Initially held at Angola after being convicted of armed robbery, King served a total of 32 years there, 29 of them in solitary.

[6] They lived in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans, where he became involved in petty crime as a youth, and learned to fear police.

[7] King has admitted to being involved in petty crime as a youth, but says that he was innocent of his first major conviction: for armed robbery.

He married a woman named Clara and began a brief semi-pro boxing career under the nickname of "Speedy King".

After being held in jail for over 11 months, King's acquaintance, known as "Boogie",[9] accepted a plea bargain and was released on time served.

His co-defendant on these charges testified that he had picked King out of a mug shot lineup only after being tortured by police into making a false statement.

Upon being returned to Orleans Parish Prison in 1971, King met some of the twelve Black Panther Party members who had been arrested after armed 1970 confrontations with police in September and November 1970.

[12] King became radicalized and worked with the Panthers; they organized and participated in non-violent hunger strikes at the prison in an effort to improve conditions.

Upon arrival at the prison, on the grounds that King "wanted to play lawyer for another inmate," he was immediately put into solitary confinement: first in the "dungeon," then the "Red Hat", and finally in the Closed Correction Cell (CCR) unit, where he was held until his 2001 release.

He has been featured in numerous print, media and film articles and interviews worldwide including: CNN, National Public Radio, NBC, BBC and ITN.

He appeared in two documentaries about him and his fellow prisoners in long-term solitary: Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation and Land of the Free (2010).

Following the destruction throughout the poorest areas of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, King pitched in with local activists to organize communities and provide aid.

[citation needed] On 1 December 2010, King was invited as the inaugural speaker at TEDxAlcatraz in San Francisco, delivering a talk entitled "Alone".