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The tough-on-crime mentality dominating today\u2019s politics is an alarming backlash against the criminal justice and prison reform movement. It\u2019s now fashionable for politicians to proclaim, just lock \u2019em up and bury the key.<\/p>\n
Yet many studies show incarceration is costly and ineffective. Prison hardens the criminal, and most will return to society with few skills and no hope, and succumb to the ills that sent them away \u2014 poverty, violence, isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to understand that the vast majority of the prison population will be released at some point,\u201d says Ken Berry, a corporate social responsibility and pro bono<\/i> specialist attheWinston & Strawnlaw firm.<\/p>\n
In his past life, Berry did prison time for a crime he did not commit. He now serves as board chair of Reading Between the Lines, a literature discussion program that gives voice to recently and formerly incarcerated women and men.<\/p>\n
The non-profit was launched in 2013 at halfway houses on Chicago\u2019s West Side.<\/p>\n
In the group sessions, participants read and dissect great literature \u2014 poems, essays, speeches, and short stories \u2014 and share their reflections and ideas.<\/p>\n
The facilitated discussions open doors and minds, allowing participants to \u201cread between the lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in the process, we are helping them hear their voice,\u201d Joan Shapiro said at a recent Zoom session to promote the program.<\/p>\n
Shapiro, a former bank executive, is the founder and executive director of the reading program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re accompanying them as they hear their voice, as they feel validated and recognize that they have intellectual chops, that they have the capacity to exchange ideas, different points of view,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
The ability to listen, express opinions and exchange ideas enhances their communication skills, cultivates confidence, and nurtures self-worth.<\/p>\n
When Arnetha Lofton was released from prison, she was skeptical and \u201ctired of programs\u201d she said in a video produced by Reading Between the Lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I create my own destiny. I started liking it a lot because it teaches me how to communicate. But most of all, use my mind,\u201d she added. \u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participants read and discuss a repertoire of powerful works by literary giants like Maya Angelou, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Franz Kafka, Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, for the first time.<\/p>\n
Just 31% of Illinois prisoners earned a high school degree, according to a 2015 analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute. Another 19% have GED diplomas, but this correlates with less annual income than high school graduates will earn, the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n
While African Americans made up less than 15% of the state\u2019s population, they represented nearly 60% of the prison population.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to really be concerned about the type of men and women that we are releasing back into society,\u201d Berry said at the Zoom session.\u201cMany people talk about public safety. But, you know, if you incarcerate somebody for 10 years or 20 years, and you know, when they have an educational level of eighthgrade or less, and they leave prison the same way 10 or 20 years later, all you\u2019ve done is warehouse that person.You\u2019ve done that person a disservice. You\u2019ve also done our community a disservice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That should matter to all of us.\u201cTheir options will be very limited, and they may come back and victimize you, or I, or some of our loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tell people that Reading Between the Lines will NOT guarantee you a job,\u201d Shapiro says in the video. \u201cBut we do remind them that if they really take advantage of building some of these core tools and skills, that they\u2019re probably more likely to keep that job.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may be the only program of its kind in the nation, she said.<\/p>\n
Reading Between the Lines serves 600 participants annually, at four Chicago locations, four times a week, year-round.There are plans to expand.<\/p>\n
It could be a way out and stay out. For more information, visit readingbetweenthelines.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Laura Washington on Twitter <\/i>@mediadervish<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Send letters to<\/i>letters@suntimes.com<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n