News FeedSeventy-Six Days Until My Release From Taft Prison Camp
I’ve been thinking a lot about the role I want to lead in society upon my release. As a prisoner confined in Taft Camp, I’ve come into contact with many people who lacked the privileges that I took for granted while growing up. Although I never would have thought of their struggles before, since sharing living spaces with them, I’ve broadened my perspective and deepened my understanding of their lives.
The realization in the differences between our lives became more clear to me earlier this week when I was leading a seminar on ethics. Thiry other prisoners were present during the meeting. Many were white collar offenders like me who had been reared in privileged backgrounds. Others, however, had grown up in the poverty of housing projects that were infested with gangs and criminal lifestyles.
Whereas I had enjoyed many opportunities to thrive and make meaningful contributions to the world, those former gang bangers never had a real chance. They were reared without fathers or stability. Guns and violence were as normal to them as baseball was to me. I felt a heavy sense of shame as I listened to their stories and shared mine. I realized that with my background, society had a right to expect more from me.
Upon my release, I intended to devote some time mentoring or providing some leadership guidance to at-risk adolescents. Although we did not share the same background, racial identity, or life experiences, I knew that I could infuse some with hope. Those young people needed a sense of direction. They needed to understand the self-empowerment that could come through education and goals; likewise, they needed to understand how bad decisions could lead to imprisonment and loss.
I had a close friend, Julio Marcial, who built a career around opening opportunities for at-risk adolescents. I trusted that Julio could direct my efforts to contribute. At the moment, my thoughts were to contribute some time each week to homes for troubled youth or to centers that confined them, I could motivate them, guide them, show them steps that would set them on a better path. I had worked as a big brother before, but I felt much better prepared to make meaningful contributions now that I’ve served time in prison.
Some of my fellow white-collar offenders didn’t share my sense of empathy. They told me that I was too hard on myself when I expressed that as a well-educated man with opportunities, I should have been held to a higher standard. My exposure to prison may have been brief, but it has had a profound effect on me. I not only wanted to emerge successfully, I also felt compelled to redeem myself by helping others reach their full potential. I intended to start by helping at-risk adolescents.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
I would love to see an outline of the seminar you presented on ethics. I’m curious to see what you covered.
Hi Justin. I hope you hold to the vision you have of your journey once you are out on your own again. There are so many young people who need you right now. Sadly, you will have instant ‘street cred’ because you have done time. They need to hear that now you are committed to leading an ethics centered life.
Perhaps you can teach them that there is profound value in leading such a life.
Peace.