James Kilgore, born in 1947, is an American writer, activist, and academic. Known for his membership in the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) in the 1970s and for living as a fugitive for 27 years before his arrest in 2002, he pursued an academic career after serving his prison sentence. He is currently a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where his work focuses on mass incarceration and social justice. He is the author of several works, including the non-fiction book *Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People's Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time*, and the novels *We Are All Zimbabweans Now* and *Freedom Never Rests*. His recognition stems from his academic and literary contributions to the critical analysis of the U.S. penal system, as well as his activism for prison reform.