Jail or College? Wish I Could Choose Again…

As I sit and think about a question that I was asked: "What was my first day in prison like?”  I am forced to recall one of the hardest days in my life.  I can’t help but be amazed at the contrast between the boy that I was then and the man that I am today.

The first day that I walked into prison was April 18, 2002. I was stripped naked in front of about 10 other men, and given some shampoo, to wash all of my hairs with. If you ask me, think this is the same shampoo that is used on dogs with flees, I'm not sure but I wasn't feeling it. I was given a prison number 410196. My name didn’t matter anymore.  No nicknames or street names here. This number is what I would be referred to from that point on.

I was then escorted to a chow hall, to eat my first meal. Cold Pizza with thick dry crust and the chess that was like rubber. Nothing like the pizza that I enjoyed eating when I was free. As I forced myself to eat this meal, the prison number that I was given, kept running through my head. It reminded me of when slaves were being stripped of their identity. This number was now my name. The reality was starting to set in. I wasn’t going home. I couldn’t leave and go to the mall or go chill with my friends. I was sentenced to life without parole. This was my new home.  As I sat thinking and eating that piece of dough that was given to me as a meal, all the people that were important to me started to run through my head. Would they miss me? Would they write or visit? Would they forget me?

I was told that I would be heading to a unit, where I had been assigned a cell. I had to stop at health service first. I walked pass several groups of prisoners. The first group of guys were about my age at the time (17), and early 20's. The other group of guys were much older, and they sat in a small room (health care), with a much more aggressive look than the first group. One of the guys in this group had big eyes, the whites of his eyes were yellow; with red veins running through them, and he smelled like a burning black & mild. I'd only been on earth 17 years, but if I didn't know anything else-- I knew that this guy had a past and it was not that great. It was this guy that informed me why I was in health service. I was there for my physical and HIV test.

As the words "HIV TEST" rolled off his tongue, a fear set in that I'd never experienced before. I had never been tested before. The flashing faces of woman that I had unprotected sex with started to pop up in my head. I was wrestling with all kind of emotions already. Uneasiness, dissatisfaction, anger, and now fear of this HIV test result. I didn't think my day could get any worst. I wouldn't get the result of this test back for weeks. Sometimes it’s not the knowing that kills you….it’s the waiting.

When I made it to the cell that I had been assigned to, I put everything on the bed that I was given and I had a conversation with myself and with God. I said to myself that I would be humble, but I wasn’t going for any nonsense. I guess this was the alpha male coming out of me. I'd heard so many crazy stories about prison. I could only imagine that at least 50% of them were true.  I was young, I felt like a cub being placed in the jungle with lions, and all I knew is that I wasn't going to be Simba from the Lion King. This was one of the worst days of my life. And the nightmare is still going.

To Be Continued,
Sir Robert,

Our Children and the Criminal Justice System” “Fairness and Equality” By: Brandon Harrington #248519

In June 2012 the United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to sentence a convicted juvenile murderer to a mandatory life without parole sentence.  See Miller v. Alabama 567 US _, 132 SCT2455; 183 (Ed2d 407 (2012).  In the Miller case 14 year old Evan Miller killed a man named Cole Cannon by beating him with a baseball bat after smoking marijuana and playing drinking games at Mr. Cannon’s trailer.  Mr. Cannon eventually passed out and Evan Miller attempted to steal the contents of Mr. Cannon’s wallet. While attempting to return the wallet Mr. Cannon awoke and grabbed fourteen year old Evan by the throat. A friend who was also present throughout the entirety of the evening hit Mr. Cannon with a bat. Evan Miller eventually grabbed the bat and repeatedly striked Mr. Cannon.  Mr. Cannon eventually died of smoke inhalation after Evan Miller and his friend set the trailer ablaze. Miller, 132 SCT at 2463

The United States Supreme Court considered these facts in conjunction with the law and determined that a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole was a direct violation of the 8^th Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment prohibition.  Miller 132 SCT at 2469.  The Court ruled that juveniles were different than adults and the mandatory life without parole sentence was the same for adults and children in name only.  Miller, 132, SCT at 2466, The Court determined that there existed a large amount of scientific evidence that supported the fact that children should be viewed as children and not treated as adults in the justice system.  Miller, 132 SCT at 2464-2465.  The Court also determined factors to be reviewed by Court’s in sentencing juvenile murderers such as individual character, criminal record, circumstances of offense, familial and peer pressure, age, background, mental emotional development, family life, incompetencies associated with youth that would affect a person’s ability to understand the justice system, aggravating mitigating circumstances, as well as culpability, and rehabilitation.  Miller, 132 SCT at 2468.  The court ultimately concluded that juveniles were entitled by law to a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release based upon demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.” Miller, 132 SCT at 2469

There are nearly 2, 500 children across the country currently incarcerated under these type of laws. More than the rest of the world combined.  There are two countries that allow for these types of sentences, the U.S. and Israel, M.Leigh-tont Ci de la Vega, Sentencing over Children to Die in Prison: Global Law and Practice 4 (2007).  Many of our children are what Justice Stephen Breyer considered to be people sentenced unconstitutionally despite the fact that they have “twice diminished” responsibility. Miller, 132 SCT 2475.  This is because as Justice Breyer explains, “…..[they] neither killed nor intended to kill the victims.

That leads us to the companion case of Miller also decided by the US Supreme Court resulting in the same direction; Kuntrell Jackson v. Arkansas.  Fourteen year old Kuntrell Jackson went with two other boys to rob a video store.  Along the way Kuntrell was made aware that one of the boys possessed a firearm.  While the other two boys went in to rob the store Kuntrell Jackson remained outside.  Laurie Troup was the store clerk at the time. Derrick Shields demanded money from Ms. Troup. Ms. Troup refused and threatened to call the police.  At this point Kuntrell entered the store and said either “I thought you all were playing” or “we ain’t playing”.  Derrick Shields then shot and killed Ms. Troup.  Miller, 132 SCT at 2461.

As a society we must determine whether we will automatically throw away all of these children’s futures or if we are willing to look at each case individually.  Usually the law demands individualized sentencing hearings for each convicted person the judge has discretion regarding sentencing.   If my child made one of these poor choices I would be devastated and even more so would the victim’s families.  There would be no way I could apologize enough, “fix” the tragic loss of a loved one, or heal the wounds created by my child’s horrific decision.  I could only hope that one day time would help them cope and that my son/daughter might also be given the opportunity to be rehabilitated. 

Throwing away children because they aren’t biologically ours and have committed a horrible act, shows that in some cases we judge our children as adults, regardless of the fact that they don’t have the same intellectual, emotional, or coping capabilities that we (adults) have developed.  We don’t let our children drive, marry, smoke, purchase alcohol, obtain loans, mortgages, or enter into any other contract without our permission or until they reach a certain age, but if the commit a crime we judge them as adults even as young as 11 or even 10 years old.  I don’t believe that this is the strong spirit of America or the compassion of a proud parent nation.  If we truly are a nation of equality, fairness, and second chances then this is a chance for us to demonstrate it.  We can email our local elected leaders and let them know how we feel about this or we can continue on with our lives because this situation doesn’t directly affect is.  This is not an attempt to guilt the reader into anything only an attempt to address a current problematic and clearly unfair situation.

Family First: The Fountain of Inspiration for the Youth.....By: Darrell Braxton #195722

For our youth to be loftily inspired it is critical that they have a sense of self.  According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, to inspire is defined as: to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration. (2): to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence upon.  The etymology of this awesome word inspire has its roots in Middle English, from Old French, and Latin “inspirare” meaning into + spirare, meaning to breathe. So inspire essentially means to breathe into, not unlike the breath of life our creator imbued man with. What greater center of operation from which one can proceed in life than from their true self, the divine principle within them.

Conversely, the opposite of inspiration is indifference, coldness, inattention, and apathy, which in our communities has bred disdain, contempt, and recklessness.  Where the highest ambitions of a segment of our young people are not college and harnessing the power of idealism to be our future leaders of tomorrow, but rather it is celebrating the hallmark of reaching twenty-one, because the expectations of making it to that age for our children in this age and time is very slim.  The nexus between that grim reality and a abject absence of a sense of self is beyond apparent.  We know what inspiration is and are assuredly convince that our young people must have more than a does of it to turn the bleak statistics that we are all aware of around.  But the question is, how do we get it to them?

Firstly, we must understand that the spectrum of identity has various parts, and those parts must cohesively blend into each other for the health of the self.  There is one self, with many differentiating aspects: you have the essence of who we are; the spirit, our core our center.  Then we have our immediate family, friends, community, and nation.

All of these comprise our collective identity, they combined, are where we derive our sense of self.  We must take care to ensure that they are full of breath (inspiration), robust and strong.  Breathlessness cannot inspire.

Whatever disconnection or disease existing in our youth, it is only a reflection of that disconnection and disease that exist in our society at large.  Our young people are not raised in a vacuum, they are not an island unto themselves. Sadly many of the symptoms of mal-adjustment that we witness in the headlines of our media are a forecast into a greater problem plaguing our homes, communities, and nation; it is the proverbial dead canary in the mine that acts as a dire warning that there is danger.  We have become poor examples as adults, asthmatic in our efforts as models that inspire.  The onus is on us.

Not to be cliché or trite, but it truly takes a village to raise a child, be it raise them to go crooked, or go straight, that depends on the state of the village. It is there, the village where the most emphasis must be placed.  Instead of making the at-risk youth the primary focus of attention, our efforts must be more holistic driven; give more attention and support to the family structure from which the youth is nurture, where the youth gains his/her initial sense of identity (often times it is there where the greatest degree of inspiration and education must occur) where we adults have lost our footing.  Systems of support for the parents and the adults inhabiting the immediate space of our young people must be erected, coalescing around them to aid in what may be fractured there, which acts as magnetic corralling force that pulls the youth into an orbit of stability, thus giving him/her greater prospects of self-discovery.  Put the health of the family first, and the youth will be inspired.

Inspirational Essay for Youth: 1st Place Winner's Essay from Inmate Livingstone Bradley #643502

Hello,

My name is Livingstone Bradley.  I am 27 years old and I am a native of Detroit, MI and I would like to first and foremost like to concede that no matter who you are or whatever your current station in life, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that a not-so-little thing called struggle can come in a myriad of forms.  How we as adults, seniors, young men and women, and more importantly, the youth respond to struggle is what’s important.  To see the sheer reality of what is currently going on in the community (It could be yours or someone you know and love) it would take nothing but a brisk walk to the nearest corner-store or a short drive to the gas station.  Between point A and point B you could witness a plethora of residual damages from a moment of violence turned deadly, causing innocent casualties in the process, or property vandalism caused by groups of individuals who may or may not feel as they were short-changed in life.  If you are currently a troubled youth reading this please understand…you are not alone!!!  This has been the revolving door of broken homes for decades as well as the product of a new wave of rebelliousness that just refuses to ingest the “right kinds of brain food.”  How can this be stopped?  It can’t.  But with a collective conscious effort, the benefits of targeting the trouble youth in certain communities could certainly outweigh the losses of innocent youth in troubled neighborhoods.

There may not simply be enough outlets for learning opportunities that would better appeal to the way most teenagers would deem “fit” for this particular day and age.  Everything is digital and futuristic and let’s be real, outside of school and most of the time in school during important projects, electronics are being used as a way out because it deviates from the norm. Boredom leads to skipped classes, extracurricular drug usage, criminal activity, and most of the time its because there is simply nothing that hold the interest of the youth and so the fast path to penitentiary begins.  The results are usually grim and valuable lives are wasted in the process. A lot of my experiences that led to my being incarcerated were the result of misplaced potential, unreasonable expectations, and non-utilization of my precious mental faculties aside from coming up on the deep Westside of Detroit.  I quickly turned a keen eye to quick money and no real steady goal on how to acquire it.  I became so angry at my own circumstances.  I decided to make poor choices and lash out at society.  I thought I was “sticking it to the man.”  But I ended up sticking myself behind bars for 10 years.   I was lucky to be alive in the years that led up to prison. But when I reflect back on my life, I realized I was just a young kid who was handed a deck of 42 cards.  I thought the world owed me something later but I ended up taking what I thought was mine hurting no one but myself.  I urge anyone reading this to understand the benefits of wise decision making and making sure you become part of something greater instead of something worse. You either build or you destroy and for what? A couple of dollars? A shot at revenge? No, it goes deeper than that.  Look within yourself.  You’ll find the status you need. Help your mother, father, anyone you can.  In doing so, you help yourself, and your community because you become a greater part of something a lot bigger than you or me. Each one needs to teach one. But always remember the greatest teachers make also the greatest students. I understand that now and sooner or later….so will you. Good Luck.