A Correctional View

Author, App Creator, and Co-host to the podcast The Secrets of the Opposite Sex stopped by this week and took over the hosting seat.  After using the app Secrets of the Opposite Sex, a deck of dope ice breaker questions you're able to use on a date to start up a discussion to learn more about each other, I noticed there was one question missing - Would you date someone that's been in prison?  I reached out to the creator of the app, Tasha Ray, & we decided to sit down and dig into the topic of dating & prison a little deeper. Secrets of the Opposite Sex also has a podcast that Tasha co-host & this week she's taking the wheel to get to some questions the opposite sex may be wondering.    To learn more about this app & podcast, visit www.secretsoftheoppositesex.com

I bought a car last year & I'll be purchasing my own home in the coming months. My hard work got me here, but The Founder & Managing Partner of CapitalWize, LLC, George Acheampong Jr. was my secret weapon. He's sharing the gems he's given me since I've been home and we hold a similar goal.  Letting others know financial freedom is POSSIBLE, even without worrying about a background check. As a LEADER in the area of finance and entrepreneurship, he has founded Melanin Money, the #1 brand for wealth builders of color & the #1 Financial Social Network & Financial accountability partner, Pocket Advisor. You'll hear how quickly how my goal was achieved & learn how those that have been impacted will have FREE access to attain their definition of success with a class that even I paid for. Contact: IG: @GEORGEACHEAMPONGJR TWITTER: @GACHEAMPONGJR WEBSITE: www.georgeacheampong.com Visit correctionalviews.org/impactfulgiveaways for more information. Email [email protected] for access to SIDEKICK HUSTLE BOOTCAMP by providing your legal name, how you were impacted, and writing Sidekick Hustle in the subject bar.

After moving back from Arizona & being told re-entry organizations would assist me in transitioning , I discovered that wouldn't be a truth I could stand on. I found them, but assistance was the one thing they didn't not extend. 

Marcus Bass is one of the first individuals I encountered after recording the first season of A Correctional Views. Despite our friendship formed at North Carolina A&T State University, his alignment with politics immediately had me uninterested in engagement. His influence, however, allowed me to understand the impact of politics with the justice system & is important to reflect on as we begin unveiling my journey in the coming episodes.

A Correctional View is back, almost two years after Dominique's release with stories she did not expect to have. Despite her innocence, she is still on probation and exposing common barriers formerly incarcerated individuals experience. Not just with jobs and housing, but with friends, relationships, and organizations that failed to assist her in the biggest time of need. She wanted to tell why she left, and what's coming for listeners EVERY MONDAY.

Michelle Alexander opens the New Jim Crow promoting those now identified as criminals in America receive the same treatment, and sometimes less, than a Black American in the height of Jim Crow. This brief history lesson proves the system America claims promotes justice, was merely a system created to control Black Americans at the end of slavery, and reinforce the racial caste in America. This brief history lesson reminds every Black American, despite their background, prison is their problem and new methods for justice must be created. Prison isn't it. 

Drinking & driving is not supported by this podcast & should be avoided at all cost; however, knowing the state guidelines to follow if you happen to find yourself in this situation may allow you to avoid the charge all together. 

African Americans are 12% of the U.S. population, yet 30% of the individuals currently on probation. Each year almost 350,000 of individuals return to jail or prison and not because they’ve committed a new crime. Sometimes they're returning simply for violating a rule of probation.  I’m scared, why? An employee working for AZ Adult Probation told me if I paid the restitution on the case I was wrongly convicted of in full, that’d I be free from their grasp on July 5th, 2020. So I paid it in full on June 12, 2020. On June 19, 2020 however, a probation officer told me I was no longer eligible. They lied to me. Silence on my case is no longer an option as I step daily in fear of their grasp on my life.  I deserve my innocence & I deserve my FREEDOM. This season, I’m changing the rules because I refuse to continue following rules that were never created for my success. Black people are tired of this treatment. I say Black people, but that’s me. I’m tired of this. 

When the new year hits, people carry energized spirits about new goals they have set for completion. A popular quote yelled by many is, " NEW YEAR, NEW ME". Everyone is excited to introduce the version of themselves they have transformed into or the person they wish to become.  This year I woke up on January 1st, mad that I was still breathing. New year, New ME didn't want to be alive anymore. After hosting multiple events, creating a podcast, becoming very fit & active in the gym, and starting my non-profit to help us, one would think I would be hitting a catwalk proud of multiple accomplishments after being released from prison. Negative. Two days before the new years, I spent hours into the am on the phone with a friend having to remind me that allowing my mother to find me in her house no longer living wasn't the answer. After praying for freedom for almost five years and finally gaining it, there are many days I feel far from free. Re-entry back into society is a hard transition, but I have to fight to change the assistance we receive because there is no way I am the only one having bad days.  We have reached the point of story telling where you are at the most current point of my life, but there are so many other stories to tell & more insight to provide. Season 1 is ending, but my life isn't yet. I have work to do & Season 2 is coming soon. 

Many people hold the perception that once an individual completes their sentence in prison or on probation, they are no longer punished by the state. False. Even if that individual never messes up another day in their life, as long as that felony appears on their background, they will have to answer to someone regarding that mistake. For those who have entered prison, the re-entry into society is a daunting task. Depending on your crime, society may feel they can never forgive you, jobs may deem that you're not fit for their environment, & friends may distance themselves from you for various reason - all the while you're trying to hold your  composure and be productive member in society.  Re-gaining your freedom is suppose to be one of the greatest feelings after walking out of a prison, but nobody warned me that I would have days where I wished I was in prison again.