Reginald Nesmith - Beyond Bricks and Bars: The Breaking of the Cycle of Recidivism

BEYOND BRICKS AND BARS

The Breaking of the Cycle of Recidivism

Reginald Nesmith and Vincent Morrison

Copyright 2018 by Reginald Nesmith and Vincent Morrison.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018904236

ISBN:Hardcover 978-1-9845-2060-9

Softcover 978-1-9845-2059-3

eBook 978-1-9845-2058-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
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Rev. date: 05/15/2018

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CONTENTS

During my years of incarceration, I have given a lot of thought to many things I should have in my youth. Upon my release, I was greeted with a reality that is both harsh and unfair to those in my position. It is those harsh realities that forced me to look at things from a different perspective and try another way of life. The experiences Ive had and the lessons Ive learned throughout my life have inspired me to share my unique perspective with the world.

This book, is the beginning of a new way of having a conversation about a particular topic that most ordinary Americans do not want to talk about or even acknowledge. Yet for many in this country and around the world, incarceration, and often recidivism, is an all-too-unfortunate reality. Whats worse is the aspersion cast on those who have fallen into that vicious cycle of crime and incarceration by society.

My way forward was not at all easy. This path we walk is not made for the weak at heart. Many are the tales of them that have fallen by the wayside, yet there are but a handful of stories about those that have not only survived but also found a way forward in a world that cares not if we succeed. My hope is that this book will enlighten the hearts and minds of those who read it, not only of those who have been or are currently in prison but also of their family members and anyone who may be experiencing difficult times.

This book to me is a beginninga new way of discussing incarceration and recidivism written from the perspective of two men who have been there and survived long enough to tell the tale. This is a conversation we must have in America today. This book is an opening statement in what will be a very long conversation, one that we are more than willing to have with anyone who will listen. We recommend this book to anyone who wants to stay out of lockup, to the family members who want to help their loved ones transcend the experience of being away for a while, the reclaiming of their dignity with purpose and acute focus. There is light at the end of the tunnel, falling down is not a permanent position but a gateway to optimism and expectation, adding more to the conversation than what can be found in textbooks, law schools, and with criminal behavioral professionals. This book, unfortunately, is for those members of our society who are on their way to lockup and dont even realize it. The book hopes to shed light to those who will never see the inside of a jail cell as we have come to realize that being incarcerated is not an urban rite of passage by any means, just a sad reality.

You have to be on a mission. You do not have the luxury to waste encounters and first-time meetings. Every time you meet someone for the first time, please be alert and pay attention to what you say and how you conduct yourself. This person may be a potential employer. He or she may have a connection that they can pass on for something you may need. Speak and dress as if you are worth talking to. How you look and sound will influence how people perceive you. We live in a society where our lives are on display whether you or I deem it necessary, it is so. Cameras are everywhere. Be the very best you at all times; those encounters can push you farther faster or can slow you sooner. You are restichting your life; ask yourself, What do I want this person or persons to think about me long after I am gone? Lay a foundation in which you may need to walk on in your very near future. Please develop a mindset that says that networking may be essential for your personal growth and progression opportunities are intricately connected to how you speak and act. Try not to use a lot of slang. You may want to practice different situations and encounters before they happen, rehearse how you will talk to the person interviewing you for a job, rehearse what you want to say to the parole agent or probation officer or anyone in law enforcement. Your outcome should be positive after each of these encounters. You are more than capable of coming out on top without being aggressive or unruly. Think first and develop an idea that you are going to move with confidence and be the type of person that has something to offer in spite of your past run-ins with law enforcement. You are a changed man or woman, so act like it when people come into your presence, let them see the difference in you. I believe that you can live a life in such a totally opposite fashion from the world that many of us were formally accustomed to, that once we are out living free in society for a while, no one would ever believe you were incarcerated. That is one goal that I believe is attainable no matter what the background is. Im not saying forget or play yourself out as if you were never in a cage; Im saying that we can live a free life.

What does it take to motivate you? Take an inventory of all of the things you have not allowed to stop you. You were locked up for whatever reason and now youre either home or on your way home. Use the discomfort of your cell and the many broken promises of family and so-called friends to be the air that propels you to unthinkable heights and places. Allow your pain to be your fuel. You are not without fuel, you do have something to prove, dont fool yourself. First, you must prove to yourself that you can be a productive member of society. There must be a conscious reckoning that stirs you to grow, it must come from a place deep down inside of you for you to get up and stay up. There are no valid reasons for you to stop until you have achieved greatness. Because of where you and I have come from, we have something different on the inside of us. Being incarcerated for any real length of time causes the real you to come to the surface, and what I have learned is that it has given me an edge where Im not normal because I realized that the things that I went through while incarcerated made me strong, it gave me an inner toughness. We can refuse to allow our pains and hurts to stop our persistence. Many times, our families simply want us to manage and sustain our lives over a period of time without major calamities, which dont require their assistance because, after all, we are adults and we must figure out how to conduct ourselves as such. Many of us have eaten chi chis and washed our clothes in the sink for years. You got to love the challenge you face to get it right and to do the right thing on purpose; use your fuel to succeed. Freedom must drive you. You are not an animal, you do not need to be caged in order to do the right thing. You can use some of those bad memories and injustices to keep you from committing new crimes or getting into trouble. Society is the proving ground; many of us owe it to ourselves to really examine why we are alive on the planet earth and realize that we can have a great impact on our families, community, and this nation by having big, small, and medium goals and achieving them. Simply put, we must have the burning fire from our past to energize us. Teaching yourself to become an alchemist is converting negativity into action and change pain, hurt, frustrations into plans, outlines, and goals. When you set up your life in your mind that everything you go through, you are going to somehow convert that experience into something tangible that you can use to push or move you. Figure out how to barricade your mind from outside of you or inside of you. Imagine that you have a fire burning by adding sticks or wood for the fire to keep burning. The wind may try to blow the fire outthose are your critics. Or the wind can assist you by keeping the fire moving, but thats not the point Im trying to make. Adding to the fire will keep it burning. You must be an add-to type of personality and be willing to subtract those things that try to drain your power. The wind is all a matter of your outlook and your refusal to allow anything in your life not to be used to move you forward.