Defying Hopelessness: My Day in Prison
Right before Christmas, after emptying everything but my ID, I stepped through an X-Ray machine, was searched, and went through three steel gates opened independently by guards into Solano State Prison (tighter security I might add than getting into the Pentagon, the CIA or the White House). Fortunately, I was just a guest of Defy Ventures as a mentor and judge for a unique program for felons incarcerated there.
Thanks to generous support and grants from Full Circle Fund and Google.org, Catherine Hoke (and her own redemption story) was able to extend her training in entrepreneurship non-profit to California — and for the first time, inside prison. After an intensive 5 month 3-hour per day training program, the incarcerated Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs), all 20 year + felons, were pitching us on their business ideas.
The day was well covered by the media, including front page stores in the SJ Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and a heartwarming blog from Andrea Barrica. It was the most heartbreaking and heartwarming day I’ve had in a long time. My takeaways:
The Birth Lottery is Real but not a Life Sentence
Hearing the inmates back stories was painful. Nearly all were off the charts on the as children or young adults. No father in their lives; alcohol and drug abuse; gun violence in the neighborhood; homelessness and family members in jail were the norm for most. In no way does that excuse the fact that they were in prison for a reason: very bad choices (more than half were violent felons including murderers) have consequences. And yet many of us grew up in similar circumstances (fortunately I wasn’t one of them as the privilege of my birth lottery became apparent as we shared stories). What struck me most was a universal sense the inmates shared of being alone with no hope early in life. Bad choices didn’t just spring out of nowhere. An early intervention by a relative, friend, teacher, pastor or social worker could have set them on a different path. I kept flashing to my daughter’s classroom where she teaches 3rd graders from similar backgrounds, and hoping that she is reaching as many of them as is possible. Destroyed lives and 20+ years in prison is a terrible outcome and I hope her kids — all wanting to learn — take a different path.
We are all Entrepreneurs
The inmates were one to two years away from potential parole so they clearly had an incentive to come up with an alternative life. Their ideas were impressive, mostly personal service or small scale. I heard pitches from a tattoo artist (the overall winner of the competition, Dana Harper), for a sustainable gardening business, a food truck, a delivery service, and an Islamic clothing designer. All of their plans had a connection to their lives prior to prison and the stories were part of the appeal of the pitch. I’ve judged idea competitions in business, nonprofits and research from some of the best in the world. While the EITs ideas weren’t as world changing, they were life changing. For a small investment, each of the ideas I heard would put the former inmate in a living wage job and in most cases employ others like them. With some support, I could see each working. The EITs certainly took feedback much better than most business school grads I’ve judged. If only they’d had that mentoring and support earlier in life.
Three Strikes You’re Out was a Terrible Idea, Ending it is only the Beginning
Defy accepts 100% of applicants to the CEO of your New Life program. They look for EITs who take ownership of their past, commit to working hard and follow the rules. Those who complete the program have a recidivism rate of 3% as opposed to 50%+ for the typical California felon. Clearly it works, and Defy intends to scale the program to 10,000 inmates across the country in the next 5 years. The cost per inmate for the full training is only $2500 and the maximum investment to start their business idea is $20,000. The average EIT I saw asked for less than $10,000. At a cost of housing felons in CA of $47,000, with less than 2% of that spending going toward rehabilitation, we clearly have our priorities backwards. Like the strange bedfellows coalition Coalition for Public Safety is encouraging, the era of lock ’em up and throw away the key is coming to an end, thankfully. Just dumping ex-inmates on the street isn’t the answer though. Smart rehabilitation interventions like Defy need to be the norm not the exception.
Hopelessness is Tragic and Avoidable if we all Help
The most lasting takeaway for me was the deadliness of hopelessness. These men started their adulthood gripped by it, but hope to end their time emboldened by possibility. Twenty years to take accountability for their crimes, the EITs I met are on a different path, many through a religious conversion, but all with a different world view. The leadership at Solano should be commended for opening their prison and exposing the men to different role models. If only that exposure had happened to them more intensively as young men. We all can play a role to change the tragic cycle or recidivism. If you have resource, donate to. If you have influence, advocate for ending the prison industrial complex or the tragedy of gun violence. If you are an employer, ban the box and hire the formerly incarcerated. If you have time, volunteer and reach out to someone at risk. I’ve done all and intend to spend more time in prison next year — helping bring a small sliver of hope, one person at a time.
