Thank you so much for sharing these. Thinking of your first poem, "Going 'Home'" in particular. It reminded me of the saying "home is not a place" - we can create home anywhere. It's the responsibility of those who are not incarcerated to create a home that will be waiting for you when you leave - a world that is welcoming and non-judgmental and wants to give you the things you need to succeed. I will do everything I can to make sure that world is waiting for you. In the meantime, please keep writing!
Thanks for distributing this information; it's definitely useful to illustrate what a large portion of your facility's population the DOC has failed to "correct", according to its own stated goals! In fact, according to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the national recidivism rate over five years (2005-2010) is actually as high as 76.6%. The most recent number supplied by the Massachusetts DOC (32%) is indeed somewhat misleading, since it only measures re-convictions over the last three years (2012-2015). In general, if we want to get a complete and accurate picture of what the true recidivism rate is, we should be looking at everyone who is re-convicted, as you did, not just people who were re-convicted within a certain number of years of release. Unfortunately, to do that with maximum accuracy, we would have to also compare the number of re-convictions to the whole US population of ex-offenders not currently in prison, a number that the BJS does not seem to collect.
Thanks again for this report. Keep up the good fight!
You're an excellent writer. I'm sorry that Christmas won't be so merry and bright for you all. I wish there was something I could do for you outside of my usual loud-mouthed activism. Just know that I and lots of others are thinking about you and wish you all the best.
Hi Maze, it's the 4. December now. Sorry for taking so long to answer. I'm very forgetful. :( Good luck with the Astronomy-magazine-thingy! :D Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you were actually wrong about something...;)
I didn't know about the Band "Staind" but I listened to the song you mentioned now. It's nice! It was uploaded to Youtube in 2007 - I don't know how old it really is... Not sure about keeping up with the times. :P But really? You don't have to keep up. Most new songs are - sorry- absolute bullshit.
Glad to hear you could meet your folks. What exactly do you do when they visit?
Hope you got your MP3 back. Life without music is boring:/ Especially in prison I can imagine.
I read your essay about time. I really like how you mix a serious topic with humorous examples (loved reading them).
Mhhh, it may shock you but I don't really do anything different in my holidays. I'm in front of my computer most of the time, spending my time playing video games, reading stuff or watching series~ I've never been skiing, but most people here love it. You've never seen snow?! Kinda depresses me. I actually hate snow (I'm more of a spring-summer child) but still, I can't imagine never having seen it.
No problem with your vegan joke. c; I'm forgiving.
x) Is a smiley, I guess. ) <- Mouth, x <- Eyes. You could put a nose between them like: X-)But young people don't really do that anymore. :P
I don't think I'll hear from you before Christmas so I'll just say it now: Merry Christmas!:)
Hello Robert, Sorry for answering so late. It's the 4. December now. Happy belated Birthday! You're as old as my mother now, she's 40 too.:> I'm glad you got to talk to your daughter. And it's unfair that you have to work so much and get nothing for it...:/ I hope your mother is feeling better now. Why was she in the hospital? Because of a seizure? Thanks for your motivating words! Means a lot. :) I can't ski - can you? I tried to snowboard once because we had a skiing camp with our class. We could pick between snowboarding and skiing... Everything hurt after that week. I found your niece Destiny on facebook. She seems sweet. Your brother accepted the request.:) I dont really get your last sentence. What do you mean by in the US Highschools they have classes that everyone goes to? What do I like about Switzerland... Mhhh. It's very peaceful where I live and most people are really nice. I lived in Germany until I was 12 and I sometimes still visit my friends there and it sometimes it shocks me how unfriendly the people are. In retail for example. In Switzerland most of them smile, wish you a good day - stuff like that. I live in a small village in a valley - everywhere around me are mountains, that's really pretty. I don't have a boyfriend. :D I'm not really a relationship person - at least for the time being. Too busy playing video games. :D I had one in... February? My parents liked him - they were only slightly annoyed because he was a picky eater. My parents aren't very strict. c: They just want to know what's going on in my life. What are school functions? I don't like sports... I'm lazy. Recently I hurt my finger in PE recently while playing basketball.. Aww, puppies! It's cool that you get them! Did you get the chance to pet them? I checked your profile, the 2 pictures your mentioned are on there. :) Cute little girl.
I don't want to put personal information on tis blog but I'll try to get into contact with your aunt Cindy!
To answer your last two questions: I can't really judge my art.. People tell me that I'm a good artist - I'm probably one of the best in my class. But then there are much more amazing artists in this world! I see so many amazing drawings all the time, so I wouldn't call myself a good artist tbh. But it doesn't frustrate me or anything because I don't really put time into getting better. - like i said, I'm very lazy~ And I don't go to church, no. I'm 100% an atheist. :)
I don't think we'll write eachother before Christmas so I want to wish you a Merry Christmas already!
Dear Otis, Thank you for sharing your story and writing so that people like me can start to understand your experience and the broken system. I am angry that injustices like what you describe are so common in our country, and I'm angry that a white person like me can live to be nearly 30 before having her "eyes opened" to these things. It isn't right. I wish you the best and I promise that I will work to educate my peers and family on the systematic racism that is so deeply woven into our society. I will support the BLM movement, attending protests and trying to explain it to people who don't get it. I hope that I can make a difference so people don't have to suffer like you have. Please keep writing. Lindsay
RSS
Thank you so much for sharing these. Thinking of your first poem, "Going 'Home'" in particular. It reminded me of the saying "home is not a place" - we can create home anywhere. It's the responsibility of those who are not incarcerated to create a home that will be waiting for you when you leave - a world that is welcoming and non-judgmental and wants to give you the things you need to succeed. I will do everything I can to make sure that world is waiting for you. In the meantime, please keep writing!
Adina
Bridget
Your words are powerful. The simplicity and directness of your poem "Iron Slab" hit me right in the heart.
Thank you for sharing.
Jo
Thanks for distributing this information; it's definitely useful to illustrate what a large portion of your facility's population the DOC has failed to "correct", according to its own stated goals! In fact, according to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the national recidivism rate over five years (2005-2010) is actually as high as 76.6%. The most recent number supplied by the Massachusetts DOC (32%) is indeed somewhat misleading, since it only measures re-convictions over the last three years (2012-2015). In general, if we want to get a complete and accurate picture of what the true recidivism rate is, we should be looking at everyone who is re-convicted, as you did, not just people who were re-convicted within a certain number of years of release. Unfortunately, to do that with maximum accuracy, we would have to also compare the number of re-convictions to the whole US population of ex-offenders not currently in prison, a number that the BJS does not seem to collect.
Thanks again for this report. Keep up the good fight!
Jeff Sherwood
You're an excellent writer. I'm sorry that Christmas won't be so merry and bright for you all. I wish there was something I could do for you outside of my usual loud-mouthed activism. Just know that I and lots of others are thinking about you and wish you all the best.
Sending warm thoughts,
Sara in Michigan
it's the 4. December now. Sorry for taking so long to answer. I'm very forgetful. :(
Good luck with the Astronomy-magazine-thingy! :D
Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you were actually wrong about something...;)
I didn't know about the Band "Staind" but I listened to the song you mentioned now. It's nice! It was uploaded to Youtube in 2007 - I don't know how old it really is... Not sure about keeping up with the times. :P But really? You don't have to keep up. Most new songs are - sorry- absolute bullshit.
Glad to hear you could meet your folks. What exactly do you do when they visit?
Hope you got your MP3 back. Life without music is boring:/ Especially in prison I can imagine.
I read your essay about time. I really like how you mix a serious topic with humorous examples (loved reading them).
Mhhh, it may shock you but I don't really do anything different in my holidays. I'm in front of my computer most of the time, spending my time playing video games, reading stuff or watching series~
I've never been skiing, but most people here love it. You've never seen snow?! Kinda depresses me. I actually hate snow (I'm more of a spring-summer child) but still, I can't imagine never having seen it.
No problem with your vegan joke. c; I'm forgiving.
x) Is a smiley, I guess. ) <- Mouth, x <- Eyes. You could put a nose between them like: X-)But young people don't really do that anymore. :P
I don't think I'll hear from you before Christmas so I'll just say it now: Merry Christmas!:)
Stay well,
Jamie
Sorry for answering so late. It's the 4. December now. Happy belated Birthday! You're as old as my mother now, she's 40 too.:>
I'm glad you got to talk to your daughter.
And it's unfair that you have to work so much and get nothing for it...:/
I hope your mother is feeling better now. Why was she in the hospital? Because of a seizure?
Thanks for your motivating words! Means a lot. :)
I can't ski - can you? I tried to snowboard once because we had a skiing camp with our class. We could pick between snowboarding and skiing... Everything hurt after that week.
I found your niece Destiny on facebook. She seems sweet.
Your brother accepted the request.:)
I dont really get your last sentence. What do you mean by in the US Highschools they have classes that everyone goes to?
What do I like about Switzerland... Mhhh. It's very peaceful where I live and most people are really nice. I lived in Germany until I was 12 and I sometimes still visit my friends there and it sometimes it shocks me how unfriendly the people are. In retail for example. In Switzerland most of them smile, wish you a good day - stuff like that. I live in a small village in a valley - everywhere around me are mountains, that's really pretty.
I don't have a boyfriend. :D I'm not really a relationship person - at least for the time being. Too busy playing video games. :D I had one in... February? My parents liked him - they were only slightly annoyed because he was a picky eater. My parents aren't very strict. c: They just want to know what's going on in my life.
What are school functions? I don't like sports... I'm lazy. Recently I hurt my finger in PE recently while playing basketball..
Aww, puppies! It's cool that you get them! Did you get the chance to pet them?
I checked your profile, the 2 pictures your mentioned are on there. :) Cute little girl.
I don't want to put personal information on tis blog but I'll try to get into contact with your aunt Cindy!
To answer your last two questions: I can't really judge my art.. People tell me that I'm a good artist - I'm probably one of the best in my class. But then there are much more amazing artists in this world! I see so many amazing drawings all the time, so I wouldn't call myself a good artist tbh. But it doesn't frustrate me or anything because I don't really put time into getting better. - like i said, I'm very lazy~
And I don't go to church, no. I'm 100% an atheist. :)
I don't think we'll write eachother before Christmas so I want to wish you a Merry Christmas already!
Best wishes,
Jamie
Thank you for sharing your story and writing so that people like me can start to understand your experience and the broken system. I am angry that injustices like what you describe are so common in our country, and I'm angry that a white person like me can live to be nearly 30 before having her "eyes opened" to these things. It isn't right. I wish you the best and I promise that I will work to educate my peers and family on the systematic racism that is so deeply woven into our society. I will support the BLM movement, attending protests and trying to explain it to people who don't get it. I hope that I can make a difference so people don't have to suffer like you have. Please keep writing.
Lindsay