Each of us walked away feeling more grateful for the meal we had been blessed with because we had stopped for a moment to remember the less fortunate in life.
POLITICS, DEATH AND LOVE
by Wayne T. Dowdy November 26, 2016: Cuban immigrants party in the streets of Little Havana in Miami, Florida; November 9, 2016: Protests in America over the election of President-elect, Donald Trump; November 8, 2016: Television Privileges Restored & Gone Again. CELEBRATING THE DEATH OF A DICTATOR: On November 25, 2016, at 10:30 PM, EST,…
POLITICS & PRISONS
Half of the cellblocks at this institution cannot watch television coverage of the elections because some prisoners had the nerve to violate the rules by having contraband in their cells. Imagine that, prisoners who break the rules!
RESCUED
RESCUED: For me to admit that the government rescued me is growth, since my pride often denied the truth. I humble myself and am honest when I confess my imperfections because doing so tramples on the Ego.
REENTERING REALITY
by Wayne T. Dowdy The clock ticks away the seconds, minutes, hours, and months until my release. The realities I must face flood the senses as my day comes closer. The last three decades of my life will have been spent inside federal prisons. For most of this sentence, getting out seemed so far into…
Freedom for Another Friend
by Wayne T. Dowdy On January 5, 2016, I wrote about Alphonso D. in “Freedom for a Friend,” whom President Obama had freed from an unjust sentence of life-without-parole. The President granted Alphonso’s petition for commutation of sentence and gave him another chance at life in the free society. ANOTHER FRIEND FREED: I am grateful…
Changing Public Image of Prisoners
by Wayne T. Dowdy Every major news network feeds the public negative reports about those who commit crimes. Understandably, the negative press induces abhorrence, antipathy and fear towards those who commit crimes and go to prison. Some of those who receive the negative press are ex-offenders who returned to old behaviors upon release (recidivist), and…
REENTRY PROGRAMS WILL REDUCE RECIDIVISM
by Wayne T. Dowdy Thousands of American prisoners are released each year. Statistically, almost half of them will return to prison within eight years of release, costing American taxpayers billions of dollars each year. The 2014 average cost of incarceration for federal offenders was over $30,000. On July 10, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Prisons…