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.

Poverty and the New Jim Crow

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, 16.1 million children were affected by poverty in 2011. CDF’s research reflects that one in five children are poor with 38.8 percent who are black, 12.5 percent who are white, and 49.7 of other race.  Over 3.5 times as many black children live in extreme poverty compared to white children. This is the “New Jim Crow” and this cycle repeats itself over and over to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. 

Extreme poverty is designated when a family of four is limited to $11,511 or less a year.  Since 2002, the number of black children in poverty has increased tremendously by about 675,000. In 2011, studies show that 4.3 million black children are living in poverty. Over 42 percent of young black children (under the age of five) are poor compared to 15 percent of white children.

Poverty also affects the family structure.  Poverty breaks the family bond and separates siblings from each other.  Younger children ultimately get caught living a life of violence, because of the stress associated with poverty.  “Poverty is the worse form of violence,” as Mahatma Gandhi once stated.

The U. S. Census Bureau indicates that sixty percent of poor black families have one family member that’s working.  With below average incomes coming into the household, the system forces many parents not to marry. 

Marian Wright Edelman once said, “Far less wealthy industrialized countries have committed to end child poverty, while the United States is sliding backwards. We can do better. We must demand that our leaders do better.”  When we work to change policies that create a permanent underclass, the New Jim Crow will end.

Yeeling Lor is a senior at Osborn Evergreen Academy.  He is a graduate of the Youth Initiatives Project’s Leadership Institute and a member of a special task force dedicated to addressing social justice issues affecting youth of color.

The Unknown Story of the Black Male

Family violence, gun violence, and community violence push children into the hands of the prison pipeline. The number of black children and teens killed by gun violence from 1979 to 2009 is nearly 13 times the number of black men, women, and children of all ages lynched between 1882 and 1968.

Did you know? Black children have the highest rate of abuse and neglect. In 2012, 28.1 percent of deaths from child maltreatment were black children and are more than one in five victims of child abuse and neglect in the same year. How does that make you feel? Well, a great man named Ralph Emerson once said “peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.”

Forty-Three percent of all children and youth killed by firearms in 2009 were black. Black males aged 15 to 19 were most likely to be killed in a homicide than Hispanic males in the same age group. I can’t tell you how violence happens or how violence looks, but I’m a young black male, and statistics show me what I go up against every day.

I can only tell you about my experiences, not anyone else’s, but I can tell you it isn’t going so great. I haven’t been to jail or anything, but I have been shot at, jumped multiple times, seen one of my close friends get shot in the leg, and lost four of my friends/family to violence in one year.  To say the least, I’m BLESSED.

I remember when violence such as gang fighting and shooting was normal for me.  It was a part of my everyday life. I would wake up every day hoping there would be fight. I was putting so much energy into such negative things, that I was always asking myself why I couldn’t do good things for my community and make it stronger. I remember when I learned that my mother’s house was shot at. That was the worst feeling I had ever had in my life–my stomach dropping and my head banging like metal on metal.

After that, my mindset was different and I began to fade away from the streets and push myself in school. I never realized that I was a part of the prison pipeline. I can assure you that it means other students don’t know either. That’s why 51 percent of all juvenile arrests are for violent offenses. Youth and children need to be aware.

Marcell Payton is the Vice President of his senior class at Osborn Evergreen Academy.  He is a member of a special task force dedicated to addressing social justice issues affecting youth of color.

Recidivism Rates in the United States

       When I first began researching recidivism rates, I narrowly focused on the return (to prison) rates, but this phenomenon can be categorized into three phases: rearrest, re-conviction, and those who return to prison. I will use the years 1983 and 1994 as a focal point.

       According to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were arrested within three years, a increase over the 62.5% of prisoners released in 1983. For those who were re-convicted within three years, the rates did not change significantly, only a 0.1% increase from 46.8% in 1983 to 46.9% in 1994. Lastly, the returned to prison rate within three years was 51.8% in 1994 but was not recorded during 1983. Though there were no records of recidivism taken in 1983, the previous rates show either an increase or static progression.

       This shows that there is an issue within the laws and social stigmas against ex convicts that make it harder to rebuild relationships, finding/maintaining employment, and staying away from criminal activity. Lack of income and stress from societal transitions are both major factors in the increasing return rate of prisoners. These issues must be considered if our efforts to break the United States’ historic systems of social injustice.

Life after Prison

Building a new life means more than just getting it right the second time. Building a new life means that you are tasked with picking up the pieces of the life you left behind and gaining the trust of the people who judged you and placed you behind bars. You have earned your way out of prison and thrust into a community that no longer trusts you, a community that both fears and resents you for the crimes you have committed against them. In their eyes you’re a blot on the earth, but only you know that you can change for the better and to change you will need the community’s help to regain what was lost: Your place as a man/woman in this country. What will you do after life behind bars?

Upon release, the young man is allowed to take everything with them from spare clothes to miscellaneous items. He is signed out in an office, given his belongings and he is given a check for any money he earned before being escorted to the front and released. This is generally done during the day where they can follow the bus schedule and receive transportation. At that point, they are back into the community. For some, they will be given the help they need to get a job and a roof over their heads. For others, they will have a difficult time adjusting to a life outside of prison.

For many former prisoners, if they have been in prison for ten years or longer they are not accustomed to new technology. They have forgotten how to drive, how to socialize appropriately, and navigate a new world. Things that we take for granted such as eating with silverware and plates can be a challenge for some people. For some, during their time in prison, these men have become accustomed to eating with plastic. Now, metal tastes foreign in their mouths, and it feels even stranger when they drink out of an actual glass.

Another issue is finding housing, without credit, references and a job, many find it impossible to find a home. Some of the lucky ones are able to move back home with family. Of particular importance are the issues for women returning to the community. They may have left behind children and are left without adequate supports to regain custody. Attempting to reconnect with children and family can be a daunting task for both men and women.

However, where others have struggled, there are men and women who have succeeded in turning their lives around. For example, with the help of agencies like the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Program former inmates receive help with housing and are given connection to community mental health resources if needed. Detroit Central City Community Mental Health in Detroit, Michigan helps probationers and parolees with housing, job training, job placement, mental health services, and substance abuse services. In addition, the agency is a collaborator with the Mental Health Court Program which provides intensive treatment to those who have had many encounters with the criminal justice system. Many of the participants have a mental illness and are in need of treatment as opposed to incarceration. These and many other programs seek to help those who have spent most of their adult lives in prison. Without these efforts many will fall through the cracks or go back to a life of crime.

Mariama McGhee is junior at Eastern Michigan University and a major contributer of the New Jim Crow Generation. As a youth advocate she has been the voice of young people on issues such as youth violence and policies that contribute to the prison pipeline. She is passionate about the needs of African-American males.

Community Builders: Breaking The Prison Pipeline

Programs like the Neighborhood Service Organization’s Youth Initiatives Project and Infancy to Innovation provide help to children and adults, especially those of color who come from troubled communities and low-income homes. Both programs provide assistance to youth and their families, while doing everything in their power to keep youth from going to jail at an early age. They have their similarities and differences, but the shared path each program takes is the path of helping the next generation.

Infant to Innovation is a program dedicated to helping youth starting from an early childhood to adulthood. Its program framework promotes a positive transition for all children through three critical periods of development: childhood, middle childhood, and early adulthood. Each transition requires children to have multiple support systems and helpful opportunities that will assist them later on through life. Located in the area of Lansing, Michigan, Infant to Innovation is dedicated to all children from different backgrounds and children living in severe poverty. With this framework, they will have already helped a large percentage of children from being caught on the wrong side of the law. These kids will be too busy improving their skills in school to be negatively influenced by problems in the community.

The NSO-Youth Initiatives Project (YIP) provides youth leadership and advocacy training focused on violence and substance abuse prevention for teenagers. The program is designed to encourage youth activism and peer-to-peer collaboration, while involving youth from diverse backgrounds. Located in Detroit, Michigan, YIP offers youth advocacy, peer mentoring, summer activities, leadership and prevention workshops, male and female-based programs, and gun safety presentations. YIP is also dedicated to turning their youth into community leaders and organizers. Recently, 230 youth received summer employment.

The two programs offer excellent strategies for giving youth an opportunity to better themselves and live productive lives. Both programs also help youth to be resilient to problems that contribute to the prison pipeline. Because of programs such as YIP and Infant to Innovation, children will grow up to be adults, who will pass on what they have learned to their children. Clearly, this is community building at its best.

Prison Pipeline: The Injustice of the Justice System

The Prison Pipeline is taking our young men away in droves. A young black baby born into a particular zip code may have a higher chance of going to prison or encountering some sort of law enforcement in his lifetime. He has a higher probability of going to jail at the age of sixteen and an even higher chance of being placed into the adult prison system. The lack of education, decent housing, recreational activities, has almost guaranteed him a place in the prison pipeline. Why is this happening? How could we have let this happen? “No child left behind” and already we have left so many behind to fend for themselves.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander published in 2010, focuses on the issue of mass incarceration of men of color in the United States. The legal system incarcerates 25% of black males. Michelle Alexander has explained that in our society the globalized economy has no need for our young black men because they are labeled as felons and second-class citizens. The same goes for Latino men and anyone of color. While the women have also been affected, the men are bearing the full brunt of it.

Michelle Alexander also claims that the U.S. criminal justice system uses the “War on Drugs” as a tool for enforcing discrimination and repression. This means that African Americans serve more time in prison for a drug offense as Caucasians do for a violent offense. The issues have remained unexamined and unimportant because of the general perception of black males. Despite some changes in society, the law continues to treat men of color with a lack of equality and extreme apathy. This shows that somewhere along the lines we are still struggling for freedom and rights.

Moreover, where do the children stand in all this? With the lack of fathers in the home how can children ever hope to grow into the young man/woman they have always inspired to be? Single mothers are raising their children alone and most of them are teen mothers barely making ends meet in today’s society. What can we hope to accomplish if both parents are not there to raise their children together? Mass incarceration has taken more than just young black males; it has also taken away their fathers. This has gotten to a point where it is tearing apart families and we must join as a community to stop this from killing our children and leaving families torn.

A Foot Soldier for Peace

In June 2013, a group of Detroit college students and I traveled to Tennessee and attended the Youth Advocate Leadership Training Program. I went to the historical sight of the Alex Haley Farm where I would be trained to end the Prison Pipeline and help young children. YALT, which is a part of The Children’s Defense Fund, trains and prepares community servants to become leaders in their own communities and to be effective role models for youth. Both YALT and CDF are on a mission to build leadership in the community and turn our servant leaders into crucial assets to the community.

YALT’s training lessons allowed me to grow not only as a person but also as a responsible and active member of my community. I attended workshops that strengthened my knowledge concerning the issues affecting different school districts and the Prison Pipeline. I also attended bonus workshops to further my training and listened to sermons for spiritual renewal. Because I attended two workshops a day, I gained new skills and learned about community organizing. I connected with others doing similar tasks, and I strengthened my knowledge on public policy issues.

I intend on bringing back a plan on raising awareness concerning the Prison Pipeline. My love for writing has given me an idea to start a blog to raise awareness on this matter. The public deserves to know what is happening to our youth and how Mass incarceration affects us all. We need to start a movement that will change our unfair justice system and challenge the Prison Pipeline head on. Together we stand, divided we fall and no one wins.

 

The New Jim Crow Generation: Who we Are

The New Jim Crow. When you hear that phrase, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Does it take you to a place of injustice, unrest, and for colored & for whites only signs? If you’re anything like many of us in society you may have thought Jim Crow ended in the late 1960’s when the desegregation of public schools began. You think of the past, and although the present may not be so great when it pertains to racial equality it’s still better than before…right? Although things may appear better it doesn’t mean that they necessarily are. Just because things aren’t as blatantly obvious in our face, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Lets get to the point here. Jim Crow has taken form in terms of mass incarceration. The next question on your mind may be “How so?”.  Well this is exactly why this blog is here. Our society is apart of what we like to call “The New Jim Crow Generation”. This blog is here to bring the subject of mass incarceration in the African American community to light and fill you in on why and how mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow in American society. We’ll touch on issues such as how to end the “Cradle to Prison Pipeline”, expound on topics from the book “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, and talk about what we can do to ensure our minorities stay out of the prison system.

Studies on incarceration suggest that the return rate of prisoners after they’ve been released has exponentially increased nationally. Laws and social stigmas are the most oppressive to ex criminals making it harder to rebuild relationships, find/maintain employment, and stay away from criminal activity. Lack of income and stress from societal transitions are both major factors in the increasing return rate of prisoners.

These issues along with the issues of education must be considered if we want our efforts to break the United States’ historic system of social injustice to pay off.