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David, 43

David, 43

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Meet David…

…I’ve been incarcerated 18 ½ years thus far. My road to manhood was anything but smooth, but I’m thankful for every heartache, hardship, and road bump along the way. For it was these valuable life lessons that made me the man I am today.

Incarcerated: 18 ½ years
Housed: Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Concord, MA

I’m always in a space to help support and push a positive agenda forward. I’m from Brooklyn NY, born and raised, but my former lifestyle led to a life in the name of profit, which is why I’m in a Massachusetts prison. I’ve been incarcerated 18 ½ years. My road to manhood was anything but smooth, but I’m thankful for every heartache, hardship, and road bump along the way.

In my spiritual beliefs I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe all things happen by divine order, so maybe, just maybe, your choosing me to write among whomever you did was divine order. Why do I say that? Because of the work I already do. I’m heavily invested in community outreach work, political engagement inside and outside prison walls.

I put together events within the community and events behind the wall. I’m tied to and work with organizations throughout the state creating meaningful policies and legislation towards prison reform. I’m the lead facilitator here and founder of “Restorative Justice Working Group” in which I work with the directors of the University of Massachusetts [UMASS Boston]. I organize all restorative justice-related events. I’m also enrolled in Emerson College [Boston]; I’m 6 classes away from my double BA.

The list goes on, but those are just some of the things that consume my life day to day. I seldom have moments to breathe, however, I respect what you’re doing, and I want to reach back out to see if we can open a line of communication, and begin to outline how you see that I can help you and your crew grow beyond merely just sending you a photo and post.

I therefore would like to possibly open a dialogue I have about your non-profit so that I may assess best what I can possibly do to assist your agenda, whether that be getting people to send photos and post, or thinking a little bigger and you and your team doing something like a “Humans of Massachusetts” version for your non-profit. Just two of many ideas we can visit. So this is me extending my hand. I really respect what you’re doing and wish you and your team nothing but success. Hope to hear from you soon.

LaShawn, 41

LaShawn, 41

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Meet LaShawn…

…I’m stronger because I had to be. I’m smarter because of my mistakes. I’m happier because of the sadness I’ve known, and now wiser because I learned. And in the end… God always gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers! Thank you for giving us incarcerated individuals a voice.

Incarcerated: 4 years
Housed: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, New York

I found my mother brutally murdered. Twelve years later, I was arrested and convicted of second-degree murder, for a crime I didn’t commit. There is no script to a situation of this sort. When I found her I held her. How could I not – she is my mother. Her blood ended up on my clothing.

I will admit that I am no saint and have made a number of mistakes in my life, but what I am accused of is not one of them. After finding my mother I turned to drugs and attempted to numb the visions, the smell of her blood, and the lonely emptiness of losing my best friend.

I am in constant contact with my two children, a few family members, friends and pen pals, all who support and believe in me. I am in the fight of my life for my life! The struggle is real, but I believe that someone will learn of my story and help me attain my freedom. In sharing my story it not only gives me a sense of relief but also I hope that someone might see the injustices that have been brought against me and together we can correct them. The past is a dead-end street. I have learned to move on, to keep fighting and embrace tomorrow.

I’m stronger because I had to be. I’m smarter because of my mistakes. I’m happier because of the sadness I’ve known, and now wiser because I learned. And in the end… God always gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers! Thank you for giving us incarcerated individuals a voice.

A mother and child have a connection
That surpasses any and all relationships
One may encounter
A mother nurtures, strengthens and
Supports her child in any given
Situation
My mother was my Rock, my light
My Angel and above all else
My BEST FRIEND
Our bond was one that was envied
By many
You talk about thick as Thieves – that was us
I am strong, courageous, smart,
Hard-working, a mother of two
And a loving person because of
My mother
She gave me life
She gave me her all
There is not a chance that I could take something so precious
Away from myself
God knows and most
Importantly my mother knows the truth,
this is…
Not my crime! 📸 Dr. T’s

Arthur, 39

Arthur, 39

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Meet Arthur…

…Billy – this is Pit, if you read this I want to thank you. Way back then – you changed my life and I doubt you knew it!

Incarcerated: 19 years
Housed: Massachusetts Correctional Institute, Shirley

I wanted to die. I bought a gram of heroin and planned on going to sleep without waking up. I was in a Florida State Prison and everyone there felt the same. I never knew rest. During the day we kept on point for other cons and at night the guards would get you. I felt like I was living in hell. I lashed out at everyone becoming what prison said I should be.

After violence filled days and years in solitary confinement, I was shipped out of state to the federal system on some “diesel therapy.” New York, Oklahoma, Colorado and a few other stops until I was dumped off at Florida State Prison in Raiford. I stabbed a guy over a debt he didn’t pay, so they stuck me on Death Row, in the ‘disciplinary for violence’ section without being sentenced to die. I waited for the guard to finish count and set up my heroin shot that would drop an elephant; just as I was about to stick the needle in my arm, my neighbor knocked on the bars and asked me for a battery to light a smoke.

I never spoke to this guy before, but after a five-minute conversation, I learned his name was Billy and he was waiting on a death sentence. He had been there twenty years. I asked him why he was still fighting and he said “I refuse to be the state’s entertainment” and told me how the guards would almost throw a party every time one of the Death Row inmates died.

I never told him what I was up to but hearing his story got some wheels turning in my head. I flushed the rig and dope that night and from that point on I worked on myself. I’m doing about as good as someone in my position could. I am in a program to train dogs for other veterans so hopefully they won’t make the same choices I did. 

I finally made it to a medium-security prison after eight years in segregation and although I do have a lot of time left I’m hoping that will change. Everything else has!
PS: Oh yeah, Billy. This is Pit, if you read this then I want to thank you. Way back then – you changed my life and I doubt you knew it!

Keiyo, 43

Keiyo, 43

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Meet Keiyo…

…Twenty one years in prison has been extremely challenging and difficult. I’ve still been able to achieve a clear and much needed defined view of who I am and what my true purpose in life really is.

Incarcerated: 21 years
Housed: Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Aberdeen, Washington

The best teacher for me has always been experience. I can remember when I was a young boy, I always had to learn things from experience. I guess you could say that I was one of those kids who had to actually touch the fire in order to understand the definition of the word ‘hot’.

Now thinking back on a very unfortunate event that took place over 21 years ago, I’m finally able to forgive myself. I can fully understand the magnitude of my previous state of ignorance. It caused me to be an instrument of hurt and destruction to so many, including myself. As much as I dislike the mere thought of having spent the past 21 years in prison, I can honestly say now, those years haven’t at all been wasted.

They have been extremely challenging and difficult throughout. I’ve been able to achieve a clear and much needed defined view of who I am and my true purpose in life. I understand that none of us are born into a perfect world, but for those of us that were born into and raised in what appeared to be darkness without any signs of guidance or light, we can experience, learn, grow and change for the better. That’s exactly what I’ve done.

Gene, 53

Gene, 53

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Meet Gene…

“I met Steve, who had volunteered for a prison program that paired up victims and assailants as part of a rehabilitation process. Within the short three months that Steve and I conversed, he gave me a new lens to view the world with too, and I will always be grateful for his generosity in helping me understand the difference between independence and interdependent living.”

Incarcerated: 10 years

Housed: Jefferson City Correctional Center, Missouri

Bob Dylan once described the difference between independence and interdependence to his friend Hunter S. Thompson, with the aid of his guitar. He played a G note and said, “with that note, you can set a tone,” then he strummed a G chord, and said, “with those three notes played together, you create harmony.” 

When I met Steve, he had PTSD. Being the victim of a violent crime was the reason got his suffering. Steve’s front teeth were knocked out by the butt of an AK-47, a weapon being used to rob a bank. Steve and his youngest son were there to deposit money the boy had earned delivering papers into a savings account for the boy. 

“I met Steve, who had volunteered for a prison program that paired up victims and assailants as part of a rehabilitation process. Within the short three months that Steve and I conversed, he gave me a new lens to view the world with too, and I will always be grateful for his generosity in helping me understand the difference between independence and interdependent living.”

For the next six years, Steve was a man who felt as if he were standing in quicksand. His life was fueled by the need to maximize the safety net around his family and impose a discipline upon them that he did not understand or find it possible to adhere to. Every day was a struggle to breathe.

One day he came upon a book called “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey that he said altered his dysfunctional life. It gave him a new lens to view the world. He said he had found a foothold that eventually freed him from the psychological trap that he so long been mired in.

That’s about the time I met Steve, who had volunteered for a prison program that paired up victims and assailants as part of a rehabilitation process. Within the short three months that Steve and I conversed, he gave me a new lens to view the world. I will always be grateful for his generosity in helping me understand the difference between independence and interdependent living. As Redd Greene used to say: “We’re all in this together, I’m rooting for ya!”

Read Gene's Poetry