Currently, I have seven young guys here at Great Meadow under my wing as fraternal members of UFD [Ujaamaa Fraternal Dynasty]. There’s Dolo – 21, RP – 21, Leaky – 20, Zero – 19, Jay – 24, Miguel – 24, and E – 30. Now, Dolo, RP, and Leaky are in the back half of the facility with me, so I see them in the prison yard at rec times. Zero, Jay, Miguel, and E are in the front half, so I can’t see them except in passing, which makes it difficult for me to give them guidance and direction. But even being in the back half with Dolo, RP, and Leaky I am still faced with tremendous challenges keeping their attention, because the prison yard is where the gangs, drugs and violence are concentrated; where negative and corrupted influences are most powerful.
In the book The One Minute Millionaire: The Enlightened Way to Wealth, it talks about hysteresis as a metaphor to human behavior. Hysteresis is a term that describes the tendency of materials, like steel, to snap back to their original shape once the pressure being applied to it is removed. So, to create permanent change in the thing like human behavior, a force must be applied that is strong enough to exceed the elastic limits of the object. Applying this principle to my outreach work with young prisoners, I need a way to constantly interact with, and supervise them. The power of my positive influence and example isn’t enough to compete with the negative and corrupting influences of the prison yard and the prison environment in general. So, my young ndugu often suffer hysteresis and snap back into old habits.
Recently, Jay was hanging around the wrong crowd, and I had to send him a really sharp letter, checking him on his behavior. Dolo is involved in activities I had to tell him were unacceptable. RP and Leaky started getting distracted and distancing themselves from me. The problem is that this prison environment makes making progress extremely difficult. Within the New York State correction system where reform and rehabilitation aren’t the goal, the culture actively and aggressively discourages the positive growth and development of prisoners, especially younger ones, who are most susceptible to the negative and corrupted influences in this environment. So I am fighting a barely winnable battle to keep the attention of my young ndugu and helping them transform into better men. I often have to go through very difficult hurdles to do this, like holding meetings in the prison yard in the blistering cold and writing very extensive and frequent letters to my ndugu and trying to get those to them. The challenges are also very emotionally difficult for me. I often have to check my own frustrations and anger so as to not take them out on my ndugu when they fall short.
I force myself to understand they’re young, have developmental issues, and aren’t used to having much responsibility, so I often wear many hats: mentor, leader, big brother, father figure, and counselor. The bottom line — it gets real in here. I’m on the front lines, giving a lot of myself to these young men when I myself am under tremendous pressure with minimum support. I’m nearly broke and have no one exclusively for me, but I keep going because the work has to be done. These young men are crying out for help. They want to do better, but DOC isn’t giving them the opportunity.
Just today, as one young brother who is gang banging, walked with me in the prison yard, in the cold, and said to me, “This isn’t right. This place is making us worse.” That’s why he’s in a gang. He said, “How can we respect people who mistrust us? I don’t respect the system. It doesn’t give a (beep) about me.” See, this is what we’re dealing with, a corrupt system that corrupts us. Tune in again for more. Follow me on Facebook at Free Dontie Mitchell. Share your questions and comments. Also, if you’re willing to volunteer to help me in my work, please holler at me. Thank you for listening. That’s it.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
