From The Marshall Project:
I never expected to work with youth.Growing up, I did well in school. I was a huge baseball fan, particularly of the Chicago Cubs. But by age 17, I was entrenched in street life and hustling. I was arrested for a double murder and kidnapping, and sentenced to natural life plus 30 years at the age of 17. I took a plea deal, but either way, I expected to spend most of my life behind bars.
I served 20 of those years at Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois. It’s a maximumsecurity prison right on the banks of the Mississippi River near the Missouri border. One of the things about being in prison is that you’re constantly seeing new people coming in. I kept seeing younger and younger people on the inside. We’d have conversations, and I’d realize their lives were one long, trauma-fueled ride — from the moment they were born, until they landed in the Illinois Department of Corrections. I spent years listening to these stories.
Eventually, I was able to successfully appeal my case. I was released in 2018 at age 42, after doing a total of 25 years. I returned to Chicago with fresh eyes. I had limited communication with my family while incarcerated, so I was surprised to get out and see the emotional, mental and financial state they were in. One of my uncles, who I considered a father figure, had become a heavy drinker. He lost almost all of his property. Another family member had been studying to become a priest. He was a vibrant man; now he’s in a nursing home. This was the first generation of kids after my grandparents migrated from a small town in Mississippi to Chicago. They were hungry and ambitious people. So to see the state they were in when I got out was hurtful. Continue reading >>>
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