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Time Markers:
(1:14) Why an essay?
(2:57) The Idea of A Book
(4:52) The Essay
(13:31) The Engine Provides the Movement
Intro/Outro MUSIC CREDIT:
We've Come A Long Way (No Vocal Version)
Exzel Music Publishing (freemusicpublicdomain.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Welcome to the PrisonCare Podcast!
I’m Sabrina Justison, founder of PrisonCare.org, equipping compassionate people to support the often-invisible people groups who make up a prison neighborhood - the inmate residents, correctional officers, staff, administration, and the families of all of these folks.
Join me for this week’s episode, and be encouraged to think, care, and respond as we explore the challenges facing prison neighborhoods everywhere.
Let’s support positive prison culture from the outside, because EVERYone on the inside matters.
Hello, friends. Sabrina here and today you are going to hear from J and Dylan. Only the sound quality is not going to be terrible because rather than having them on a telephone call this time, I am sharing with you a piece of writing that they co-wrote in preparation for the PrisonCare workshop at the ACJS conference in March.
(1:14)
And I'm just going to read it to you because I think that you need to hear it and because I like the fact that I get to share it directly from their hearts and minds; not being filtered through my words, my personality, my spin on things. This is kind of philosophical. So they were originally asked to write something for us to share and I thought that it was going to be more in line with storytelling. And they first prepared something that was mostly storytelling and then they decided, this was so fascinating, they decided that they couldn't do that in good conscience because part of the basic philosophy behind PrisonCare, is that mutual respect is necessary behind the wall. That inside prisons there has to be support for an attitude of mutual respect for each individual's humanity, no matter which uniform they wear. And that that is one of the keys to a more positive prison culture, right?
They didn't have consent from all the people whose stories they were thinking about telling. And even if they change the names, even if they changed identifying details so that it wouldn't, you know, be so obvious, they felt like it was fundamentally not respectful enough. And so what was so cool is that a part of the brainstorming in the PrisonCare Workshop session after this was, what are some ways that we could with tremendous respect for each individual, still get those stories out?
(2:57)
And there was an undergrad who attended the workshop and it was her idea that I just loved. She said, “I would love to see if people inside a facility, who were leaders, right? Who were culture creators within that facility based on the PrisonCare mission. If they were to curate stories, if they were to get full consent from the various people, whose stories are inspiring and who are prove who stories are proof of concept, right? That this is actually changing lives and changing the culture. Could they get consent from those people? Could they curate those stories? Could they pass them along to the Compassion Team Leader of the team, that's adopted their prison or to PrisonCare Incorporated and could we publish those? And then, the proceeds, sell that book, as a fundraiser to further the work of PrisonCare. It would be a way for people's voices to be heard. It would be a way for people who love to write to have the chance to become published writers while they're inside and it would be a way to materially contribute to something that they believe in, that is materially contributing to their lives.”
I thought that was just, uh, I love it. I love that idea. So we're going to see what we can do with that in the coming days. But because J and Dylan did not feel that they could with integrity, share some of the stories that they had originally thought they would share, they instead wrote an essay. And they labored over this thing and it is brilliant and beautiful. I'm going to share it with you now.
J and Dylan's essay.
(4:52)
Can the reform that all of you are aiming to see happen in the criminal justice system be brought about from inside its prisons? That is something we are trying to figure out. What started as a basic desire to ignore the stereotypical prison archetype in order, simply and selfishly, to try to be happy while living here, at some point morphed into a whole new archetype that we've come to call a change engine. Adopted from a comic book universe this overly theatrical designation reminds us to both dream, big to believe that the “justice system” isn't damned to remain broken while also remembering to not take things too seriously.
There's already a tendency in prison to dramatize the mundane and petty. Honestly that's how most fights come about. On the outs, someone calling you a rude name doesn't automatically demand a violent response, yeah? But inside there are a dozen proposed “moral reasons” why a fight has to be the go-to solution for name calling. But unfortunately, at its core, there's simply no good story in it. Standing up for yourself or standing against the blight of disrespect, if you pay no mind to a verbal insult. Or that's the way the institutionalized thought goes. So then, what is the hoped-for difference? In a change engine’s character, it’s almost silly how simple principles are yet also frustrating how challenging it can be to walk in them.
The system has been hardwired to promote a never-ending us-versus-them mentality. And not only the resident versus the staff, but even the resident versus a fellow resident. Now whatever beliefs you may hold all can likely agree that treating others the way you want to be treated is a fundamental. An ideal good, right?
But inside the fences that goal cannot be pursued directly. There's too much instilled contention that causes consistent miss construction. The purest intentions are rarely trusted. Paranoia is constantly in play. Letting someone go in front of you to use the shared pod microwave might only make that person feel like they're being set up for a confrontation rather then being shown a common courtesy. Thus a more abstract approach has to be taken.
In a black-and-white system, a change engine has to find the gray. The blending of the ideals of innocence with the prideful delusions born of the system. Kind of sounds impossible yet through trial and error we're actually finding the ability to accomplish just that.
A change engine knows their own worth for their own sake, establishing healthy boundaries while maintaining the ability to have actively positive relationships. A change engine never acts in self-interest alone but finds a way to make the meeting of their own needs also a benefit to others. A change and believes and dreams things can always be better, while also seeking to fulfill their unique role in bringing those dreams about. And what are those dreams, exactly? Put plainly, prison has to change… a total reconstruction. But for that to successfully happen, all preceding parts of the Criminal Justice System must also change. Prison is the final act, the culmination of justice and rehabilitation and it means nothing to only impact one branch. There is an entire tree that needs to be treated.
If cops, District Attorneys, judges and lawmakers, don't become re-educated and grasp this new vision and mindset, than the best we can hope for is that prisons will become cozier. The softer mattresses and blue jeans from Walmart our desired comforts, make no mistake, But the comforts alone can't create better humans. There must be a vivid vision driving at all, a goal far, far beyond pacification of restless inmates.
From the moment the handcuffs first click, the whole process should be actively about true rehabilitation; being given deep and legitimate tools to uncover meaning and purpose. Becoming a proper citizen who can pay taxes and hold a job is fine but it's hollow. For true character growth to take place, we must be given chances right now to impact the outside world in positive ways. We need the opportunities to see that we are worthy of doing and being more if only we want and choose to be.
Now, many of these possibilities, don't exist yet… these opportunities. And as current residents of the system, there isn't much we can do to bring them into play. That's a task for a citizens with their freedom to take on, now. However, as change engines acting on the inside there are other much more available avenues we can take that run parallel to the ones available to you on the outs. And we are already traversing them. Inside we've realized we can create a community. One that takes note of everyone equally rather than perpetuating the US versus them mentality. We have been making an effort to change the way we interact with both fellow residents and with the staff who work in our facility. By envisioning and then creating leadership roles for ourselves within our designated environments, we bring about the opportunities to encourage and empower prison residents to see beyond the current culture. Where small slights could ruin someone's chances at parole, where the only escape is self-isolation, or substance abuse, or violence, we hope and work to set an example for positive meaningful ways residents can interact with each other and with staff much more in line with the citizens we will one day become.
Hand in hand with that is the relationship between prison residents and correctional officers. Developing empathetic rapport with staff is just as crucial as our relationships with each other. Having conversations about how they're doing, practicing respect and patience and politeness even when disagreements occur all go a long way to building mutual understanding between staff and residents. We've seen how residents usually treat staff and vice versa; the mugging looks, the puffed chests, the inappropriate jeers. It is all antagonistic, offensive and altogether unproductive. Whether living or working, we are all persons in prison. And the PrisonCare mission is about total reform for all parties involved.
For the two of us, we want to be seen as real persons and that requires us to first, do the same for the officers. Through our vision and successive action, we aim to inspire other residents to make shifts in their own attitudes and actions. At the same time, we hope to foster more respect and appropriate levels of trust from COs by being persons of integrity, committing ourselves to being engines of positive change that will allow for true reform to take hold. When we talk of change, we are talking about a real tangible difference that means something.
Not merely supporting the newest fad or political game. The future Criminal Justice System we are striving for will serve ourselves, our families and the victims with their respective families. As it stands, all parties are categorized, separated and divided, but we are all affected and our diverse needs must be attended to if a bright future is to come to fruition.
(13:31)
That's J and Dylan's essay. I want to just take a moment to dig into this change engine image that they like so much. You know, on the outside we use the phrase… time-honored phrase, right?… an acting change agent. And that's a catalyst, right? That's, that's something that starts a reaction, a change agent. They don't want to be change agents, they want to be change engines. And the reason is, because the engine provides the movement, the motion forward, the Catalyst, the little explosion taking place inside the engine, it's what moves that engine forward. That's what they want to be on the inside. For them, the vision and the mission of PrisonCare is the agent. That’s the Catalyst and that going off in in their hearts and minds and in the hearts and minds of other people around them, on the inside. That is creating movement. It's creating movement forward and they want to be at the front line of that forward movement.
I hope that inspires you. I know it inspires me. We’re going to leave this episode here. We're going to go with a short one today. I want J and Dylan's thoughts to just have a chance to sit with you. And if you have thoughts in response, I would love to hear from you. They would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment in the social media. You can email Sabrina@prisoncare.org, you can share your thoughts in response to their heart for change on the inside.
And as always, I encourage you to tool around the website at prison care.org. Also, if you're enjoying the PrisonCare podcast, would you leave us a review on whatever platform you're listening on? It will help other people find us. If you could leave us a little review and leave us some five stars and whatever. That would be greatly appreciated. Help us cast the net wider. And I look forward to talking with you again on next week's episode. I appreciate you listening to J and Dylan's essay today. And I thank you as always so much for caring.
Thanks for listening to the PrisonCare podcast. Be sure to visit us at prisoncare.org. PrisonCare, equipping compassionate people to support positive prison culture from the outside because everyone on the inside matters.