What Makes The Difference Between Getting Out of Prison and Staying out?

November 12, 2020 12:18 PM

Adam Gopnik on the work of the Fortune Society, a nonprofit helping people cope with the aftermath of incarceration, and Sam Rivera, the charismatic leader of its main residential wing (The New Yorker)
posted by adrianhon (3 comments total)

Wow, adrianhon, this is fabulous.

I'm only about halfway through (sorry, but I wanted to enthuse now; I probably won't get to finish it until tomorrow) but I love these people - Rivera, of course, but also David Rothenberg, the eighty-seven-year-old founder and the relationship between the two of them.

Gopnik is so great at capturing people. I just want to quote every paragraph.

"I’ve been away. I’ve come home."

So powerful.

Thank you so much for sharing this, adrianhon!
posted by kristi at 1:01 PM on November 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I want to echo kristi. Thank you so much for posting this article; it was truly moving. I work in adult education and literacy, a field where you end up meeting more than the average number of people, men and women, who have "done time." It's a tough row to hoe, and sometimes they end up going back inside despite wanting very much to keep going on a different, better path. There are so many barriers and challenges, so many of which are out of their control. There are so many ways that systemic racism and socioeconomic inequity contribute to why people end up in prison are myriad, and, in my opinion, these are a much better explanation than most of the ones that place the blame solely on "individual choices." This article does such a good job of showing the supports that are needed for that fragile transition between "inside" and "outside," to make it a permanent one.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:43 PM on November 12, 2020 [5 favorites]

This was fantastic. I can see both how necessary this sort of organization is but at the same time, the frustration with the fact that it is necessary. I commend Rivera for all his work and can understand why he had to leave in the end. An organization like this shouldn't have to advocate for policy change, but at the same time, it is unfortunately something that could definitely frustrate someone who wants to see things improve before people need this kind of help.

I really liked the bit about how all presentations in the of part mistakes in the best light are the same.
posted by Hactar at 6:14 AM on November 13, 2020