And that is why the distance between Howard Stern’s microphone and a Black Medicare patient being steered toward a lower-rated hospital may not be as great as it first appears.

Each Thursday, Williams leads the Prison Poets class, gathering men with different sentences and stories. They meet in a bright gray room with chalk dust and a few empty bookshelves. Across the hall, behind thick glass, the sounds of prison industry continue as men sew uniforms for the same city that once had Williams’ name on its letterhead.

“We have created a magnificent livery for the Libertyliner 250 to celebrate 250 years of American Freedom and the first train in America to operate faster than 250 kilometers per hour,” said Scott R. Spencer, chief operating officer of AmeriStarRail.