Kamika Patel was a summer intern for Wisconsin Humanities while also participating in a study abroad program in Norway. Now a senior, she is double majoring in International Studies and Communication Arts and pursuing certificates in Educational Policy and Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She brought a global perspective to her work with Wisconsin Humanities, and drew on her past experience working with a non-profit based in Madison called Nehemiah. For thirty years, Nehemiah has focused on empowering children, youth, and families through culturally relevant educational and social service support programs. In this personal essay, Kamika reflects on her past work and current thinking about how to break through stereotypes and biases.
Thanks for reading. Listent to episode 3, "Three convicts, twenty dollars, and a newspaper" here.
From Judgment to Understanding: Embracing the Humanity of the Incarcerated, by Kamika Patel
“We tell these stories. We showcase successful people who are formerly incarcerated. We show what they're doing now. We don't lean on their crime and what they did when they went to prison. We just kind of simply say, you were in prison. Cool. Now, who are you now?”
These words were posed by co-host Adam Carr during episode three of the season two Human Powered podcast, "Three convicts, twenty dollars, and a newspaper."
As an intern for Wisconsin Humanities for the Human Powered podcast, which focuses on highlighting the humanities in Wisconsin prisons, this quote deeply resonated with my desire to uncover inspiring stories of individual and collective efforts contributing to prison reform and the power of humanities experience. Humanities experiences allow incarcerated individuals to feel human and help those of us who might be fixated on this vulgar desire to hear about the crime that was committed and make judgments solely on those facts. I also believe I had a supporting perspective to contribute to my work because of my prior experiences.
I had the great opportunity to intern with the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development based in Madison, Wisconsin. Nehemiah is an organization centered around eliminating racial disparities by developing relationships, solutions, and systems through community networks and engagement.
And I believe I have pursued two distinct internship projects to dig into racial injustice in our legal system largely due to my upbringing. During my childhood, I grew up in Ford Heights, a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, where my parents owned a small, ten-room motel. Ford Heights has faced significant racial disparities, which have been long standing issues within the community, especially within the criminal legal system in which there have been many allegations of racial profiling and discriminatory practices. My awareness about these issues developed as I would have conversations with motel customers who were also community members facing many hardships due to the lack of investments in education, infrastructure, healthcare, and economic development.
Throughout the spring and summer of my past internship, I was able to help Eli Steenlage, Nehemiah’s Director of Communications, in his efforts to produce the Justified Anger Podcast series Shackled - Electronic Monitoring.
As much of my work involved researching how different racial injustices are present in our legal systems and then conveying my findings into concise material for the public, I, myself, was constantly learning more.
For instance, talking to and working with individuals like Aaron Hicks, the Assistant Director for Reentry Services at Nehemiah, meant exposure to first-hand accounts of injustices he and countless others face daily within the criminal legal system during and after imprisonment. Aaron's incredibly moving words about his experience of reentering society uncovered information I would otherwise have never come across. I distinctly remember him describing the individual effort he put into learning about his voter rights upon release, and I was dumbfounded by the barriers in effect that strip formerly incarcerated individuals of the right to vote/gain representation or the lack of information/education informing them of when they can.
However, throughout this role, I faced a challenge I was initially unprepared for. Oftentimes, when I would relay the advocacy work or successes of the formerly incarcerated individuals I worked with or learned from, people in my life would right-off-the-bat inquire about the crime they committed, disregarding what I might have had to say about them as people. It was upsetting to be met with stereotypical and close-minded reaction to new ideas and perspectives that were reworking how I understood the criminal legal system and public infrastructure.
As someone simply relaying how these formerly incarcerated individuals have made progressive strides, I would quickly turn frustrated feeling like these conversations were majorly disregarding what the purpose of the criminal legal/prison system should be. These discussions would result in wishing that whoever I was speaking to could, at that same moment, directly listen to what the formerly incarcerated individual had to share. To hear their voice rather than dismiss them so quickly upon hearing that they committed a crime. I felt an immense appreciation for the opportunity to hear first-hand from individuals like Aaron, and then Robert Taliaferro and Shannon Ross, and I desperately wanted others to experience the same. Robert and Shannon are featured in episode three of Human Powered season two podcast because of their experience as writers and editors for prison newspapers while they were incarcerated.
I was reminded of these difficult conversations while hearing Robert and Shannon talk about the importance of providing a platform for incarcerated individuals to express their own experiences, perspectives, and voices. Prison newspaper publications can highlight the unique challenges faced by prisoners, shed light on their stories, and offer insights into the realities of incarceration. Rehabilitation efforts like this allow incarcerated individuals to share their thoughts, opinions, and creative works with fellow inmates, correctional staff, and the general public. And by highlighting positive aspects and achievements within the prison community, these publications can help create a more supportive and constructive environment within prisons.
I learned to direct people to works like these and other forms of representation. It was a matter of connecting people to the storyteller so that they might acknowledge another perspective.
“For Robert and Shannon, the point of newspapers was not just to report the news, but to humanize the people working on it and those around them,” Carr said.
When Robert became a reporter for The Mirror in 1984, he adopted this role in the golden age of prison journalism where there was more of an emphasis on rehabilitation, and as a result, more resources were available to establish or further develop a prison newspaper publication.
While eventually becoming editor of the publication, Robert insisted on humanity first. He saw no point in sensationalizing the prison system and refused to write about the cases of the men in prison. Instead, Robert focused on highlighting what they were doing while they were there. In fact, The Mirror used to be The Prison Mirror until Robert deemphasized the word “prison” while he edited the paper.
Shannon’s newsletter, The Community, did the same, but at a very different time and with fewer resources. While Shannon was incarcerated, rehabilitation reforms were cut back and there was less to no funding available to support initiatives like prison newspapers. So when Shannon decided to create an actual newsletter, he enlisted people who wanted to help despite having no budget or office.
To distribute The Community to people in and outside of prison, Shannon relied on a team of four, including himself, while committing to a convoluted process for the first two years of the newsletter’s founding. The process became much more simplified once The Community was moved to an email version, but its message remained the same.
Shannon aims to incorporate all kinds of perspectives. He supports different individuals associated with the prison system, whether it is an incarcerated individual or perhaps a current CEO who was formally incarcerated, to share their experience and how it relates to not having come back to prison.
Robert and Shannon have similar ideas about the importance of a prison paper and what it can mean for those who are incarcerated. Despite decades apart in their experiences, they reach the same conclusion that people who are in prison should be the ones writing about people in prison.
I think back to the conversations I had with the people in my life who refused to listen to what I had to share from my experience with Nehemiah. And I think about the many times I wished I could have had them directly talk to inspiring and empowered individuals raising awareness about the injustices of the prison system while coming across as another community member. Because that IS exactly who they are. A part of the community—equal citizens, employers, and potential family. And so we must continue to listen to and value their voices to promote reformative action.
