Justice is a true leader in his community. He resides at State Farm Enterprise Unit with my partner. I have known him to be driven and proactive, organizing men there for the betterment of themselves and others. He, along with a few others including my partner, have started an organization called P.O.I.N.T. which he will describe briefly here, and I am honored to help them facilitate some of the work that they are doing. He was one of my top picks for an interview when we started this work. Please read his words and take them to heart. Also please note the italics are my own emphasis, as I thought some parts needed highlighting. Thank you!
Gin
Tell us a little about the most important people in your life.
There are many people past and present that I deem important to the progress I call my life. But I must speak of my family, specifically my mom, my sister, and my grandmother. The reason I must tip my hat to them is because they were there in my darkest hours.
When family, friends, and love ones gave up on me – my grandmother seemed to see the good in me, before I could see it in myself.
My mom never gave up on me no matter what I took her through she remained in my corner and my sister has been my biggest supporter and best friend.
Eventually when my lady friends stoped writing, they no longer visited, my sister then chose to visit almost every weekend. When they charged an arm, leg, and few other body parts for phone calls my sister always answered. She gave me something to look forward to.
They all in their own way pulled me through, encouraging me to be better than my circumstances. Thus, giving me a life in a place that seems to close life and hope out. In those times when I felt as if I had nothing, they always reminded me that had them, their support, their loyalty, and most of all their love. Of course they matter because they’re family but their importance lies in the fact that they help me to survive. Without them I think my incarceration would have been unbearable. Doing time can be a cold experience, having someone to write a letter to and receive a letter from does a lot to console a condemned man in his time of condemnation.
How are you different now than from when you first got locked up?
I’ve grown up a lot. When I first got locked up I was young and irresponsible. Better yet I was irresponsible, ignorant, selfish, immature, and probably many other unfavorable epithets. The 19 year old I was was such a complete mess that I used to believe I wouldn’t be alive to see these years, and at times I didn’t care if I lived or died. In others words, my attitude painted my perception and my attitude was horrible, so much so that I felt hopeless.
Over my journey I’ve matured, I’ve developed empathy and compassion. I see the world beyond my own selfishness and I understand that society is a collective and not individualistic. I empathize with my fellow people and with the conditions that others find themselves in, and I have a sense of regret for my part in perpetuating those conditions.
This is why I founded an organization amongst my fellow prisoners called P.O.I.N.T., which stands for Positive Offenders Implementing New Thinking, and work to establish other positive things amongst my peers. I do so because my mindset now is geared towards positivity and productivity and also so that I can, within the best of my ability, contribute solutions to the problems I once perpetuated.
I’ve learned to think before I act, I’ve learned to put the well being of others before my selfish needs, and I developed principles for the type of man I want to be and I live and love according to those principles. I embrace wholeheartedly the responsibilities that come with being an upstanding man and person, and I’ve learned to value those responsibilities.
Struggle and hardships change you, they engages your consciousness and demand better. My friend was denied medical attention and he died as a result and nothing came of it. In moments like that I began to see why change is necessary. Because we want to matter, we want our lives to have a meaning and purpose to something or someone. Thus, I now strive to have a positive and productive attitude, and with the aide of this attitude perception of myself and life to be different from who I was almost 25 years ago. I now have a sense of hope and I believe in being hopeful. I believe in being the change I want to see. This is what gives my life meaning and purpose.
If you could help the average person out there understand one thing about prison and the criminal justice system, what would it be?
That this criminal justice system should always reflect the best of humanity.
Our ability or inability to grow as a people and/or nation is rooted in our efforts to develop as a people. Change is about growth and development. The past dark institutions no longer exist because people had the courage to allow humanity to prevail. Thus, chattel slavery was abolished because humanity prevailed. America was legally desegregated because humanity prevailed. Women were extended their right to vote because the suffrage movement prevailed, and many of the conditions we have overcome are because through it all humanity prevailed.
This criminal justice system and, by extension, prison is no different; they must be governed humanely.
Historical views and research attest that America’s prisons have become a means to house the mentally ill, juvenile delinquent, the impoverished, under educated, and other suffering social ills that are subjugated to this criminal justice system. It is the least of us who most need to be extended a sense of humanity regardless of our position in life. This doesn’t mean we become soft on crime, that we excuse the behavior, or that we allow people to walk away with no sense of responsibility.
Humanity is given by recognizing a person’s condition or quality of being human.
Humans evolve, we grow, we learn, and by nature we strive for the betterment of ourselves. Society, people, etc., must be given chances to grow.
Ask yourself where would you be if you weren’t given a second chance during some course of your life. Where would you be when you were at a low point in your life and you couldn’t find just a fraction of humanity? So in this context humanity extends to persons an opportunity to earn a better station in life, to evolve from their mistakes, and to embrace humanity.
Please notice that I didn’t say give, I said earn.
We have made mistakes and as a result we should have to work to regain that precious position of freedom. But the idea of justice is not the continuous punishing of a person to no end. It is however a restorative principle that seeks to rebuild humanity, both individually and collectively.
In summary, what I hope for people to understand is that humanity should not turn a blind eye to those in prison, or close its mind off to those in prison. I assert that we, the people, must always make sure that humanity maintains a foothold within the criminal justice system and that humanity be treated as a necessary component to true justice. Please know that humanity has and needs it place, even in the darkest corners of our society. My fellow prisoners supporting my educational efforts, an officer saying, “good morning”, complete strangers advocating for criminal justice reform, and someone’s ability to see me beyond my mistakes spoke volumes to me. It allowed me to see a brighter and better perspective of life, and those small gestures of humanity gave me the encouragement to learn, to grow, and to find my own humanity.
What do you see as your purpose now, and why?
I see and accept that my purpose now is to be a service to myself, family and loved ones, and to wake up each day with the goal of being a better person than I was the day before. That is the course of my life in the simplest of terms. I understand and accept that what’s left of my life should be dedicated to being there for my family and those that stood with me through this, my difficult times, and to those that I’ve wronged. I’ve explained about my loved ones and how they stood by me, then it’s evident.
If I’m given the chance I owe them the same. But I also have a responsibility to my fellow prisoners, these guys have become my family.
Over my course of incarceration it has been my fellow prisoners that have walked the yard with me and listened to my struggles. They mourned with me, they stood with me and by me, and when love seemed to not love me they listen to my heartache–all while not passing judgement. They offered the best advice possible and were there in the best possible way that they knew how to be. They celebrated my birthdays, they championed my causes and encouraged me to keep my head up. They became my family. So in part my purpose is to advocate for them as I would for myself.
My advocacy means everything from speaking to the need of criminal justice reform to simply answering their calls, to sending them money and pictures, to checking on their family.
As well my purpose is also to always take a stance to right my wrongs. I believe that remorse is not merely the constant feeling of sorrow and regret. It is also the acknowledging of my wrongs and spending the remainder of my life making up for that wrong.
I can never change the wrong I’ve done nor undo the harm I’ve caused people. But I can control what I do moving forward and move in productive directions in life, living as a testament to my remorse. That is my purpose, to be in service to myself, those I consider family and love ones, and making up for the wrongs I’ve done by the only means I can: by waking up each day and being a better person than I was the day before.
What do I look forward to the most in the future?
There is a lot I look forward to and I hope to accomplish.
Of course I look forward to spending time with my family and being in a position to be there for them. Especially now that I’m about to be an uncle! I’ve lost a lot of family and loved ones, too, so I hope for and look forward to cherishing time with what remains of my family and an opportunity to be there for them as they were for me.
I look forward to visiting my grandmother’s grave. She always believed that I wouldn’t be in prison all my life so I hope to tell her she was right.
I look forward to and hope for an opportunity to travel. I want to experience different people and culture. I hope to travel to see more of this country and other parts of the world.
I especially hope to visit Cape Town. Right now in my mind Cape Town represents the beauty of life. I was watching a travel show on PBS. They were in Cape Town at restaurant overlooking the ocean. I can only describe it as peaceful and that fed my desire to travel there.
I look forward to and for the normalcy of life, of being a homeowner and hopefully having a family of my own.
I look forward to starting and owning a business and accomplishing my ideas.
I hope for the simplicity of life, to freely take a walk, to cook dinner, to hold a woman, to enjoy laughter, just to be human.
