could picture everything . I will always wonder how Ronald has worked through all the demons that must haunt him everyday .

Eye-opening, heartbreaking...simply a must read !!

Highly recommended. the narrator brilliantly delivers in telling the author's story with true conviction and passion. Simply a must-read !!!

A story that I wish was unbelievable.

This was an amazing expose of the corrupt police in Chicago , I wish that it was fiction but unfortunately it is not. The research that went into this had to be a huge undertaking but the t’s were crossed and the i’s were all dotted correctly . It is my hope that this story helps to alleviate any future situation that may present itself but I hope with a bit of doubt. I can hope!

Important book

Very good book. Mr Kitchen bares his soul on how it was on death row and even the hardships of transitioning back to “normal” life. Highly recommended.

Excellent story and narrator

I want to hug this man. This book should be read in the classroom kids need to know what happens in the real, cruel world of racism

Great book

I thought this was a great read but was too short. I especially love the narrator's voice.

Eye opening

An inside look of police corruption on minorities and the devastation it leaves behind.

No place for racism

Thank you for sharing your story.
It is heartfelt.
This should be a must read in our public schools.
I am white.
I had never heard of such blatant self serving politics.
You are brave and were blessed with the strength of two very strong strong caring women.
Best to you all

Biggest Gang In Chicago

Most people can not, or will believe Mr. Kitchen’s amazing story of courage and perseverance. As someone who was raised 3 miles from where he grew up, and personally knew four of the men that were exonerated (and compensated) due to the lazy, racist uncaring thugs that comprised the midnight crew of the criminal Jon Burge, i knew the stories were true, and that he and others were wrongly imprisoned. It’s a sad commentary on our society that we are still fighting just for the right to be treated humanely because others don’t want to give up a false impression of privilege that the country was built upon. As someone who was spared his and the other’s nightmarish experience by a mother who worked 38 years for Chicago P.D. and literally saved me from a similar fate by stopping the cops from falsely arresting me, i commend him for his bravery and thank him for sharing his poignant story. People say that Chicago has a gang problem, and it does. And the biggest gang in Chi is the C.P.D. with the blue code of silence…

must listen

the story is one of millions in this country. all to familiar. too close to home