“After the Island” and the Lasting Impact of Incarceration

Monday evening I caught an EXCELLENT late-night documentary on PBS about Rikers Island. I’m fascinated by prison shows like Lockup on MSNBC. Why? I suppose it makes me appreciate what I have and think about how hard it must be to recapture any semblance of a life -- or gainful employment -- after being incarcerated.

Here’s what I learned from the documentary, “After the Island,” produced by Fallout Pictures. Did you know Rikers’ houses 130,000 prisoners; most are non-violent drug offenders. They profiled one black woman (from Brooklyn) and one black man (from The Bronx). Both experienced the vicious cycle of somewhat petty, yet definitely prison-worthy repeat offences which had landed them in jail numerous times over a 20 year period. No, they hadn’t killed anyone. But yes, they needed to do time.
The documentary chronicled the privilege of earning their freedom as they continued to face the everyday perils of street life. According to “After the Island,” the US has one fifth of all the prisons in the world, yet we spend more on incarceration than we do on education.

http://www.falloutpictures.com/

In addition to their personal struggles, the documentary analyzed the lasting impact on their families, and explained how incarceration can lock generations into an endless cycle of poverty, apathy and pain. Yet despite these harsh realities, family members managed to survive (few even thrived) and provide what support they could to family members after leaving Rikers. Children of the parolees were wise beyond their years; they had to grow up fast. Youthful abandon was often replaced with real world family responsibilities.

One young man profiled in “After the Island” honestly revealed his thoughts about his father’s ongoing absences. “One day my grandmother mother sent him to the store for some milk and ice, and he didn’t come back.” He said that type of thing happened all the time; he and his sister got used to it … they had to. Hence, there was no need for explanations from family members – they knew their father was ‘locked up.’ The paroled Dad struggled trying to rebuild relationships with his children, knowing he wasn’t there during his formative years. While he couldn’t recapture the past, all struggled to move forward.

The female parolee continued to wrestle with her drug addictions – despite numerous attempts to get clean. She didn’t fare as well as the male parolee, who finally managed to get a job in the mid Atlantic region. Family members convinced him to move out of New York, away from the temptation of hustling and easy money, his former “trade.”

After viewing “After the Island,” I gained a renewed sense of institutional inequity and a better understanding of the business of prisons and limited job training programs for people when they are released. And now parolees must compete with more than 15 million unemployed Americans who are out of work and don’t have a record.


CUNY’s Efforts to Teach Incarcerated and Educate Former Offenders

The City University of New York (CUNY) will address “Higher Education in the Prisons” at the Graduate Center Friday, February 4 during the University Faculty Senate’s Winter Conference. Leading scholars will discuss tri-state area initiatives launched to bring higher education to the prisons.

At Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College - CUNY, there’s the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions. According to press materials, the center is heralded as “the first and only public policy, research, training, advocacy and academic center housed in the largest urban university system in the United States, conceived, designed, and developed by formerly incarcerated professionals.” Led by Dr. Divine Pryor, a community advocate, academic and formerly incarcerated American, the center offers a roadmap for success for those who live in Central Brooklyn and beyond.


A New Way of Life Reentry Project™

While the situation is somewhat bleak, kudos to 2010 CNN Hero Susan Burton and others who are trying to help. After being jailed six times in the 80s and 90s, she managed to turn her life around and start A New Way of Life, a for impact organization that provides shelter and support as they transition from past offenders prisoners to a future of empowerment.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive10/susan.burton.html

http://www.anewwayoflife.org/


Cornelius Dupree—Free!

Finally, the subject of incarceration really struck home this week as Cornelius Dupree, Jr. was freed after serving 30 years in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit. Alas, the power of DNA and the tenacity of the Innocence Project led to his release. Kudos to Dupree’s family, Texas officials and attorneys who tirelessly worked to overturn this wrongful conviction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dna_exoneration

Here in America, we have a great system. However, wrongs do occur and there are a lot of people that need help. Think about how you can use your life experience to give back, because there’s so much to be done.