Georgetown's Prison Outreach Program

For the past two semesters I have tutored with Georgetown’s Prison Outreach program, an organization within the Center For Social Justice. If selected from the relatively competitive application process, Georgetown students tutor inmates weekly at both Arlington Prison and the Alexandria Detention Facility. The goal is to work with inmates one on one to help them achieve either their GED or pass their ESL examination. With these qualifications, after being released from prison, individuals will be better equipped to successfully reintegrate into society and support themselves and their families.

While some classes are conducted in the detention facility, with only one teacher and a vast range of abilities and learning levels, few inmates get individual attention and it is difficult to cater to everyone’s educational needs. Therefore I feel that the one on one work that we do is invaluable in that it is the only time that inmates get individual attention. Many of the inmates are extremely gifted, but often have simply not had the opportunity to fulfill their potential in a poor school system and/or an impoverished upbringing. Many are immigrants, and have never learnt English properly, which is a major hindrance to their ability to succeed in America. Without a basic grasp of the English language or a high school diploma, I can understand why many of these individuals have made choices that may not have been the most beneficial for them at the time. Working with the program has given me a greater insight into what I see as a fundamentally vicious cycle of crime for many of America's under privileged youth and immigrants in particular.

Ultimately, my hope is that prison does not have to be the end of the incarcerated’s opportunities in life to better themselves and develop their life goals. Shouldn't prison give the condemned the opportunity to change their behaviors, enhance their skill sets and thus their lives? Working with the incarcerated has been endlessly rewarding, and I hope to continue to be involved with different types of outreach to prisons in the coming years.

Eddie Ellis Jr- People Can Change

Last week Georgetown's Prison Outreach program hosted Eddie Ellis Jr in White Gravenor, an ex manslaughter convict from Washington DC. Sam, Max and I were among the forty or so people who turned out to hear him talk. When Eddie was 16, he shot a person in self defense at a party. The other man involved in the incident died, and Eddie was sentenced to 22 years in prison. He ended up serving 15 years, and was released a little over two years ago.

Eddie's initial story is not a unique one- he is an example of a youth in the Washington DC area who turned to violence at a young age, as a way of expressing himself. Eddie's father died when he was two, and he grew up in a single parent home with a mother who was trying to support her family. Wrongly imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Eddie found himself extremely angry and frustrated with 'the system' that he felt was against him, part of a larger government that didn't care about people like him who were struggling in the nation's capital. He then started to become involved in compromising situations, and when a guy at a party pulled a gun on him, Eddie shot him, because as he saw it, it was either him or Eddie. While I make no excuses for Eddie and the crime he committed (he certainly makes none for himself) I would argue that unfavourable economic and social circumstances in his life make what he did easier to understand. Whether or not you agree, and whatever you think of his case, one thing is for sure- Eddie is a changed man.

After 15 years on lock down, Eddie is trying to be a force for good in the world by helping other incarcerated men and women. He speaks in high schools and colleges, and prisons throughout the area, and is currently working on creating a nonprofit that will help ex-offenders ease back into society. Eddie's message is an inspirational one to many of the incarcerated; they too can turn their lives around. In this way Eddie is devoting his life to contributing to the non violent cause by leading by example and contributing to the cause of non violence by helping others. He has recently published a book entitled 'Window of Opportunity', which serves as a resource guidebook to educate prisoners on the opportunities that await them in the outside world. Eddie hopes to do his part to help keep the incarcerated out of prison once they are released, showing them the 'right path' so that they can successfully contribute to society.

Colman McCarthy, who Sam did his biography on, actually wrote an article on Eddie for the National Catholic Reporter. Colman not only discusses Eddie's personal story, but also delves into issues of rehabilitation for prisoners in 'prison happy' America, an issue I'm particulary interested in.

You can find the article online here.

In addition, you guys should definitely check out Eddie's personal website.

Eddie's talk and Colman McCarthy's article raised a couple questions for me that I find myself thinking about a lot, especially after I visit prison every week with the Prison Outreach program.
Once the government imprisons people for violent crimes, how do we ensure that they don't continue down the same violent path? What mechanisms can be implemented to help offenders correct their ways and change their lives?

These are just a couple thoughts. I'd love to hear what you guys think about this issue.

- Katherine