Trailer: Letters From Prison
Some of you may have already seen this in our Spring 2017 Quarterly E-Newsletter – but it deserves it’s own post, and we want to be sure no one misses it.
We are honored and excited to share the beginnings of a joint project between AI and a young acting class. Using actual letters written to us from prisoners, acting students – under the direction of Sarah Underwood Saviano – have turned these letters into monologues as a class project.
We were able to project the film on the final night of our recent volunteer work weekend in California – which was attended by a donor who made a major contribution to our website fundraiser. His comment after seeing the trailer was that, although he had given to a handful of organizations over the years, this was the first time he was able to see the result of his donation.
Thank you to all the students for their enthusiasm and hard work, to Ms. Underwood Saviano, for birthing the project and giving a voice to those who would otherwise have none, and to the prisoners for sharing their stories.
We hear you.
Notes From The Director – Sarah Underwood Saviano
One of the most thrilling aspects of working in the theatre for me is wrestling with the concept of theatricality and what it means to create a theatrical moment. I had the pleasure this last week of working with some young actors, hurriedly as we did, in preparation for the volunteer event for Adopt an Inmate. Using letters from inmates as fodder, we began a very early exploration of the text, just seeing where the words would take us. Though we are in the very inception of this project, it is clear that there is a profound âsomethingâ here and we look forward to a much deeper exploration in the near future.
Playwright Neil LaBute wrote an introduction to his play Autobahn titled The Pleasures of Limitation. In it he states:
âActors sitting onstage with nothing but a script, a rudimentary set, and minimal lighting, communing with the audience while pushing all the right buttons – that is a sight that I personally never tire of, no matter how many times I see it.â
Not to bore you with a lecture, but suffice to say that when I teach the concept of theatricality, I emphasize that it is not just out of an economic necessity in the theatre that we create a âsomethingâ out of ânothingâ, but it is because of the gift that is derived from a seeming limitation.
I could not help but feel that it is a metaphor for the incarcerated individuals who may feel that they are nothing â experiencing nothingness, making no difference â that so much something is gifted to us. So with a camera, a stool, a door, and some letters, we tried to give voice to these men and women.
With the help of acting and film students Ping Sirisuttivoranun, Wayne Broadway, Donge Tucker, Patrick Tabari, and Aliyah Smith, we put a short trailer together. We hope this serves as an inspiration for the volunteers whoâve given endlessly to this effort.
This is just the beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxr0WmxtnZ0
AI Spring 2017 Quarterly E-Newsletter
So much news this quarter! After some technical snags we are back on schedule with the newsletter. You won’t want to miss this expanded issue, with a recent podcast from Ashley Asti in conversation with Melissa, news and pictures from our recent volunteer work weekend in California, a surprise screening of a trailer in which acting students read some of our letters as monologues, and notes from the director Sarah Underwood Saviano about the project (link to the trailer is in the newsletter).
This publication was created for you â family members, friends, and advocates of prisoners. In each issue you will find useful resources for and from inmates; artwork, stories, recommendations from both adopters and adoptees; and news from the staff. Donât forget to print and send a copy to your inmate loved one. We welcome your feedback and comments.
Enter your email in the sidebar to the right and receive each new issue in your email.
Click on image below for full PDF.
AI Spring 2017 Quarterly E-Newsletter Page One
My Reluctant Ministry – Family
The most remarkable part of being locked up is not the lack of remorse and compassion from these prisoners, but the level of humanness of these so called hardened criminals.
A man came to me the other day because, he said, I was a father and he didnât know what to do about his family. They still didnât know he was in jail where heâs been for two months. He was brimming with tears over the mess he found himself in when he was arrested.
Mostly, I get to help men understand the complexities of the legal system. Something just about everyone in jail has a very hard time with, but on those all too many occasions when God sends someone my way who needs a pat on the shoulder, a kind word, or even some affirmation that this event does not define who they are and that they mustnât let it consume them, I am thankful I was the one who God allowed to be there for them. Even here, imprisoned.
Families these days take on so many different forms and this one was no exception. Heâs not with his sonâs Mom anymore in the conventional sense, but her other kids call him Dad too and he has been active in their lives as well. This man had been away for two months and hadnât spoken to or written his family because of the tremendous amount of shame and self depreciation he was dealing with. Though we live in a world of technology and information at our fingertips, he was hoping to find some solace and encouragement to reach out to the only people on earth who even cared if he was seen, ever, and let them know where he is; the Mom at least, the kids, of course, require some diplomacy and a delicate balance between total disclosure and compassionate honesty. I knew his struggle all too well.
Iâm still trying to help him make sense of the legal system, but two days later he told me he got out not just one letter, but four: one to the mother of his child and one each to his child and her two others from previous engagements. While he described the tremendous weight that he felt had been lifted from his shoulders, the tears welled in my eyes this time. There hasnât been an answer yet and I pray that whatever the answer that comes is one he can pull enough strength from to know how important it is that we humans not just be there, but we reach out to the family we have in the eyes of God.
That family includes the entire human race.
Update: Shawn Ali Bahrami
Yesterday I received a letter from our friend and featured writer Shawn Ali Bahrami. Notice the note at bottom left:
Read the great news for yourself:
Join us in wishing Shawn a successful journey back to his family and his community. We know he’s going to do great things. The Innocence Project of Texas is investigating his case, follow our blog to stay updated.
Great news, indeed, Shawn. We shall be cheering for you!
Wife of Inmate Strip-Searched, Nothing Found, Still Denied Visit
Sonya Staples was attempting to visit her husband at Deep Meadow Correctional Center in State Farm, VA – something she had done many times before. This is what happened to her.
Sonya’s husband was put in solitary after the incident, and moved back into general population just today.
Watch this space for updates – Sonya will not go quietly.
Sign the Change.org petition here.
It’s A Violation
Human beings are sexual creatures by nature. It’s literally written into our DNA. Sexual expression is a remarkably healthy activity, both physically and psychologically, as long as it is not forced, exploitative, or directed toward children. Forced, exploitative, or pedophilic sexual expression is, without question, unhealthy, perverse, dangerous to all involved, and destructive to our communities, but consensual forms of adult human sexuality are entirely wholesome aspects of general humanness. However, sexual expression is against the rules in prison.
Obviously the first thing that comes to mind when discussing sexual expression in the context of prison is homosexual rape or coercion. While all homosexual activity is understandably prohibited in correctional facilities, given the legitimate potential for sexual exploitation, homosexuality is not necessarily an unhealthy manifestation of human sexuality. As with any acceptable form of sexual expression, it is left to the individual to determine the pleasurability and morality of homosexual activity. But homosexual activity is not the only form of sexual expression that is against the rules.
All incoming mail that includes any sexual content is routinely rejected. Girlfriends, wives, boyfriends, and husbands send their incarcerated significant others a little “dirty talk” from time to time. Yet these harmless words are rejected and sent back. Although kept alive only through pen and paper, sexual connections between free and incarcerated loved ones is rehabilitative. Books are routinely rejected as well. Something as innocuous as 50 Shades of Gray was recently denied entry through the mail because of sexual content. Pictures and magazines that fail to meet entirely subjective standards are summarily rejected en masse. The justification for these policies is that sexually explicit material is a threat to the safety, security, and orderly operation of the facility and an impediment to inmate rehabilitation, although the perceptible distinction between implicit and explicit is consistently ignored, often willfully. I could understand limiting the consumption of sexual material for those inmates who are incarcerated for sexually related offenses, but blanket policies are overly restrictive. And it gets even worse.
An incarcerated person can actually receive a disciplinary report for masturbation, complete with ensuing sanctions such as loss of privileges, segregation, loss of housing or job, and even loss of earned-time reductions. Yep! You read that correctly folks: Masturbation, the most harmless and natural form of sexual expression is against the rules. It is not only for the more creepy and inappropriate acts like an inmate touching himself in ways that a female staff member is forced to see (which is a freak show, no doubt). An average inmate, alone in his cell, relieving a little tension can receive disciplinary action if caught.
I’m not convinced these draconian policies are as arbitrary as they seem. Even movies with nudity are censored, but excessive violence in movies, music, books, and letters remains uncensored. Given the fact that sexuality is an irreducible facet of the human personality, rules against any and all forms of healthy sexual expression during incarceration is a not so subtle attempt to dehumanize the inmate, while allowing limitless amounts of violence to permeate all forms of approved media ensures inmates remain socialized to aggression. Consequently, being forced to endure such excessive â even ridiculous â restrictions upon one’s humanity, for years at a time, can have a damaging effect on healthy identity development and potentially interfere with rehabilitation in negative ways by crippling key aspects of psycho-social stability.
I’m certainly not advocating sexual licentiousness for the incarcerated. I’m simply saying that 95% of inmates eventually release back into the community, and sexually healthy and mature men are more valuable to the community, primarily because they are more well-adjusted. It makes sense, as long as the goal is, indeed, rehabilitation. I’m not totally convinced it is.
Poetry From Prison – Tenth Birthday Reminder
Tenth Birthday Reminder
Like the shadow stitched to your foot
Like the breath filling your lungs
Like a tail to its dog
Like the waves to the sea
Like starlight dancing on night skies
Like life’s cosmic energy tossed by the sun
Sometimes obvious, sometimes bold
Sometimes hidden, sometimes muffled
Often invisible, unnoticed
Yet in every way connected
We are built from each other
inseparable, it’s true
Our bond bridges any distance
Your spirit lives in me, mine in you
Education Matters
My name is Eric Burnham, but these days I’m better known as inmate #12729124. I grew up in a low-income, single-mother home. Nobody in my family had ever graduated high school, so any thoughts of college were “what if” dreams.
As a young teenager, I arrived at the conclusion that there was a ceiling over my life. Whether for socioeconomic reasons, psycho-social stumbling blocks, or poor lifestyle choices (perhaps a combination of all three), I grew to accept the idea that there were just some things in life I would not be able to do. Getting a college education was one of those things, and once a person identifies something as unattainable, steps to get it are considered a waste of time. Consequently, when I was 15 I dropped out of school–a dysfunctional family situation made my poor choices much easier. I was messed up inside, and I self-medicated with lots of drugs, alcohol, and consensual sex. I completely embraced a criminal lifestyle. I didn’t really care how I was living or who I hurt as long as I was numb.
During adolescence, the belief that I was incapable, and therefore undeserving, of anything better became a firm fixture within my self-concept. I was deteriorating fast, and the culmination of my poor choices was a life sentence in prison. I was 21-years-old. I take full responsibility for the carnage of my past. I am deeply ashamed of who I used to be. When I arrived at EOCI in 2001, not only did I not have a high school diploma or a GED, but due to my substance abuse during adolescence, I was emotionally underdeveloped as well. I was initially assigned to the GED program. Within two weeks I dropped out, and about a month later I was placed in disciplinary segregation for fighting.
While in segregation, I began to realize I was worth more than the way I had been living. I wanted something different for my future, or I knew I would die in prison. I just didn’t know how to change. I did know, however, that getting back into the GED program was a good place to start. I earned my GED within six weeks, and I felt like a new man. To the prison staff, a GED isn’t much, but to me, earning my GED showed me I was capable of success, which was empowering beyond description.
I began to question my involvement with gangs, drugs, and other nefarious activities. I wanted more. I had begun to view myself as worthy of more. I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t really know how to get what I wanted. It was at that point in my life an opportunity to earn college credit via correspondence-course format became available to me. Since I was enrolled in college courses, clear conduct was–and still is–required in order for the Education Department to proctor my tests. I realized I needed to stay away from certain people and activities that could negatively influence me or jeopardize my education. My lifestyle mattered to me for the first time in my entire life.
I freely admit I was scared. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel or how I was supposed to act. All I knew was that I wanted an education, and I didn’t want to let down the people who were supporting me. They believed in me, and nobody had believed in me like that before.
Staying out of trouble for a greater purpose than simply avoiding negative consequences is habit forming. I haven’t been to segregation since I began my pursuit of a college education. In 2015 I graduated Summa Cum Laude (3.98 GPA) with a BA in Counseling, and in 2017 I will graduate with a Master’s degree in Counseling (3.94 GPA). I’m taking my life in a direction I never thought possible.
For me, education has been a catalyst for change. The investment in myself and in my future has had an enormous impact on my self-concept, my worldview, and my decision-making process. Ironically, even though I’m still incarcerated, my education has provided a greater sense of freedom, purpose, and self-assurance than I have ever known. When I’m released from prison, I’ll be pursuing a career, not simply looking for a job. I’ll be able to use the knowledge and experience God has given me to help others who are struggling.
If you have a loved one in prison, one of the best things you can do is help him or her secure educational opportunities. They can use any help you’d be willing to provide. Education is vital in today’s high-tech, fast-paced society. Inmates releasing back into society already have a black mark against them because of the felonies that haunt them. They don’t necessarily need a college degree–college courses, vocational training, or even some anger management or emotional intelligence classes can significantly help. According to the Journal of Correctional Education, 75% of college educated inmates find stable employment upon release, and they have 43% lower odds of future incarceration. Education matters. It can literally change an inmate’s life. I know it changed mine.
Website Launch With Help From Inmates – Press Release
