Thanks ALR!

My thanks to the kind folks at American Law Radio for their recent invitation to me to appear on their weekly radio broadcast.  Regrettably, I had never even heard of American Law Radio until a couple of days before I received their invitation, via telephone.  Sara and I subsequently spoke, and exchanged emails, several times before the taping of the show.  She came across as a very nice person, and I made it clear to her that I had no qualms about participating on the show.  While I don't necessarily go out of my way to speak about my criminal background, I have no problem doing so, when appropriate.  I believe that more convicted persons should, likewise, thoughtfully speak to and about their criminal backgrounds, when doing so might prove helpful in raising the consciousness of the larger community regarding the difficulties of the reentry experience--not merely as a complaint or lament, but with an eye on the big picture.

The big picture of which I speak?  Somewhere between 25% and 33% of all adults in our country have a criminal background, and that number continues to grow.  These convicted persons almost always become members of a demographic group banished to the periphery of our nation's economic mainstream.  This demographic group, ultimately, becomes a virtually endless drain on the increasingly limited economic resources of  relatives, friends, and government.  Homeless shelters overflow with members of this demographic group.  The great majority of the growing number of beggars on our streets, too, belong to this increasingly marginalized population.  While members of this outcast group suffer from a whole host of ills,  most of those ills would most likely improve if the reentry road weren't so strewn with both overt and covert obstacles occasioned by a societal ostracism that has grown to virtually unscalable heights.

So, keeping the big picture in mind--a personal strength that kept me same during my time in prison--I know that the only way to positively impact this societal mindset against convicted persons is to put a human face on this reentry experience.  Most convicted persons have both the will and capacity to yet live positive and productive lives--if allowed the opportunity to do so.  My responsibility to myself, and to the larger society that continues to reject me, is to represent my interests--the interests of all convicted persons--as decently, credibly, and consistently as I can.

Alas, the interview.  Thanks to Sara, David, and Sam, for a very welcoming experience.