DOES THE LIVES OF THE INCARCERATED MATTER?
The Media perpetuates the sentiment of the politicians by claiming that crime is so out of control that we need more police and more prisons. They rarely talk about the real issues like poverty, inadequate healthcare, the uneven distribution of wealth, and mental health as being major components for crime. And to fix these impediments would solve a great number of problems, especially for the poor people who they purport commits the majority of crime.
Politicians run entire campaigns on "Law and Order!" But what about running on "Law, equal opportunity for every American, and Order" so that checks and balances are in place to ensure that people get the finances and resources to build themselves and their communities into things of beauty.
We take billions of dollars to aid and assist in the development and maintenance of other countries, but refuse to spend those same billions of dollars to beautify the downtrodden cities and neighborhoods right here in our nation? Is that backwards?
We are not opposed to the rule of law, but it takes more than just that to lift a community and a country. Oh, I forgot, everyone is capable of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps to make a decent life for themselves right? Not true! If everyone could be strong, what would the weak look like? If everyone could be wise, would would the fool look like? And lastly, if everyone could be successful, what would the unsuccessful look like?
The weakest, foolish and unsuccessful amongst us shouldn't be people we consider as strains on our economy, but people that needs the best from us because education, wisdom and courage may be things they struggle the most with. We've taken these tools from the poor and incarcerated and it has hurt us in more ways than one.
In prison, those tools consisted of education beyond merely a GED which is primary the only thing available for Michigan prisoner's today unless their family can afford to pay their college tuition in prison. We've been reduced by our elected officials to stigmas such as monsters, sociopaths and incorrigible beings incapable of correction and productiveness. But a great many of us are so much more than that.
Despite the hardships of prison and the lack of aid by our elected officials, many of us have taken the initiative to better ourselves through education, self reflection, discipline, responsibility, remorsefulness, and acts of kindness. A great number of us understand that there's nothing normal about prison, and we do not desire prison to be the revolving door that we find ourselves entering and exiting with great regularity.
Prison constricts the fragility in us because before prison, we were incapable of writing a complete sentence let alone expressing our thoughts with more than baby language. But now that we are in prison, from terrible choices I might add, how can we help these men and women be more than the worst things they've ever done?
First, we must implement and promote programs that are designed to reach them where they need help the most. For example, a large portion of the prison population needs mental help facilities because their coherency and accountability when it comes to their crime is lacking severely. They are filled with large doses of drugs designed to slow them to zombie like states, but how can this individual find any transformation or betterment in that state? Prison is not a place for them.
Second, we must do more than give the incarcerated a GED without real job skills that will allow him/her to provide for themselves upon release. We must give them mental evaluations with the hopes of locating their trauma and paving the way for them to deal with that trauma in a practical way. We must teach them social skills so they can have the nohow to express their feelings in positive ways, as well as interact with people outside of their peer group. These simple things can be expanded upon as the work begins to start the process to change the thinking and transform the person.
Lastly, we must let go of our prejudices and allow these men and women back into society without the label of "PRISONER" on their backs. They must have complete autonomy to live their lives as citizens and tax payers. There's one thing to punish a person for crimes committed against a society, but not allowing that person to learn from and to be better going forward really cripples the spirit and the hopes of the incarcerated.
We all are worthy of humane treatment, even more so the incarcerated. We will not be judged by how we treated the person that had everything, but how we treated the person that was less fortunate than us! The incarcerated should matter because he/she is your son and daughter and we should never just lock up our children and throw them away, we must treat and teach them so they can reach their greatest of potential.
Thank You For Reading.
Sincerely,
Despite the hardships of prison and the lack of aid by our elected officials, many of us have taken the initiative to better ourselves through education, self reflection, discipline, responsibility, remorsefulness, and acts of kindness. A great number of us understand that there's nothing normal about prison, and we do not desire prison to be the revolving door that we find ourselves entering and exiting with great regularity.
Prison constricts the fragility in us because before prison, we were incapable of writing a complete sentence let alone expressing our thoughts with more than baby language. But now that we are in prison, from terrible choices I might add, how can we help these men and women be more than the worst things they've ever done?
First, we must implement and promote programs that are designed to reach them where they need help the most. For example, a large portion of the prison population needs mental help facilities because their coherency and accountability when it comes to their crime is lacking severely. They are filled with large doses of drugs designed to slow them to zombie like states, but how can this individual find any transformation or betterment in that state? Prison is not a place for them.
Second, we must do more than give the incarcerated a GED without real job skills that will allow him/her to provide for themselves upon release. We must give them mental evaluations with the hopes of locating their trauma and paving the way for them to deal with that trauma in a practical way. We must teach them social skills so they can have the nohow to express their feelings in positive ways, as well as interact with people outside of their peer group. These simple things can be expanded upon as the work begins to start the process to change the thinking and transform the person.
Lastly, we must let go of our prejudices and allow these men and women back into society without the label of "PRISONER" on their backs. They must have complete autonomy to live their lives as citizens and tax payers. There's one thing to punish a person for crimes committed against a society, but not allowing that person to learn from and to be better going forward really cripples the spirit and the hopes of the incarcerated.
We all are worthy of humane treatment, even more so the incarcerated. We will not be judged by how we treated the person that had everything, but how we treated the person that was less fortunate than us! The incarcerated should matter because he/she is your son and daughter and we should never just lock up our children and throw them away, we must treat and teach them so they can reach their greatest of potential.
Thank You For Reading.
Sincerely,
Carlos
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