Why Reentry Matters

My community and family may have been ready for me to come home from prison, but it sure didn’t feel like it. I mean, even the people at my Father’s church treated me differently; folks that had known me as a child. It felt like everywhere I went and everyone I talked to — could see it. Before I said it, it felt like they could see it. It felt like everyone could see the indention left by those prison bars.

It felt like everyone could see that I had just spent the last 8 years of my life in prison. Almost as if there was a scarlet letter affixed to my person that everyone could see. Even if no one could possibly see my past, it felt like they could. When I filled out job applications, there was no doubt that scarlet letter was clearly visible.

“Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”
“Please explain.”

And the box they gave you the fill out the information was 2" x 2", this is where you are to explain how you spent the last 8 years of your life and why. How could I possibly squeeze the last 2,095 days into that tiny box in a way that would make someone understand.

So I didn’t.
I lied.

For a long time I lived that lie. It wasn’t until I was able to tell the truth about my incarceration, that I was able to move past my incarceration. Embracing my past gave me a future.