For the first year I was home from prison, I rerouted any money that came my way directly into an account for prepaid calls with Securus, the correctional phone service behemoth. Because prison rules only allow outgoing calls, I would cheerfully accept and underwrite calls from my friends and former cell- mates still inside, and listen to what was happening in the place where I’d lived for more than six years—gossip from the old neighborhood. Police had arrested one of the guards for sexual assault. Then another. Then a third. Recidivists swung in and out. Tuesday evenings were locked down for staff training, which both ends of the call knew was likely not happening.
“What’s up with you?” each caller inevitably asked. I had little to relay and, without a job or social networks—all of that had evaporated 10 years before—I was almost in the same position as they were. So I would share small details: “I got a $12 bob” — all I could afford and a significant fall from my pre-prison life, which included $500 highlights in Manhattan. “No, I didn’t get a job yet.” “Of course I’m not dating anyone — did you hear what I just said about the cut-rate bob?”
In post-prison reentry to society, your future just shows up. It doesn’t appear when you need it to and it doesn’t match your plans because even though you’d been warned, you had no idea how hard it was going to be. With a criminal record, stop signs and land mines litter your life; you’ll be blocked or blown up almost every time you at- tempt something new. But you’ll continue on, as I did. Eventually, I got busier, found a job, started freelancing, and my appeals demanded more of my attention. I’ve never felt fully resettled, though. Each detour and disappointment re-minds me of where I once was.
As time went on, my phone account deposits got smaller and less frequent. Even though I had more money, I couldn’t justify the cost of the calls in light of competing, immediate expenses—like getting new shoes to replace the ones whose soles had cracked from age and neglect as my feet walked the line far away.
Drifting from the prepaid calls didn’t result from forgetting about the women of York Correctional Institution. Quite the contrary: Their stories and needs fuel my work. I fought to cap the price of prison calls so that their families and I would pay less to connect with them. I think about each one every day, but I doubt they know that because I haven’t talked to many of them in years.
Until the pandemic, I didn’t realize that the cost of the calls was just an excuse. Now, each inmate in Connecticut receives two free calls per week because wardens canceled in-person visits to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Inmates could call me even with my zero Securus balance, but they haven’t. Maybe my number isn’t on their lists of approved contacts anymore.
They might feel betrayed, which would be reasonable. They may have forgotten about me, which I would deserve. But they know, and I know, the real reason why we don’t talk anymore. My life is kinetic; theirs, still. Prison is the last place many of them will ever live. As frustrated as I may feel about my progress, I’m moving and I can’t bring them with me, at least not in a meaningful way. The dynamic created by my freedom and their confinement is unworkable over the phone. I know that maybe just by listening to them I’d be helping; presence means a lot.
But as long as I can’t free them or save them, each call feels like I’m brunching with champagne across the table from someone connected to an IV glucose drip. The powerlessness to share the freedom I have gnaws at me. Perhaps cutting the cord was not only inevitable, but in all of our best interests.
Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at [email protected].
Podcast Ep. 18, Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers on White Collar Week
Many of our friends and colleagues in the white collar justice community tell me that they are writing books about their experiences. Or, that someone should make a movie about them. Even me!
So I contacted a few professionals I know in the movie and television production business and asked them what it takes to actually get the attention of a movie or TV series producer or director. And each of them was happy to come on the podcast to discuss it.
We are calling this episode “Is Your Life a Movie?” Joining us are Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones, and my great friend, Will Nix, three movie and television producers who actually make justice-related films or TV shows. And they’ve each provided their contact information for you to get in touch with them.
So coming up, “Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers” on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Listen on Spotify:
Listen on SoundCloud:
Watch on YouTube:
______________________________
If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
______________________________
Guests on this Episode:
Lydia B. Smith
In 1986, Lydia began her film career while interning in college on the first documentary about incest and child sexual abuse, Breaking Silence. Upon graduation, she worked on Stories of Change as well as the Academy Award winner, Women: for America, for the World. She would work on a documentary every year or two while earning a living in the production, camera and electric departments. She directed, produced, and wrote They’re Just Kids, a 26-minute educational documentary showing how children with disabilities can positively affect our lives; A Legacy Revealed, a 40-minute historical documentary; Infiniti, a five minute behind the scenes video; and a 20-minute biography Bill Lansing: A Tribute. Additionally, she was Senior Producer on CNN’s Soldiers of Peace: A Children’s Crusade; Co-Producer and 2nd Unit DP on the CNN documentary The Mystery of the Arctic Rose, 2nd unit DP on the PBS show, Stand Up; American Producer for Chilean TV’s The Route of the Beringia; DP for Anthony Hopkins Teaches and more.
In 2008 she embarked on her first feature-length documentary Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago which became a worldwide hit, airing on national television and having a successful theatrical release in nine different countries. It was the #12 documentary in theaters in the United States and Canada in 2014 and the #5 documentary in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, garnering a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Throughout 2018 and 2019, Walking the Camino aired approximately 2000 times on hundreds of PBS stations nationwide with 1.2 million viewers and counting.
In addition to her producing and directing career, Lydia has worked as a camera assistant and operator on major motion pictures (e.g Ed Wood, Matilda, Dangerous Minds) top music videos (e.g. Shakira, Britney Spears, Snoop Dog) and countless commercials (e.g. Coke, Ford, Target)
Bethany Jonesbegan her career in television working as a researcher on Prison Break. She has since produced hours of TV for Oxygen, History, A&E, CNN, Discovery, CBS and won best sports video of the year for Grantland, ESPN’s pop culture arm. During her career she has interviewed leading government officials, federal agents, United States Attorneys and law enforcement officers across the country. She has also interviewed people that were convicted as spies, arms dealers, murder, terrorism, other notorious crimes and system impacted individuals. In addition to her TV producing she is a host of the popular podcast, The Pros&Cons which has half a million listens in 81 countries. Bethany holds an honors degree from the University of Wales, U.K. in English literature and French.
William Nix is the Chairman/CEO of Creative Projects Group® and a Producer with extensive experience in the entertainment, media, sports, and intellectual property fields. He is also a Partner in the social and environmental impact investment firm, LOHAS Advisors and Capital. He is a member of the Producer’s Council of the PGA, a founding member of its Social Impact Entertainment Task Force and member of its Global One, Education, Independent Film, Documentary and Animation Committees. He is also the Co-Executive Director and a founding member of the SIE Society, the leading alliance in Social Impact Entertainment whose mission is to connect, equip and amplify SIE organizations and creative producers around the globe. He is also a lifetime voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, serving on its Grants Committee, as well as a member of the Television Academy. Will was the Co-Chair of Baker Botts’ Entertainment, Media and Sports Practice Group, VP of Legal and Business Affairs for NBA Properties, and COO of the MPAA’s Global Content Protection Group.
With Producer Salma Hayek, he served as Executive Producer of an animated feature film, distributed by Universal and Netflix, based on Kahlil Gibran’s iconic work, The Prophet. Written and directed by Roger Allers (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) and starring Salma Hayek, Liam Neeson and John Krasinski, scored by Gabriel Yared, with Yo-Yo Ma, and songs by Irish singers Damian Rice, Glen Hansard and Lisa Hannigan. Dreamlike animated tone-poem sequences were created by eight world-class animation directors from around the world. Among its ten award nominations were three Annie-Nominations and inclusion in the Oscars Animated Feature Film Nomination Short List. He is also an Executive Producer on the stop-motion animated feature film entitled The Inventor, about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, written and directed by Jim Capobianco, the Academy Award nominated writer of the Pixar hit Ratatouille.
His recent projects include two documentary features: Power, about access to the global and local energy systems, and a historical overview of an important era of American musical and cultural history entitled This is Ragtime: The Birth of American Music. He is also producing a dramatic biographical feature entitled Gibran, a theatrical stage musical entitled Broken Wings, based on Kahlil Gibran’s first novel about his lost love, Selma, and two fictional dramatic television series, one entitled Trailblazers, based on the pre-NBA stories of professional African-American basketball teams and the other An Accidental Cuban, about a Cuban national in the colonial seaside city of Cienfuegos, hustling as a translator, desperate to leave Cuba and return to America. He and his partners are also developing projects to expand the Daytona International Speedway, and its related family of brands, into a character-based animated/live-action film, television and multimedia entertainment franchise distributed worldwide in all media and ancillary channels.
His work involves both traditional media and multiple content delivery platforms, technologies and genres. He is currently an Advisory Board member of Journeys in Film, a non-profit organization that develops and produces innovative curriculum, discussion guide and other educational materials for teachers/students to use in order to support the reach, understanding and legacy of films and television programs. In addition, he is an Advisory Board member of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood Health & Society, International Cinema Education, the Global Arts Corps, Partnerships for Change and a former Advisory Board member of the Austin Film Festival and Project GRAD USA.
You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
______________________________
All Episodes, Season One:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
______________________________
What is the White Collar Justice Community?
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
Today on the podcast, we have Vanessa Osage, one of the bravest and most intrepid people I have ever met. Vanessa has dedicated her life to breaking down the barriers of stigma and shame in helping others to find a new order of loving accountability and restorative justice.
We are calling this episode “Truth Heals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform.” In it, Vanessa tells her story of reporting sexual abuse at one of our country’s elite boarding schools, retribution, cover-up, engaging and then abandoning the legal system, attention in some of the nation’s most respected newspapers and media, starting a non-profit to serve others going through these kinds of issues, and writing her incredible memoir, Can’t Stop the Sunrise: Adventures in Healing, Confronting Corruption, & the Journey to Institutional Reform.
Joining us as co-host is Chloe Coppola, an advocate with us at Progressive Prison Ministries, who shares the story of her sexual abuse and institutional response while she was a student at her own prep school.
Two courageous women telling their stories in intimate and powerful ways. So coming up, #TruthHeals on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Listen on Spotify:
Listen on SoundCloud:
Watch on YouTube:
______________________________
If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
______________________________
Guests on this Episode:
Vanessa Osage
Vanessa Osage is on a mission to leave this world better than she found it. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator, Consultant & Professional Coach. A two-time Nonprofit Founder, Vanessa Osage is President of The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole”, and creator of The Justice CORPS Initiative. In 2017, she won the Kickass Single Mom Award for her work in sexuality education and youth rites of passage. Her essays have been featured in Circles on the Mountain, The Confluence Journal, Role Reboot & more. Can’t Stop the Sunrise is her first book.
Chloe Coppola is an Advocate with us at Progressive Prison Ministries. Among many other things, she organizes our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday evenings, is a liaison and navigator on behalf of our group members, organizes our podcasts White Collar Week andCriminal Justice Insider, and is a dedicated researcher and writer on criminal, racial and women’s justice themes. Chloe can be reached at [email protected] and LinkedIn.
______________________
You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
______________________________
All Episodes:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
______________________________
What is the White Collar Justice Community?
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
In this episode Zach is first joined by Dr. Judy Ho, a triple board certified and licensed Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychologist, tenured Associate Professor at Pepperdine, and published author. Dr. Judy maintains a private practice in Manhattan Beach, CA and is a co-host on the TV show “The Doctors.” Zach and Dr. Judy discuss how the stigma of addiction and mental health affect her patients and their desire to get the help they need.
Following Dr. Judy, Zach speaks with Jeff Grant (at 34:54), who is the Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, a ministry serving the white-collar justice community. The two discuss his experience in Federal prison for committing a white-collar crime as a lawyer, and how addiction stigma impacts life after prison.
Recovery Radio is the premiere radio show and podcast on addiction treatment and recovery. Over the course of each season, we will discuss facts and dispel myths surrounding what addiction is and isn’t. You’ll hear from experts in a wide range of subjects, including addiction specialists, mental health professionals, recovering addicts, and rehab facility administrators. You’ll learn about the factors that predispose someone to develop an addiction, understand the role that genetics and environment play, and hear about the history of illicit substances and their devastating effects on our communities.
If you’re concerned about yourself or a loved one’s substance dependency, Recovery Radio will be your source for finding the information, tools, and inspiration to navigate the road to recovery. New podcast content will be available every Tuesday at 9 AM Pacific Time on the Voice America Health and Wellness Channel, our website, and syndicated to podcast partners worldwide.
Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. He is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice/economy exiled community. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice organization.
As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
Please join us on Tues., Nov. 17, 2020 at 7 pm ET when Jeff Grant will speak about the nexus between entrepreneurship and white collar crime. Limited amount of spaces available to the public. Live on Zoom.
Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. He is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice/economy exiled community. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice organization.
As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
On Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, 9 am ET, Yukari Iwatani Kane and Shaheen Pasha of the Prison Journalism Project were our guests on The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of CT Criminal Justice. Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streaming and podcast everywhere, see below. Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and Progressive Prison Ministries.
Prison Journalism Project. Our mission is to help incarcerated and incarceration-impacted writers tell stories about their communities with nuance, texture and insight and bring their stories to light. Journalism wields enormous power by choosing who and what to highlight. Today, stories about prisons, prisoners and the criminal justice system are largely negative and written almost entirely with an outside perspective. We are creating a space for incarcerated and incarceration-impacted writers to take the power of journalism into their own hands because no one can write about the prison system and life behind bars better than those who have experienced it. Our goal is to achieve equity in coverage. We call it journalism justice. Specifically, we aim to increase the volume and quality of voices in the conversation about criminal justice and incarceration through access, collaboration and education. By bridging the gaps in information, we believe they can shift the narrative and help change the prison system.
Yukari Iwatani Kane, Co-founder and co-executive director
Yukari is an author, educator and veteran journalist with 20 years of experience. She was a staff writer and foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, and her book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs (Harpers Business) was a best-seller and an Amazon Editor’s Pick that was translated into seven languages. She is currently an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University, where she has taught journalism fundamentals, investigative reporting and the Medill Justice Project. At San Quentin News, where she still serves as an advisor, she developed a curriculum and reader for prison journalism. She was previously a lecturer at University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Shaheen Pasha, Co-founder and co-executive director
Shaheen is an assistant teaching professor at Penn State University, focused on mass incarceration and prison education. Prior to joining Penn State, Shaheen was an assistant professor at UMass Amherst, where she launched an immersive explanatory journalism class at the Hampshire County Jail, bringing incarcerated and UMass students together to learn. Shaheen was awarded the Knight Nieman Visiting Fellowship to expand her work teaching journalism behind bars. She is a veteran journalist with over 20 years of experience at outlets such as Thomson Reuters, CNNMoney and Dow Jones/WSJ.
Christopher Etienne, Multimedia director
Christopher is a multimedia strategist. Educated as a documentary filmmaker at Columbia Journalism School and an Africana studies historian at Rutgers University, he uses journalism and storytelling to shed light on injustice and raise awareness about social issues. As a first-generation Haitian in the inner cities of New Jersey, he experienced both poverty and incarceration. His background inspired him to seek ways to create meaningful change through his work with organizations such as NJ STEP, Rutgers, the Renaissance House, and Brooklyn CRAN Network. Link to Christopher’s spoken word piece, “Click Bang” here.
Watch on YouTube:
Listen on SoundCloud:
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Please tell your friends, colleagues and clients:
The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day.
I had the privilege of meeting Vanessa Osage on a Zoom call earlier this week, and was spell-bound and brought to tears by her story of abuse and institutional cover up at one of this country’s elite prep and boarding schools. Vanessa explained her mission to promote healing and restorative justice to both oppressor and oppressed. The more we talked, the more I understood the nexus with Progressive Prison Ministries’ core mission in bringing together all the stakeholders in the white collar justice community to promote mutual understanding and empathy. Please email your thoughts and comments to me at [email protected]. Thank you! – Jeff
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When I discovered Jeff’s work, I was thrilled and heartened to know someone is working on the path forward, on the other side of healing from corruption. This is exactly the kind of compassionate, soulful recovery I want to encourage along with transparency and oversight at the institutional level…
I am an educator, consultant, coach, author, and leader of the nonprofit The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole that has allowed for the cover-up of child abuse at independent schools: implementing The Justice CORPS Initiative”. I’ve just released my first book, Can’t Stop the Sunrise, sharing my journey to advancing institutional reform. – Vanessa
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White Male Privilege: Q & A
by Vanessa Osage
White Male Privilege, or WMP, is now being recognized as a social disease by psychologists and experts in the field of public health. The Center for Social Diseases, CSD*, has released these guidelines for understanding, diagnosing and treating White Male Privilege.
How common is White Male Privilege?
White Male Privilege affects about 28% of the United States population, with higher concentrations in the urban epicenters of New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
How do I know if I have White Male Privilege?
Diagnosis occurs as distorted thinking that presents as a “cluster of symptoms”. The disease can affect both individuals and institutions or groups where the cluster of symptoms is present, taught or shared. WMP can be contagious, with short or long- term exposure to those suffering from the disease increasing the incidence. There is currently no conclusive test to confirm or rule out the disease.
Wait, I am white and male, does that mean I have White Male Privilege?
No. Fortunately, characteristics do not indicate causality. One can be white and male without being infected by the cluster of symptoms that indicate presence of the disease.
Resistance to social pressure and a diverse world view have been strongly correlated with preventative factors. Knowing and loving people who do not live a privileged experience has also been shown to reduce the incidence. Researchers have gathered inspired stories of individuals resisting the pull of the disease, even when surrounded by it.
The CSD has identified the following list of Ten Telltale Symptoms:
1. You believe you are superior to other people, and exempt from the rules governing regular society. When you encounter a limit that does not support your desires or view of yourself, you conclude that it simply doesn’t apply. You may have excessive debt, lawsuits or unpaid penalties against you.
2. You might enjoy the rush of “special circumstances” such as favors or access to things denied to others, only to suffer a crushing guilt of believing you are unworthy, and subsequent anxiety over getting caught.
3. You have an explosive reaction to feedback, and an unchecked urge to blame others until you feel relief and comfort again.
4. You have irrational fears of women (if you are a heterosexual male, this can coexist as simultaneous attraction/fear) as well as people of color, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming people.
5. You lack trust in those who do not look like you, yet also feel trapped by not really trusting your White Male Privilege friends either. You are lonely because of a constant worry that you will be excluded from the club.
6. You resent your dependence on human beings and hoard excess resources to feed an illusion of ‘not needing others’. You believe that, ‘In life, there are winners and losers, and it’s ok to create losers to ensure that you are a winner; That’s just the way it is.’
7. You have an intense urge to control others, which you may perceive as simply being “strong”, “decisive” or “dominant”. You may have heard from friends and loved ones that they feel misunderstood by you, but you see this as their weakness and not your problem.
8. You have made, or are making, decisions to protect your reputation or financial assets at the expense of other people. Your belief in your superiority has allowed you to justify these choices. Yet, deep down, you feel even more inadequate because you know no other way to ‘play the game and win’.
9. You might believe that women or young people owe you access to their bodies, or that the unpaid/underpaid work of ‘lesser’ people is your birthright to enjoy. You often feel lonely, yet can’t imagine why.
10. Your behavior is increasingly destructive, and you feel further and further from your own sense of right and wrong. You are caught in a cycle of hurting others, seeking to feel better about yourself through superiority, and then feeling even worse. Your relationships suffer, and then your physical health weakens without apparent explanation.
Experts say that any combination of four or more of the above symptoms is considered a WMP diagnosis. Six or more symptoms is a severe case of White Male Privilege. WMP is a progressive disease, and early intervention is the key to effective treatment.
What are the risk factors?
WMP can be hereditary and occurs more often in families where the cluster of symptoms is passed on or even praised from a distance.
Exposure to generational or family financial wealth has been shown to increase the incidence of White Male Privilege. Though, again, this factor alone is not causational. Interestingly, those who began life with very little resources can be highly susceptible to developing the disease later in life. Anyone who has felt particularly low about themselves or their life situation — and has not reconciled these feelings — could fall prey to its influence at some point.
Men with a criminal record, or something to hide, can be more inclined to adopt one or more of the symptoms. The distorted thinking of being ‘above others’ may offer pointed relief to those already carrying a burden of guilt over poor choices in their past.
Lastly, anyone who was confronted with the experience of acute anxiety and lack of control as a child is at higher risk. When pain and control coexist over time, distorted thinking can occur. Case studies have revealed that early fears were at the root of some of the most severe cases. Letting boys be scared and giving them a supportive space to work through their fears is encouraged.
What if I love someone affected by White Male Privilege? What can I do?
Those living in proximity with WMP patients can be affected in a number of ways. Loved ones need to watch for the negative effects of gaslighting, discrediting and dismissal coming from WMP sufferers. Relationships are especially hard for those with White Male Privilege, and new research is currently being done to understand the brain and hormonal chemistry of those affected.
The best approach is to get help by connecting with people who do not suffer from WMP, while finding the strength to hold WMP sufferers accountable for their actions at every step. Pretending or going along only aggravates the disease and delays recovery. The Center for Social Diseases expects new 12-Step Programs and support groups to pop up in highly affected areas, following release of these findings.
Like other addictions, WMP can be a progressive disease. Self-care must be a priority for those living in proximity to the disease. Loved ones are encouraged to only maintain connections that include strong boundaries and to adopt a stringent practice of truth- telling in the presence of WMP sufferers. Be ready to endure child-like tantrums, and to hold firm while telltale behaviors present themselves. Remember, “keeping them honest” is an act of love.
Patience and compassion are needed, as WMP sufferers are often overly scared, fragile and unsure of themselves. Go slowly but remain firm. They may seem to enjoy special privileges, but remember, they are suffering.
I think my boss or other public figures suffer from WMP, what should I do?
It is important to not feed any illusion that those with WMP are special or above others. Unfortunately, they do often find themselves in positions of authority because of an attraction to telltale-symptom-affirming cultures.
At times, the bravado of developed WMP sufferers can lure some into a false sense of security. It is important to think long-term and remember that the one who does not need to put others down is always the stronger candidate. Our most effective and beloved leaders have an innate appreciation of the ills of WMP (regardless of race, gender, orientation or identity) and see inherent value in the lives and experiences of all. Simple actions, such as respecting others’ limits, asking permission, saying ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Thank you’ have shown promise as a path to rewiring the brains of early WMP sufferers. Cutting edge research is now underway.
Resisting White Male Privilege on the social, economic and political levels is its own practice of recovery. Keep in mind, the population was infected long-ago, when the disease was still largely unseen and unidentified.
We can all help normalize shows of humanity, compassion, valuing a diversity of life, and the humility that keeps everyone honest in everyday interactions. This social norming can be a part of the slow and necessary cultural transformation.
Is there a cure?!
Curing White Male Privilege is going to take a concerted effort by everyone affected by and surrounding its negative impacts in society.
As a public health crisis, it is our civic duty to interrupt White Male Privilege whenever we see it in a way that is consistent, loving and firm.
Remember, truth-telling, holding sufferers accountable and rejecting the ill-effects will help curb the spread of the disease. Only cooperation and a commitment to dismantling White Male Privilege (and its support structure, Patriarchy) will allow for social healing to occur.
*This story is an illuminating spoof, and no such Center for Social Diseases, CSD, exists. Though, WMP and its effects are real.
Vanessa Osage
Vanessa Osage is on a mission to leave this world better than she found it. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator, Consultant & Professional Coach. A two-time Nonprofit Founder, Vanessa Osage is President of The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole”, and creator of The Justice CORPS Initiative. In 2017, she won the Kickass Single Mom Award for her work in sexuality education and youth rites of passage. Her essays have been featured in Circles on the Mountain, The Confluence Journal, Role Reboot & more. Can’t Stop the Sunrise is her first book.
I had the privilege of meeting Vanessa Osage on a Zoom call earlier this week, and was spell-bound and brought to tears by her story of abuse and institutional cover up at one of this country’s elite prep and boarding schools. Vanessa explained her mission to promote healing and restorative justice to both oppressor and oppressed. The more we talked, the more I understood the nexus with Progressive Prison Ministries’ core mission in bringing together all the stakeholders in the white collar justice community to promote mutual understanding and empathy. Please email your thoughts and comments to me at [email protected]. Thank you! – Jeff
_________________________
When I discovered Jeff’s work, I was thrilled and heartened to know someone is working on the path forward, on the other side of healing from corruption. This is exactly the kind of compassionate, soulful recovery I want to encourage along with transparency and oversight at the institutional level…
I am an educator, consultant, coach, author, and leader of the nonprofit The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole that has allowed for the cover-up of child abuse at independent schools: implementing The Justice CORPS Initiative”. I’ve just released my first book, Can’t Stop the Sunrise, sharing my journey to advancing institutional reform. – Vanessa
_________________________
White Male Privilege: Q & A
by Vanessa Osage
White Male Privilege, or WMP, is now being recognized as a social disease by psychologists and experts in the field of public health. The Center for Social Diseases, CSD*, has released these guidelines for understanding, diagnosing and treating White Male Privilege.
How common is White Male Privilege?
White Male Privilege affects about 28% of the United States population, with higher concentrations in the urban epicenters of New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
How do I know if I have White Male Privilege?
Diagnosis occurs as distorted thinking that presents as a “cluster of symptoms”. The disease can affect both individuals and institutions or groups where the cluster of symptoms is present, taught or shared. WMP can be contagious, with short or long- term exposure to those suffering from the disease increasing the incidence. There is currently no conclusive test to confirm or rule out the disease.
Wait, I am white and male, does that mean I have White Male Privilege?
No. Fortunately, characteristics do not indicate causality. One can be white and male without being infected by the cluster of symptoms that indicate presence of the disease.
Resistance to social pressure and a diverse world view have been strongly correlated with preventative factors. Knowing and loving people who do not live a privileged experience has also been shown to reduce the incidence. Researchers have gathered inspired stories of individuals resisting the pull of the disease, even when surrounded by it.
The CSD has identified the following list of Ten Telltale Symptoms:
1. You believe you are superior to other people, and exempt from the rules governing regular society. When you encounter a limit that does not support your desires or view of yourself, you conclude that it simply doesn’t apply. You may have excessive debt, lawsuits or unpaid penalties against you.
2. You might enjoy the rush of “special circumstances” such as favors or access to things denied to others, only to suffer a crushing guilt of believing you are unworthy, and subsequent anxiety over getting caught.
3. You have an explosive reaction to feedback, and an unchecked urge to blame others until you feel relief and comfort again.
4. You have irrational fears of women (if you are a heterosexual male, this can coexist as simultaneous attraction/fear) as well as people of color, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming people.
5. You lack trust in those who do not look like you, yet also feel trapped by not really trusting your White Male Privilege friends either. You are lonely because of a constant worry that you will be excluded from the club.
6. You resent your dependence on human beings and hoard excess resources to feed an illusion of ‘not needing others’. You believe that, ‘In life, there are winners and losers, and it’s ok to create losers to ensure that you are a winner; That’s just the way it is.’
7. You have an intense urge to control others, which you may perceive as simply being “strong”, “decisive” or “dominant”. You may have heard from friends and loved ones that they feel misunderstood by you, but you see this as their weakness and not your problem.
8. You have made, or are making, decisions to protect your reputation or financial assets at the expense of other people. Your belief in your superiority has allowed you to justify these choices. Yet, deep down, you feel even more inadequate because you know no other way to ‘play the game and win’.
9. You might believe that women or young people owe you access to their bodies, or that the unpaid/underpaid work of ‘lesser’ people is your birthright to enjoy. You often feel lonely, yet can’t imagine why.
10. Your behavior is increasingly destructive, and you feel further and further from your own sense of right and wrong. You are caught in a cycle of hurting others, seeking to feel better about yourself through superiority, and then feeling even worse. Your relationships suffer, and then your physical health weakens without apparent explanation.
Experts say that any combination of four or more of the above symptoms is considered a WMP diagnosis. Six or more symptoms is a severe case of White Male Privilege. WMP is a progressive disease, and early intervention is the key to effective treatment.
What are the risk factors?
WMP can be hereditary and occurs more often in families where the cluster of symptoms is passed on or even praised from a distance.
Exposure to generational or family financial wealth has been shown to increase the incidence of White Male Privilege. Though, again, this factor alone is not causational. Interestingly, those who began life with very little resources can be highly susceptible to developing the disease later in life. Anyone who has felt particularly low about themselves or their life situation — and has not reconciled these feelings — could fall prey to its influence at some point.
Men with a criminal record, or something to hide, can be more inclined to adopt one or more of the symptoms. The distorted thinking of being ‘above others’ may offer pointed relief to those already carrying a burden of guilt over poor choices in their past.
Lastly, anyone who was confronted with the experience of acute anxiety and lack of control as a child is at higher risk. When pain and control coexist over time, distorted thinking can occur. Case studies have revealed that early fears were at the root of some of the most severe cases. Letting boys be scared and giving them a supportive space to work through their fears is encouraged.
What if I love someone affected by White Male Privilege? What can I do?
Those living in proximity with WMP patients can be affected in a number of ways. Loved ones need to watch for the negative effects of gaslighting, discrediting and dismissal coming from WMP sufferers. Relationships are especially hard for those with White Male Privilege, and new research is currently being done to understand the brain and hormonal chemistry of those affected.
The best approach is to get help by connecting with people who do not suffer from WMP, while finding the strength to hold WMP sufferers accountable for their actions at every step. Pretending or going along only aggravates the disease and delays recovery. The Center for Social Diseases expects new 12-Step Programs and support groups to pop up in highly affected areas, following release of these findings.
Like other addictions, WMP can be a progressive disease. Self-care must be a priority for those living in proximity to the disease. Loved ones are encouraged to only maintain connections that include strong boundaries and to adopt a stringent practice of truth- telling in the presence of WMP sufferers. Be ready to endure child-like tantrums, and to hold firm while telltale behaviors present themselves. Remember, “keeping them honest” is an act of love.
Patience and compassion are needed, as WMP sufferers are often overly scared, fragile and unsure of themselves. Go slowly but remain firm. They may seem to enjoy special privileges, but remember, they are suffering.
I think my boss or other public figures suffer from WMP, what should I do?
It is important to not feed any illusion that those with WMP are special or above others. Unfortunately, they do often find themselves in positions of authority because of an attraction to telltale-symptom-affirming cultures.
At times, the bravado of developed WMP sufferers can lure some into a false sense of security. It is important to think long-term and remember that the one who does not need to put others down is always the stronger candidate. Our most effective and beloved leaders have an innate appreciation of the ills of WMP (regardless of race, gender, orientation or identity) and see inherent value in the lives and experiences of all. Simple actions, such as respecting others’ limits, asking permission, saying ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Thank you’ have shown promise as a path to rewiring the brains of early WMP sufferers. Cutting edge research is now underway.
Resisting White Male Privilege on the social, economic and political levels is its own practice of recovery. Keep in mind, the population was infected long-ago, when the disease was still largely unseen and unidentified.
We can all help normalize shows of humanity, compassion, valuing a diversity of life, and the humility that keeps everyone honest in everyday interactions. This social norming can be a part of the slow and necessary cultural transformation.
Is there a cure?!
Curing White Male Privilege is going to take a concerted effort by everyone affected by and surrounding its negative impacts in society.
As a public health crisis, it is our civic duty to interrupt White Male Privilege whenever we see it in a way that is consistent, loving and firm.
Remember, truth-telling, holding sufferers accountable and rejecting the ill-effects will help curb the spread of the disease. Only cooperation and a commitment to dismantling White Male Privilege (and its support structure, Patriarchy) will allow for social healing to occur.
*This story is an illuminating spoof, and no such Center for Social Diseases, CSD, exists. Though, WMP and its effects are real.
Vanessa Osage
Vanessa Osage is on a mission to leave this world better than she found it. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator, Consultant & Professional Coach. A two-time Nonprofit Founder, Vanessa Osage is President of The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole”, and creator of The Justice CORPS Initiative. In 2017, she won the Kickass Single Mom Award for her work in sexuality education and youth rites of passage. Her essays have been featured in Circles on the Mountain, The Confluence Journal, Role Reboot & more. Can’t Stop the Sunrise is her first book.
David Benoit is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and friend of the progressive criminal justice movement. David reached out to me to discuss if members of our community experience issues with banks, including closure of accounts without explanation. He would like to hear about your experiences. David can be reached at [email protected]. Thank you! – Jeff
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Court debts and lack of credit limit abilities to get driver’s licenses, find homes and get meaningful work
In 2013, Martize Tolbert walked out of prison and into a financial hole.
Mr. Tolbert was arrested on drug and weapon charges as a teenager, then bounced in and out of jail for more than a dozen years. When he was released for the last time, he owed some $12,000 in court fines and fees.
Four years later, he was working at a Charlottesville, Va., Jiffy Lube, making $9 an hour, barely enough for rent, food and supporting his son. The debt barred him from getting a driver’s license, but, with or without one, he had to drive. A Black man, he got pulled over often, he said, leading to more tickets, bigger for the lack of a license. The interest was compounding too. He tried to work out payment plans, but the total was only growing.
“It was all uphill just trying to get everything back in line from the mess I had created for myself,” said Mr. Tolbert, 40. “Everything was a struggle.”
Each year, more than 600,000 people deemed to have paid their debts to society are released from U.S. prisons, but the financial consequences can follow them long after. It can be hard for them to get checking accounts and nearly impossible to get loans. Some get out only to discover their identities were stolen. Many, like Mr. Tolbert, are deep in debt.
That all makes it hard for ex-inmates to get jobs, start businesses or find housing. In Florida and other states, court debts cost the right to vote. The problems trap all sorts of criminals, from small drug offenders to white-collar swindlers.
For Black men, who are nearly six times more likely than white men to be in prison, the financial aftermath is just another byproduct of a justice system already weighted against them. A 2019 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found people of color are disproportionately arrested for nonviolent crimes like loitering and disorderly conduct, and are generally sentenced more harshly, “which amplifies the impact of collateral consequences.”
Increasing evidence shows these repercussions push some people back into crime…
Columns share an author’s personal perspective. *****
Ever since the conventions, when each party’s presidential candidate was finally confirmed, I figured criminal justice reform policy would come in a very competitive third behind coronavirus and the economy when it came to debate topics. But Proud Boys and COVID-19 infections got in the way and we weren’t talking about policy until the last presidential debate. And even then, there wasn’t much.
Criminal justice plans – and records – finally appeared and, instead of cementing President Donald Trump as a champion of smart decarceration, they proved that his heart and his head were never really in the reform game.
I expected the president to ham up the FIRST STEP Act on the campaign trail. After all, criminal justice is exactly where former Vice President Joe Biden is vulnerable.
Anyone who’s served time in the last 20 years lived the effects of Biden’s work in the Senate during the 1980s and 1990s. That’s when the 1994 Crime Bill – sometimes known by its full name, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 – passed, along with other laws that Biden had a hand in crafting, like the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, of which Biden was one of the first co-sponsors.
I’m one of those people. What affected me were the so-called “Truth in Sentencing” requirements for getting that funding under the Crime Bill. My state, Connecticut, repealed all “good time statutes” – traditionally referred to as “time off for good behavior” – laws in 1995, a year after the Crime Bill passed. Before that, inmates earned 10 days off for every month served. If that law had been in effect when I was in prison, I would have come home one year earlier than I did.
I was lucky in that, in 2011, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted a revised form of good time called Risk Reduction Earned Credits, so I earned about one year off my sentence.
But if the various laws Biden touted decades ago hadn’t been in place, it would have been two years off. In fact, without the 1994 Crime Bill and its local legislative progeny, I would have served only about 10%, or about 8 months, of my seven-plus year sentence before I was eligible for parole. I can see why people in my place might have a grudge against Biden.
Federal inmates got some similar relief from the law Trump put into place. As of May 2020, 5,168 of them had come home under the FIRST STEP Act, for a variety of reasons. The FIRST STEP Act gave Trump some decarceration bona fides that I thought he would gleefully rub in Biden’s face during the first debate.
But he didn’t. “You did a crime bill, 1994, when you call them super predators, African-Americans, super predators, and they’ve never forgotten it … and I’m letting people out of jail now …” is how Trump started, but he lost focus and veered into the subject of cops and how they like him.
The last debate served another opportunity but he blew it. For one, he didn’t even identify the FIRST STEP Act or what it did. He just repeated “criminal justice reform” four times over. He never mentioned that thousands of federal prisoners are home, that recidivism hasn’t seemed to be a problem, that at least by the letter of the law, women are supposed to get the sanitary supplies they request, although reports that guards still deny women tampons and pads persist.
He must equate the FIRST STEP Act – which he can’t name – with the Emancipation Proclamation; that’s the only explanation for the comparison to Abraham Lincoln. I’ve always resisted the idea that we seek reform of the criminal legal system for the exclusive benefit of Black people.
Not only is it not accurate – nearly half of U.S. adults have an immediate family member who was or is incarcerated; that’s 113 million people, more than twice the size of the Black population in this country – it doesn’t debunk what Ta-Nehisi Coates calls “the enduring myth of Black criminality,” namely the idea that Black people are more prone to lawbreaking than white people. It’s simply not true, even if 91% of the FIRST STEP beneficiaries have been Black. The reason is that the laws from the ’80s and ’90s were implemented in racially disparate ways.
What Trump wouldn’t say, because it doesn’t help him, is that his administration hasn’t really gotten into the FIRST STEP spirit; far more people can find freedom if his administration stops fighting them. Federal prosecutors have sought to resentence people who were released under the reform law, the Department of Justice rigged the risk assessment tool that qualifies inmates for the low-security status that allows them to earn prison credits, and the Bureau of Prisons has been stingy in granting compassionate release requests, especially at a time when they deserve expedited attention because of COVID-19. Even with this federal statute, Trump’s time in office has been less than Lincoln-esque.
Biden’s apologized for his laws’ unintended consequences. That, combined with his original platform, which was quite progressive and included providing for the health of incarcerated women – a plank that only Biden and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg included – is enough for me. I’m not sure why the Biden-Sanders United Task Force sapped it of all its flavor to create the Democratic Party’s final policy statement.
But Biden was hardly bested by Trump’s platform; it contains nothing about changes for the future. Just a bulleted mention of ending “cashless” bail, which can only mean extending the life of the current money bail system that persists in so many states and municipalities that strips people who haven’t been convicted of their freedom – where the Black men he’s allegedly helped so much are 50% more likely to be detained than their white counterparts.
Judging just by the numbers, far more people are free from incarceration because of Trump than Biden. For that reason, Trump walked into the last debate as the “reform candidate.”
But he didn’t walk out one. He showed he can’t even talk a good game, much less play one. If you’re voting on criminal justice Nov. 3, Trump’s not your man.
Disclosure: Author was an Alternate At Large Delegate for the Biden-Harris ticket at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at [email protected].
