It was all fun and games until we crossed the bridge. As i looked around the bus almost everybody had this desolate look in their eyes. In some people i seen fear like never before. I could tell who the vets was because there vibe was different. They looked like soldiers heading into battle. Eyes locked in focused on their surroundings mentally preparing themselves for what was coming. The closer we got the more the sun light began to fade. It was as if Rikers Island had a dark cloud over it. My adrenaline began to flow as the realization sank in that i was minute's away for being a prisoner at one of the most notorious jail in the country. The year was 2008 right around the time Rikers Isla
Thanks to Save Our Streets Bed-Stuy for offering the opportunity for Prison Writes to join their community in gathering around the important issue of stopping gun violence. There was free food including burgers, hotdogs and home made fried chicken, a bouncy tent for kids, and tables with information with SWAG and raffles for all. Prison Writes invited guests to our table to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences around incarceration by writing on post cards we provided. Some people said they had no experience with prison; some said they didn’t want to talk about it. Those who did share their experiences with incarceration talked about visiting a loved one or family member, trying to
Johnny Perez is a non-attorney advocate at the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project (MHP), a civil legal services firm that provides legal and social work services to people with serious mental illness. He is assigned to MHP’s Safe Re-entry Project where he works with people with mental illness and histories of incarceration, to connect them to the services in the community that will assist them to attain better measures of recovery and gain the stability necessary to avoid further contact with the criminal justice system. Through his participation in the Jails Action Coalition, the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC), and the New York Reentry Education Network he
