Posts Based on Reading - Post #3

12/7/14                      Reading Blog Post #3

I switched my book from the first two blogposts. I am now reading Life on the Outside by Jennifer Gonnerman. In this book Gonnerman narrates the story of Elaine Bartlett who was imprisoned for sixteen years for a first offense cocaine bust. On the first page of the prologue, a Bartlett family tree is shown. Yvonne Bartlett was the mother of Elaine and her six siblings. Elaine is the mother of four, Apache, Jamel, Satara, and Danae. Drug use, HIV contraction, and incarceration is rampant down the family tree. The rest of the prologue describes the chilly January day in 2000 when Elaine was released from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. She warmly embraced her son Apache . Apache who was only ten when Elaine was arrested, is now twenty six and was the one who filled Elaine’s role in raising his younger siblings. Gonnerman states that the reality is, American has turned into a nation of ex-convicts, thirteen million to approximate. That would be 7% of American adults. That’s more people than those who make up the population of Sweden or Bolivia. United States prisons release over 600,000 people every year. That’s more people than the population of Boston, Seattle, or Washington DC. It’s very troubling and ex-cons often find that they hit a dead end in the outside world.

When I looked at the Bartlett family tree, in addition to the frequent incarceration, drug use, etc I noticed a lack of male role models. As a result, Apache gets stuck with the responsibility of caring for his siblings at a young age. It’s impressive to me that he was able to take on that load for his mother, while also redirecting the family trend. I really admire that. The emotional strength that must have required is tremendous. The number of ex-convicts/people released from prison each year is jaw dropping. Even worse 40% of those released will return (240,000 a year) and 16% suffer from severe mental illness. Those released are provided with little support. Typically ex-prisoners have no money, few job skills, little education, a history of addiction and are expected to rebuild their lives. Our Criminal Justice system is often one large circle of imprisonment, release, and then re-entry