Formerly Incarcerarted Chris Wilson

Great to see how libraries help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.  Recently, I attended an event in Baltimore where a panelist of successful individuals shared their stories. One panelists was Chris Wilson who  was incarcerated at age 17, spent 16 years in the Maryland prison system, and shared how he used the prison library constantly.  Now back in the community, he is using the skills learned in prison  to maintain his business, Barclay Investment Corporation.   Second Life details his life story to date.

http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/2015/9/29/chris-wilson-lifts-ex-offenders-into-the-workforce

Anonymous Donor

Acting as intermediary for a generous donor, this week I purchased and delivered over $1800.00 worth of new books to Maryland Transition Center, that was  known at Maryland Penitentiary when I worked in the prison system. I bought books on self-help, job interview techniques, fund source to start your own business, gardening, landscaping, family relations, and some leisure reading for the inmates who are transitioning back to society. Sheer pleasure for me to purchase, than to sort through donated books from well meaning persons who "cant bear to throw books away" so they clear out their deceased ancestors book shelves to donate to the "poor prisoners" then ask for receipts for tax purposes.

We should bear in mind that if we do not prepare inmates for reentry, the recidivism rate is higher, and we as tax payers pay a higher price.

Entrance to MTC- MRDCC on Right.  Inmates get classified and sent to prison from MRDCC

Unloading books with the help of inmates

L to R): MTC  Warden Solomon Hejirika; former librarian Glennor Shirley; Asst. Warden Dionne Randolph; Chief of Security Linda E. Cottie.

   

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Inmates taking  donated books  into the  institution

Juvenile Incerceration

More and more we read of reports of children being taken out of school and placed in juvenile prisons for the slightest misdemeanor.  One article stated the police was called because the child did not have the correct uniform.  As a nation we must begin to protect and educate our children, not scar them for life by sending them to prison.
No Place For Kids

http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-NoPlaceForKidsFullReport-2011.pdf#page=7

Children of Incarcerated Parents

I was very happy to come upon this link where Sesame Street did a short video of children visiting their parents in prison.  The video reminded me of the lost  look I saw on the faces of children each time I passed through visiting rooms when I worked in the prisons.  It was this look that prompted me to start the program, FAMILY LITERACY @ YOUR LIBRARY.http://prisonlibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/05/family-literacy-and-incarcerated-adults.html  It also prompted me to write an article titled "Reflections...". http://olos.ala.org/columns/?p=121 Children with parents in prison sometimes drop out of school,  end up in  gangs, in poverty, and become addicted to drugs. The USA has over 2.7 million children with a parent in prison.  As taxpayers,  we pay a tremendous amount  for mental health, drug addiction, incarceration.. I wonder when we as a society will get it that prison is not always the answer.

                                                     Inmates reading to their Children

Salim released

The  Baltimore Sun's  article about Sadiki's release  made me go  to my  prison journal where I had recorded a conversation with him in the 80s.  Excerpts of the conversation are below:

 

"It started with petty thievery when we steal because we were hungry.  Then it became easy and we took more things.  Then we were daring one another as to who could take the most under the most challenging situation.

 Later it gave us a certain sense of power. I could walk into a store and come out with a thousand dollar coat in a matter of minutes.  It did not make sense to work at some job at McDonalds for about $4 an hour.

 Dressed in my expensive coat, clothes and with all my ring and chains, Miss S" He paused, opened his eyes wide, emphasizing the next words to show the power those clothes gave him.

 "I could have any girl or woman I want."   He sat quietly for a moment, as if he had nodded off.  Then he roused himself and continued.

 "Yes the women were there just ready for me and the other guys, the more expensive you look, the more choices you had.

 I was young, that was the life, I had no incentive to work.  The future was so far away.  In the sixties, I joined the civil rights movement, and did everything the young people did in those days.  I tried every form of drugs."

 His tone became reflective; his eyes took on a faraway look.  Suddenly he continued.

 "I think that a lot of the things I can't remember now is the result of my experiments with all those drugs.” 

He said in a tone as if he had expected me to contradict him,

"It must have affected my brain Miss Shirley.

Salim gave me the card on the right for Kwanzaa. 

Books Behind Bars

A few weeks ago, I participated in a forum organized by some community activists in Washington DC.  They were advocating more access to books behind bars- Restorative justice. Chief organizer,  activist Sam Jewler, brought in speakers from different backgrounds, including Free Minds Book Club  to share experiences either as ex offenders, or as advocates for access to education and library services in the DC jails.  Through Sam's advocacy, the DC council recently placed funds in its budget for jail library services.  See report in The Capital Librarian.http://capitallibrarian.tumblr.com/post/87259511331/books-behind-bars-building-a-community-of-action

Sending prisoners to college will save you money

Interesting article in Newsday on college and prisoners.  Even more interesting are the controversial comments on the topic. Check out the comments on the article.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/sending-prisoners-to-college-will-save-you-money-lois-davis-and-jennifer-steele-1.7658934

 

 

Criminal Justice Collaboration

 Many organizations and groups  that work for or with prisoners or ex offenders operate in silo,  duplicating efforts as they seek funds for doing almost the same thing.  We spend more  on Public Safety than education. (Approx.  $12,000 - education and $30,000- $60,000 for incarceration) 

It is great therefore to see some collaborative effort: Second Chance Mental Health Collaboration  

http://csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc/announcements/second-chance-act-and-justice-and-mental-health-collaboration-program-conferences-convene-this-week/

in an upcoming workshop.  We should remember that for every one incarcerated or denied employment because of their criminal past, there is loss of another possible taxpayer.

Liberal Arts Classes in Prisons

The years I worked in prisons and with prisoners, opened my eyes to the necessity for community groups to go inside the fence to help show prisoners other ways than the path that led them to prison.

Traditionally outside help had a mainly religious focus.  It is encouraging more recently,  to see a broader spectrum of community support with programs that will broaden prisoners' experience and help direct  them to be more successful when they return to society. The Goucher Liberal Arts Program  reported in the Washington Post is showing inmates another way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/selective-goucher-college-brings-liberal-arts-into-maryland-prisons/2013/12/02/a9b3a058-5772-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html

High cost of inmate phone calls

Prison phone companies make huge profits from inmate phone calls.  An inmate phone call to a family member, that includes his/her child can cost up to $17.00 for 15 minutes.  The ACLU is trying to get the FCC to pass some regulations to reduce the cost.  Link to the ACLU site:
   https://www.aclu.org/global-tel

Conversations with a Prisoner

Going through my prison library journal, I came across this entry from the 90s.  One day I will include  it in the book that everyone is encouraging me to write.

 

JT the Prisoner

JeyT had tattoos all over his arms.  He said each one represented some philosophy, theology, or some girl he dated or with whom he was in love.

He said that among the many things he did for a living, he also did tattoos on people for $100 per hour. He cited doctors, lawyers, and other professionals among his customers.  “You just don’t see it because sometimes it’s a small symbol and it’s hidden.  Many people with tattoos wear long sleeves.  The heat from the sun will drain the dye, so it’s better to cover it. “

JT was an avid science fiction reader who declared that most of the books I had in the prison library,  were rereads for him.  He said on this day he would not borrow many books because he felt he was leaving soon.   I thought he was leaving for his freedom, but he said no, he was leaving for a state prison, and a long sentence.

I expressed surprise, when he informed me he had been in prison for 15 years.

‘You must like it, I said why you commit another offense to return.”   “No.” he said, “The prison system does not prepare you to go back into society.  You spend the greater part of your life in prison.  There everything is done for you.  People tell you what to do every step of the way. You don’t have to worry about rent or any other form of expense.  Then you are placed back in society.  You are confronted with the pressures, people’s behavior, expenses, and so many negative forces.  You were never taught or prepared to cope with these.  It is very easy to find the easiest way out.”

“You articulate the problems very well, so having identified them I expect you would have been one of those who could cope.”

He laughed. “The judge said the same thing, but you have to understand it is one thing articulating, it is another thing to actually deal with it.”

He would have continued, but it was time to go.  He had chosen to spend his allocated recreation time in the library, and now he must return to his cell.

Prison Education

 Below is an Article and comments from the web site  :  Social Justice

U.S. Prisons Don’t Fund Education, and Everybody Pays a Price

After a murder charge at 13, Xavier McElrath-Bey earned a college degree behind bars and now saves lives. All convicts should have that chance.

By Matthew Fleische
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/03/01/americas-inmates-education-denied-everybody-pays-price?upw

Working as a prison Librarian dealing directly with inmates, and later as the Coordinator for all Maryland state prison libraries, I found the library was a transforming place for inmates, majority of whom had never visited a library before incarceration.

The New Jim Crow

I am currently reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In the Age of Colorblindness, by Michell Alexander.  Interesting,  since we are  number one  in the world at our rate of incarceration.  She talks about Mass Incarceration on You Tube.  

Handel:Messiah and Prisoners

In 1742 Frederic Handel  composed the MESSIAH specifically  for 3 charity organizations, in Dublin, Ireland- Prisoners, Mercer Hospital, and Charitable Infirmary. The first performance was on April 13, 1742 since the composition was originally intended to be performed at  Easter.  With the money from the performance, it was reported that 142 indebted prisoners were released.

Stories from Prison

 I get so many questions about what it is like to work in a prison, that I have decided to  periodically  include in my blog, some of the things I wrote over the years.  The stories are all true. The titles are my own, names have been changed.

Don't Do That Again: The Correctional Educator and the Inmate

A scream resounded from her two hundred plus frame.  Swift as a bullet he catapulted from his desk, headed for the door with his hands up in the air.  He spreadeagled himself against the wall, looking backward towards her with a frightened, puzzled look.
"A roach." she panted, pointing to the ground.
With  a sigh of relief,  the inmate returned to the room, this time his hands at his sides.
"Don't ever scream like that again miss, " he said to his teacher. 
"If you scream like that, the officers will run inside thinking we are doing you some harm."

My inmate worker was still laughing when he told me this story about his cell mate.

***
Don't Do that:  The Inmate and the Librarian

"Don't do that, don't do that," he whispered  with a sort of feigned desperation in his voice.
I looked up and  a half dozen pairs of eyes, wary, hungry, speculating, amused, were focused on me.
"What's the matter? " I asked the inmate workers who were in library waiting for the correction officer to give them permission to leave.
Came the simple  guileless reply, "Trev was getting excited Miss S.  Its been such a long time since any of us see a woman comb her hair."
I had just returned from lunch, and was running a comb through my wind-blown hair.  I was in my office, door closed but they could see  through the glass window.  I never combed my hair when inmates were around again. 

***
A Woman's Laugh
The library was closed the day so the Principals and Instructors from across the state could have their meetings.
Inmate workers were allowed in the library to work, but not the general population.  The entire area is usually cleared of inmates during lunch.  When they returned from lunch, they had to wait outside until the officer gave permission to enter.
Staff used this time to joke around.  One instructor had a very "healthy laugh".
"Miss S. you don't understand how good that sound.' one inmate said.  "Around here we don't generally hear women laughing ."

Dan Rodricks and an Ex Offender

In a recent article in The Baltimore Sun, Dan Rodricks featured an ex offender who is back in society after 30 years.   Reentry is often difficult for many inmates.  For those with long sentences as Mr. Grant, in Dan's article, when they return they face changed roads, cities, streets, housing, family changes and  or estrangement.
  Perhaps the only stable for many  is the poverty or run down areas that they left behind.  It is tough to be successful, especially when in prison they little or no access to technology that is so necessary to even apply for a job.
Often their most realistic lifeline to the outside is the information they get from their  Prison Libraries.  My hope is that once they are outside the fence,  they will visit  public libraries to help them in their quest for jobs, housing, and community resources.

Her Letters From Prison

Heather Heaton has an ebook titled:  Her Letters From Prison.  Check out the information .
Other titles  about women in prison

• Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing (A PEN American Center Prize Anthology) , Bell Gale Chevigny (Author), Sister Helen Prejean

• Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women In Prison.

            Paula Johnson (Author), Joyce A. Logan (Author), Angela J. Davis (Author)

 

Ex Offender at MLA Conference

Successful ex offenders make great speakers.  At the Maryland Library Association Conference, Antoine kept the audience riveted as he told them of his crime, his stay in prison and his  successful reentry, made possible due to the help of the other speaker,  Jack, his first employer. 

In the film , Past Forward Jack and Antoine tell part of their stories

http://www.pastforwardmd.org/index.cfm?page=profile_antoine

Death Penalty

The Source Book On Criminal Justice Online has  detailed statistical  information on public attitude towards the death penalty.

To the Question: "Do you strongly favor, favor, oppose, or strongly oppose the death penalty for

persons convicted of murder?"  Check out public opinions at: 

http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t200372010.pdf

Veterans and Incarceration

As we honored our Veterans this week, I thought of the many veterans groups we have in our prisons. According the the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the numbers of incarcerated veterans have declined.  However, many of those who risked their life to preserve our values return home with mental health issues, homeless, unemployed, and these factors often lead to imprisonment. Some of the problems are reported in:  The Justice Policy Institute,
The Armed Forces and Society,   and

Psychiatric Services.  Health Status, Service Use, and Costs Among Veterans Receiving Outreach Services in Jail or Community Settings

 A useful guide for veterans is: 
A Guide book for Incarcerated Veterans: