Issue 1 October 2016
Our Voice
Imagine, Int egr at e, Educat e
PRI EDUCATIONALINITIATIVES
?You ar e gr ow ing into
consciousness, and my
w ish for you is that you
feel no need to constr ict
your self to m ake other
people com for table.?
Ta-Nehisi Coates
announceSf ir st St udent newsl et t er
FEATURED
STUDENT: VICTOR
Victor Polanco is one of the 2016
r ecipients of the BM CC Foundation
Inc. Scholar ship. BM CC Foundation
Inc. offer s scholar ships to full and
par t tim e students attending BM CC
w ho have a m inim um 3.0 GPA and
w ho show com m itm ent to the
cam pus and their com m unities
thr ough volunteer ing.
Victor is a Housing Case M anager
at the For tune Society w or king
w ith individuals w ho have a
histor y of substance abuse or have
been for m er ly incar cer ated. As a
Housing Case M anager , Victor links
individuals r etur ning back to the
com m unity to vital ser vices
including housing, vocational
tr aining, em ploym ent, and m edical
and financial suppor t. Cur r ently,
he is pur suing his Associates of
Science in Hum an Ser vices at
BM CC. He enr olled in August of
2015 and has alr eady accum ulated
24 cr edits and has m aintained a
3.2 GPA all w hile w or king and
attending classes full tim e! Victor
hopes to continuing pur suing his
academ ic jour ney and hopes to
attain his License in Clinical Social
Wor k to continue suppor ting
individuals in the r eentr y
com m unity.
STay Connect ed!
The Pr isoner Reentr y
Institute?s Educational
Initiatives (EI) team is
excited to shar e the fir st
issue of our new student
new sletter , Our Voice, that
aim s to elicit im agination,
pr om ote integr ation, and
allow for education to occur
fr om all aspects of life. This
new sletter w ill captur e the
nar r atives of the students that ar e a par t of EI pr ogr am s, w hich include
Pr ison-to-College Pipeline at the Otisville, Edgecom be, and Queensbor ough facilities,
College Initiative, and our students at the Br ookw ood facility. We hope that Our Voice
w ill facilitate a gr eater r elationship betw een our com m unities and enable us to get to
know one another and the w or k that w e ar e involved in. M or eover , this new sletter
w ill ser ve as a platfor m that w ill lead to conver sations, netw or king oppor tunities,
and a chance to show case your per sonal successes!
# BLACKLIVESMATTER
The Black Lives M atter m ovem ent has pushed itself into national conver sation over
and over. W hile Black Lives M atter w as initially one of the hundr eds of or ganizations
pr otesting in Fer guson, M issour i, they eventually em er ged as one of the bestor ganized and visible gr oups w ith its slogan, "#BlackLivesM atter. " It incor por ates
"tr aditional" Black fr eedom
m ovem ents, including
w om en, people w ith disabilities, people w ithout citizenship docum ents, and people
w ho identify w ith the
LGBTQIA+ spectr um . M or eover , w ith the cr eation of a
w eb-page, independence of
cor por ate m edia contr ol, its
use of social m edia to or ganize, and online confer ence
calls to plan str ategy, Black
Lives M atter has becom e a m odel for how Black liber ation gr oups in the tw enty-fir st
centur y can or ganize an effective hum an r ights cam paign. The M ovem ent for Black
Lives r ecently r eleased a policy platfor m . Those w ith Inter net access can see the policies at https://policy.m 4bl.or g/. -Written By Anna Giannicchi & M iggie Garcia
All rights reserved to: http://www.bisconia.com/magazine/full-fat/dagless-kangero-black-lives-matter-necessary-lives-matter-not/
@JohnJayPRI
Tabl eof cont ent s:
@Pr isoner Reentr yInstitute
Featur ed Students: 1, 3, 4
Student Contr ibutions 2
Students Take Action 2
@Pr isoner Reentr yJJ
Event Highlights 3
W hat's Happening on Cam pus? 3
Announcem ents 4
Calendar Events 4
Puzzles 4
St udent cont r ibut ions
"i'msor r y kal ief " by j ohnny per ez
Dear M r. Br ow der ,
I w ish I could find the w or ds to expr ess our sor r ow , our
r egr et, and our sham e. Our tr ansgr ession that w e, as an
Am er ican society, have com m itted against you, and ever y
other per son like you! I am asham ed that w e live in a countr y
w her e w e tr eat anim als better than hum ans, but, w e tr eat
som e hum ans like anim als. See, I too know how it feels to
spend your days locked inside of a hum an cage. See, I ser ved
13 year s, but you ser ved LIFE. I did it, and you didn?t. Kalief,
I?m asham ed that w e live in a countr y w her e w e victim ize
people, to teach people not to victim ize people. W her e w e kill
people, to teach people not to kill people. W her e w e hold
people against their w ill w ithout due pr ocess, and then talk
about bail r efor m . Ha, som ebody go pr ocess that. In Am er ica,
80,000 m en, w om en, and childr en, yes I said children,
(#RaiseTheAge) ar e held in solitar y confinem ent. W her e it
gets so quiet you hear your hear tbeat, or it's so loud you can?t
close your eyes to go to sleep. And if you?r e r eally lucky a
cor r ection officer w ill handcuff you, pull you out of your cell
and slam you, and slam you. Until his thir st for violence
becom es a cultur e of violence. That is m et w ith a blue w all of
silence and still w e ask w her e ar e the pr osecutions? I?m
scar ed Kalief. I?m scar ed of becom ing another hashtag on a
t-shir t, Kalief. I?m afr aid of dying inside of a cell Kalief
(#Br adleyBallar d). I?m scar ed that I too m ay fit the pr ofile of
being a young black m an w ho is m inding his business. I?m
afr aid Kalief, of being choked to death (#Er icGar ner ), of being
shot in the back (#Walter Scott) and m ost im por tant of all, I
am afr aid that your death w ill be in vain and Riker s w ill
r em ain the sam e (#ShutRiker sDow n).
2
Cassieb. vs . Cassius cl ay
by t r isha par ker
?I got my w ine and Im m a beat yo behind
and choke you like this? I?m your King.
I?m King Cassie B to you. You know w hat I m ean??
The Thunder bir d had bar ely left the fr idge,
but Cassie B. w as alr eady cocky, m ean-spir ited
and had launched another fight w ith M yDear.
?Yeah, you going dow n tonite.?
As Cassius Clay said, one can go dow n but it is best
not to stay dow n. He w ho has cour age, takes r isks.
It w as his job to beat people up.
You m ust think you?r e Cassius Clay, but your775,000
nam e?sm ale
students
enr oll
Cassie B. You ain?t nothing like him , nothing at all;
in
college
alw ays beating m e up. But, I?m a w om an. A w om an.each
; 1,575,000
Can?t nobody m ake nothing outta you ityear
seem
s;
fem
ale
but Cassius Clay spoke of penicillin, and m oldy brstudents
ead.
enr
oll each
Penicillin is m ade fr om it, so ther e?s hope for you,
after
all.
But, he said it w hen he never even knew your nam eyear.
and never ever knew your fam e, But the police,
the police, they know all about you, all about your big
paw s too.
They also know Cassius Clay?s big fists fought
m an after m an and beat ?em dow n, all the w ay
dow n. Sam e stuff you do to m e.
I?m so tir ed of black eyes, your big paw s.
Im m a keep m e a big butcher knife, for pr otection.
You sur e ain?t nobody?s King, but I know w hat you ar e.
STUDENTSTAKEACTION
a messagef r omcol l egeinit iat iv e
gr aduat e: j esseguer r o
Fr omp2cp t o j ohn j ay col l ege:
devon simmons
"Thr oughout this academ ic jour ney tow ar ds this
Bachelor s of Ar ts degr ee, one of my m or e pr om inent
m otivations w as to not
defer this challenging w or k
to som e futur e gener ation
to have to figur e out for the
fir st tim e on their ow n. The
consider ation of possibly
contr ibuting to a positive
legacy for my fam ily and
those sim ilar ly situated to
m e (w ith r egar d to
incar cer ation) has helped
sustain my m otivation to 'A
Total Com m itm ent to the
Pr ocess of Ear ning this
Degr ee'. No achievem ent
occur s in isolation-- I have
been hum bled by the open
suppor t and r ecognition that I have r eceived fr om this
com m unity. M y success is OUR success."
After over com ing num er ous
adver sities and being sentenced
to eighteen year s in pr ison,
Devon Sim m ons is the fir st
student to gr aduate the
Pr ison-to-College-Pipeline
pr ogr am . He has gr aduated w ith
an Associate?s degr ee at Hostos
Com m unity College, and w ill be
m ajor ing in Cr im inal Justice at John Jay College in the
Fall. Devon is also par ticipating in Colum bia Univer sity's
Justice-in-Education Initiative, and now ser ves as a Peer
M entor for College Initiative. W hile Devon studies at
John Jay, he hopes to ?br ing a differ ent per spective about
the cr im inal justice system to other s, beyond the
textbook?, and to ?change the classr oom nar r ative.?
W hen Devon is not in the classr oom , he enjoys m aking
people sm ile, pr actices yoga, and ser ves as an exam ple to
futur e justice involved students. He hopes to be ?a sign
of hope? for higher education, and str ongly believes that
?consistency is the key to success.? Looking for w ar d,
Devon w ill be tr aveling to Cam br idge Univer sity in
England, to speak about his exper iences in a
pr ison-education pr ogr am . M or e r ecently, Devon
par ticipated in a panel at the Second Chance Act,
convening in Washington, D.C.!
Jesse gr aduated fr om Queens College this past M ay w ith
a Bachelor s of Ar ts in Political Science-- Congr atulations
Jesse!
ev ent highl ight s
3
Col l egeinit iat iv e's gr aduat ion
Queensbor o compl et ion cer emony
On June 29th, College Initiative hosted their annual
Gr aduation Cer em ony. This year w e cam e together to
celebr ate the gr aduation of 23 students gr aduating w ith
their Associate's,
Bachelor 's, M aster 's,
and Jur is Doctor
degr ees. The gr aduates
cam e fr om var ious
college cam puses
thr oughout NYC,
including sever al
CUNY cam puses and
pr ivate institutions.
The Pr isoner Reentr y
Institute?s Executive
Dir ector Ann Jacobs
kicked off the event w ith w elcom ing w or ds follow ed by the
Educational Initiatives Dir ector , Bianca Van Heydoor n.
Invited guests included Councilm an Jum m ane W illiam s, the
night?s keynote speaker , Benay Rubenstein, CI?s founder ,
and Dr. David Góm ez, the Pr esident of Hostos Com m unity
College. The cer em ony cam e to a close w ith the distr ibution
of the gr aduation plaques follow ed by beautiful speeches by
each of the gr aduates w ho attended. This year w e also
sur passed the 300 m ar k in degr ees ear ned by our students.
Congratulations Class of 2016!
Our Pr ison-to-College Pipeline Pr ogr am Coor dinator , Katie
Schaffer , r ecently celebr ated another successful
com pletion of the College Readiness class at Queensbor o
Cor r ectional Facility. The thr ee-w eek intensive cour se
taught by CUNY pr ofessor s pr epar es students in r eading
and w r iting. Katie explained the benefits of the cour se,
how it cr eates a space to shar e opinions and analysis of
the w or ld, and how the pr ofessor s and students gr ow to
car e for each other. The com pletion cer em ony is a
celebr ation of the w or k they have done, as w ell as an
oppor tunity to hear about College Initiative. ?We?ll be
r eady to suppor t them w hen they go back to school,? Katie
says, ?and w e get their contact infor m ation, and give out
our ow n, to invite and w elcom e them to our com m unity.
We deeply hope people w ill be in touch.? Betw een pizza
and cer tificates, students take tim e to shar e w hat the class
has m eant to them , and their futur e goals. One student
descr ibed how he hasn?t been in a classr oom since 1980,
and w hat it m eant to r etur n to a classr oom w ith a
pr ofessor w ho w as invested in his success and w ho had
r espect for w hat he w as doing. Her e?s to m or e successful
Queensbor o com pletion cer em onies to com e!
What 's happening on campus?
Bor ough of Manhat t an Communit y
Col l ege
10/16 Br east Cancer Walk (Register at
http://m ain.acsevents.or g/goto/BM CC2016.)
10/18 LGBTQ Pr ide M onth: Don't Rent a U-Haul Yet:
Em otional Health & Lesbian Existence
10/18 LinkedIn and Netw or king Wor kshop (Registr ation
infor m ation at (212) 220-8170)
Host os Communit y col l ege
11/7 CUNY Dance Initiative M AW U An Ur ban Dance
Com pany (Registr ation infor m ation at (718) 518-4455)
09/19-12/7 5th Br onx Latin Am er ican Ar t Bienal / Biennial
(Registr ation at (718) 518-4455)
FEATURED
STUDENT:
LUMUMBA
host os communit y col l ege
summer pr ogr am
This sum m er m ar ks the sixth annual Hostos Sum m er
Pr ogr am . Students w ho par ticipate in the pr ogr am aim to
im pr ove their scor es on the CUNY Assessm ent Test, w ith
the help of pr ogr am instr uctor s fr om the Hostos Academ ic
Lear ning Center. Pr ogr am instr uctor s have been pr aised
by students for their ability to effectively br eak dow n
com plex m ath concepts, and their w r iting techniques.
W ith over tw enty students enr olled, this year the Hostos
Sum m er Pr ogr am announced one of its gr eatest victor ies:
all of this year 's pr ogr am par ticipants passed the r eading
por tion of the CUNY Assessm ent Test! And the success of
the Hostos Sum m er Pr ogr am goes beyond this victor y. This
year the pr ogr am is pr oviding students w ith M etr oCar ds,
and the M onday Wor kshop Ser ies is cover ing topics such
as: Financial Literacy, Rap Sheet to Resume, and Email,
Gmail, & Beyond. Students w ho com plete the pr ogr am and
pass the CUNY Assessm ent Test ar e invited to attend the
annual com pletion cer em ony, w her e students ar e honor ed
for this gr eat accom plishm ent.
"Education gives you access that can?t be denied. It [helps] to br eak any
stigm a.? These ar e Lum um ba?s w or ds of advice to anyone w ho w ill ask
him about the im por tance of an education. Cur r ently he is par ticipating
in Colum bia Univer sity's Justice-in-Education Initiative, has spent tim e
w ith film star s, and w as featur ed on the r adio show , On the Count.
Lum um ba w as intr oduced to college thr ough the Pr ison-to-College
Pipeline Pr ogr am . His jour ney to pur suing higher education w as one of
his pr ior ities upon r elease. He believes that ?education w as the last
effor t to find and m otivate [him self ].? His desir e is to ?alw ays use his
education for the sake of the land? and m ake r esour ces available to the com m unities that need them .
Lum um ba plans to do this by com bining his Com m unity Health m ajor w ith film and hum anities, to
pr om ote health and m ental hygiene ser vices. His ultim ate goal is to help people w ith these needs
connect w ith their com m unity.
FEATURED STUDENT: DOMINGO
4
In 1992, 17 year -old Dom ingo m ade a decision that cost him m any year s of his life.
Although he w as one of the youngest to be involved w ith the cr im inal justice system ,
today Dom ingo is successfully par ticipating in Colum bia Univer sity's Justice-in-Education
Initiative, is the Scholar in Residence at For Fr eedom s, and has been chosen to be
featur ed in a NPR Latino segm ent.
W hen Dom ingo is not in the classr oom or w or king, he enjoys playing handball, doing
or igam i, and r eading. Dom ingo can m ake m or e than 300 pieces of or igam i fr om m em or y
and has pr esented on the topic of or igam i in his public speaking class at Otisville.
Additionally, he has r ead a vast ar r ay of books including Dante?s Inferno, Plato's Republic,
and The Book of Job. For the futur e Dom ingo hopes to ?[use his] exper ience to im pact the
lives of other s.? He believes that he can teach individuals, including tr oubled youth, how to contr ol their em otions thr ough
Daniel Golem an's concept of "br ain hijacking," fr om the book Emotional Intelligence. Dom ingo hopes his exper ience and his
stor y w ill im pact the lives of other s. M oving for w ar d his futur e goals ar e to m ajor in cr im inal justice and m inor in
hum anities. Lastly, he hopes to becom e a m otivational speaker one day.
Wor d sear cH
Vacation, Sw im m ing, Pool, Lem onade, Lim eade,
Ice Cr eam , M an of Steel, Baseball, Cam p, Video
Gam es, Lake, Beach, Shopping, Dr am a Fr ee,
Boating, Hot Dogs, M ovies, August, June, July
announcement s
Schol ar ship and Fel l owship
Oppor t unit ies
Wom en's For um of New Yor k Education
Fund Aw ar ds (For m or e info, please
visit (http://w w w.w om ensfor um ny.or g
/index.cfm /education-fund/)
Application opens on 9/1
New Yor k Water Envir onm ent Association Scholar ship (For m or e info, please
visit http://nyw ea.or g/scholar ship/)
Deadline February 17
David C. Lizar r aga Fellow ship (For
m or e info, please visit
http://telacu.com /telacu-educationfoundation/gr aduate-schoolsuppor t/david-c-lizar r aga-fellow ship/)
Deadline February 26
Cal endar
Events listed ar e open to all CUNY
students unless noted other w ise.
10/13: Johnn Jay Gr aduate School
Fair 2016 (Open to John Jay
students and alum ni only)
10/13: Fr ee M icr osoft Wor kshop
Lear ning Resour ce Center (Open to
all students), em ail
ldinkins@bm cc.cuny.edu
10/13: John Jay Gr aduate School
Fair (Open to John Jay students and
alum ni only.)
10/14: New Yor k City LSAC Law
School For um (Registr ation
r equir ed:
http://w w w.lsac.or g/2016for um s/)
10/15: CUNY Adm issions
Infor m ation Session (Registr ation
r equir ed)
em ail:adm [email protected]
Sudoku
The Roothber t Fund Scholar ships (For
m or e info, please visit
http://w w w.r oothber tfund.or g/
scholar shipspr ogr am .php?p=r oothber tfund-scholar ships)
Deadline January 31
11/2: LGBTQ+ Suppor t Gr oup
College of Staten Island
11/10: Im m igr ation 101 Wor kshop
(Em ail:
jam es.sim m ons@bar uch.cuny.edu)
STUDENTSUBMISSIONS
If you ar e inter ested in being inter view ed or having your w or k featur ed in
the new sletter please contact us at pr istudentnew sletter @gm ail.com or m ail
in your subm issions to:
Pr isoner Reentr y Institute ATTN: EI Student New sletter
Suite 609B BM W Building
524 W. 59th Str eet
New Yor k, NY 10019