Overcoming the Prison Pipeline: Leadership and Inspiration

I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and I have every intention of graduating from Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical University December 2013. Through the years I have transformed into a man that stands for social justice and civil rights for all citizens of our great nation, thanks to instrumental individuals who have a vested interest in revitalizing our communities. I have without question served by the side of some of the most determined leaders our country has to offer. They are the saints that helped steer me on the right path as I wondered lost. What our generation needs now more than ever are young leaders who will continue the fight that our ancestors started by stepping up to the challenges we currently face.

I possess a burning desire that is essential to push my generation into becoming the next group of great leaders that our community needs. It’s a desire that no training can prepare you for and is acquired through diligent work, dedication, and a pure heart of love. We follow in the foot steps of great leaders such as Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin L. King Jr., and John Lewis just to name a few. They have created a legacy of resilience. I have witnessed the negligence from selfish politics that has left many of our communities both physically and psychologically in a state of chaos. I have been through the hottest fires and fallen upon the hardest mountains of self-denial. However, if history is any indicator, we know that the hottest fires make the hardest steel and the hardest rock crafts the sharpest spear. I have managed to convert my obstacles into stepping stones toward my ultimate goal of lifting Detroit from its current circumstances.

My passion to improve my city has brought me to a decision that I will one day run for mayor of Detroit, despite having graduated from one of the worst public school systems in our nation. I was placed in special education in middle school due to an inadequate elementary school preparation. That period became three of the most defining years of my life. When I graduated from elementary school, my reading and math skills were at a third grade level. I am the product of Detroit’s public school system but not a victim to the greed and uncertainty that was rampant. I successfully advanced out of special education and that was a nod to the modest success I experienced at that point in my life. I was blessed to have avoided the prison pipeline, due to the support of strong black men who stepped up to help me.

Overcoming these barriers has left me more determined than ever and has allowed me to become a part of change. I was selected by Mr. Steven McGhee, Principal of Osborn High, as the student representative to lobby lawmakers in Lansing, Michigan. I helped secure a $5.34 million dollars through the state’s 21st Century school grant fund for a small school design phase at Osborn and Cody High Schools as a last ditch effort to keep our schools open. After my graduation from Osborn High School in June 2009, the Detroit News published an article describing the results of the great work of the class of 2013 graduation numbers for both schools that are now graduating 73%-84% of seniors, with 70%-100% having been accepted to a college or community college. We also received matching funds from the Skillman Foundation to help with the effort to keep Osborn High School open. I am a graduate, yet, I also belong to this success story. We are breaking the prison pipeline.

The service that I hold most dear to my heart is the Hugs-not-Bullets Campaign I helped kick off and led at Osborn High School with a press conference. During my senior year of high school, I became a member of the Neighborhood Service Organization’s Youth Initiatives Project (YIP). With the help of many other peers, we turned Osborn High School on its head. We implemented a male leadership camp for the young males in our community. The young men were from the ages of 12-18 and each had some issue related to gang, drugs, or self-identity. We assisted in graduating from our program over 100 young men. We also had over fifteen hundred students from our high school pledge with their signatures to support policies that called for ending gun violence in our communities. This movement soon spread to other high schools throughout Detroit as other students also pledged to end gun violence in their neighborhoods as well. The campaign began at Osborn High School when I hosted the first ever press conference to be held at the school addressing the need to stop gun violence. Several weeks later on New Years Eve, I hosted another press conference in front of Detroit’s City Hall with the Chief of Police concerning the same issue.

I am proud to announce that I am a graduating senior majoring in political science at Alabama A&M University. While a student here at A&M I have served as president of Men of America Nurturing and Ushering Progress Incorporated, (M.A.N.U.P. Inc.), which is the largest, all male mentoring organization on the campus of Alabama A&M University. As president, I initiated the adoption of Ed White and Westlawn Middle School in the city of Huntsville, Alabama. We worked tirelessly to mentor tutor male students with reading and other critical needs. The joy and confidence that we restored to these young men is priceless. Helping the students improve their reading and math skills was a tremendous achievement for us all as we aimed to set the bar higher for the next school term. M.A.N.U.P., Inc. has hosted several educational seminars on campus that address relevant issues that hinder students progress through college.

I have led numerous projects with M.A.N.U.P., Inc. which have earned me an award as the Outstanding Student of the Year for 2013 from my University, which was presented by the President and First Lady. It came as a complete surprise to me considering our University has a plethora of honorable leaders leading the way for change. It truly was an honor that I would receive such a prestigious award from the University that I love and serve. I will be graduating soon and look forward to attending law school in the next two years.

My commitment to improving the community is a passion that is embedded in my heart and fueled by my experiences. I find inspiration in the work that Mr. Frank McGhee does as the Program Director of Detroit’s Youth Initiatives Project. He has always been a beacon of light for the youth to follow. The incredible loving support that my parents and siblings gave me has helped me realize that I am a better individual. Through it all I have been faithful to my Lord and savior. I have made it through it all simply because I have an eternal faith in what God has planned for my life and so I am committed to that goal. While I am still a student at A&M, I will continue to plant the seed of proper choice so that others can flourish into becoming the next set of great leaders our university has every known. This is who I am and what I am all about. My love for assisting others fuels my desires to make the necessary change that my city and campus requires. The prison pipeline has not claimed me, because I am a servant leader guided by the amazing legacy of those who came before me.

Ronald Norwood graduated from Osborn High School in June 2009, where he began Male Leadership sessions for young men struggling with school and the attraction of street life. He is a graduate of the Youth Initiatives Project’s Leadership Institute and an advisor to the program’s special task force dedicated to addressing social justice issues affecting youth of color. He will graduate from Alabama A&M University in December 2013 with Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

We Must Wake Up!

In order to correct the problems caused by the “school to prison pipeline,” we must consider our democratic processes and problems within it. Congress, the government, makes laws and policies that affect diverse populations of people differently, thereby, producing a population of people such as teens who eventually become imprisoned due to problems at home and in school. We need more programs to prevent youth from participating in bad behaviors. Businesses profit off of disadvantaged youth.  In the end, they lose.

The economic decline called the “Recession” has increased the impact of the “school to prison pipeline.”   Many public institutions were impacted by cut backs that affect children and youth.   Cuts have been made to the social and educational system that provides an essential outlet for young people. We must therefore fight for the essential services we so desperately need to succeed.

So, there are many businesses that profit off disadvantaged young prisoners. Let’s not forget that the government may also profit off them as well. For example, calls home made by prisoners are expensive. According to Segura who wrote, “With 2.3 Billion People Incarcerated in the US, Prisons are Big Business,” Global Tel *Link is one of five companies profiled in a video series called Prison Profiteers’. The goal of the series is to expose the ways people profit from crime and punishment. Clearly, this is wrong.

Interestingly enough, a friend of mine who had home problems decided to leave.  Eventually, she was taken away from her parents and placed with another relative.  She was in a strict household so she decided to leave.  When she returned home, she was placed in juvenile detention for being incorrigible.  She was placed in there for nine days and then she violated her tether and was placed in juvenile detention for another five months.  There could have been strategies or a program that could have helped to protect her from going to juvenile detention.  When she returned from juvenile detention, she became pregnant.  Fortunately, her challenges have made her stronger.  She will graduate from Catherine Ferguson High School.  Therefore, we must look for alternative methods other than prisons for youth.

So what can we do?  We must develop more faith in our government by reestablishing social programs for teens and educating them. We can stop this “school to prison pipeline” by also providing more opportunities for community youth who can participate in the decision making process by having their voices heard. Of course for youth, more extracurricular activities such as dance, music, chess competitions, academic games and robotics can do this while providing a more meaning education. By funding of these programs, we can eventually shut down the “school to prison pipeline.”

Dominique Jordan is a senior at Osborn Preparatory Academy and a graduate of the NSO-Youth Initiatives Project’s Leadership Institute.  She is also a member of a task force committed to addressing social justice issues that impact children of color.