How a day in prison could give you a lesson on judgement

Disgust

Anger

Pity

Fear

These are just some of the feelings many of you may have when thinking about the idea of walking into a level 4 prison and being surrounded by a group of 45 murderers, thieves and “lifers.” Mostly all black men tatted out beyond your belief, you are probably reading this cringing at the thought of being in this situation. It’s entirely possible you may have even had a nightmare about being in such a place. It’s easy to dismiss this percentage of our population as almost less than human and be fine with leaving them to wither away in their self-contained world of isolation. After all, they did ruin someone else’s life to get there to begin with so why should we care about their well-being?

This is me. 10 minutes after walking into a gym full of said group smiling and flashing “jazz” hands. Half excited, half full of anxiety around the 10 hours of my life to come (you can see it in my face). I had no idea the life changing experience that was about to occur for both me and the 90 EITs (entrepreneurs in training) and volunteers that day at the California State Prison in Lancaster.

Meet Defy Ventures, a group focused on changing the lives of the incarcerated and their loved ones through teaching them the basics of personal finance, entrepreneurship and business building. Started in 2010 by Cat Hoke (above), Defy helps coach these men on these principles in addition to the notion of forgiveness (both of themselves and those that may have influenced them to commit the crimes of the past). They also help them understand the concept of love for their fellow man.

The day was a balance of a select group of investors and entrepreneurs helping the EITs through their business plans (there was a competition where a winner was crowned and given money to help get their business off the ground upon release), EVERYONE exposing their most inner thoughts and major life experiences, a bit of crying and even a spontaneous soul train line. The format was entirely unexpected and a bit surreal.

Cat’s mission is simple - to radically reduce recidivism (aka re-incarcerations) and overall incarcerations in this country. I believe her program could be on the path to doing so.

The quick facts…

• The current national 5-year average recidivism rate is 75%
• Defy Ventures graduates have a 3.2% recidivism rate…yes, 3.2%!
• 1,100 prisoners graduated
• 150 businesses created

350 people employed (many are Defy graduates)

To say her program is having an effect on helping end our country’s issue of mass incarcerations (which I have to point out is disproportionately black men) is an understatement.

I also have to point out one question when asked during the day that struck me the most:

Did you grow up with a parent who was incarcerated?

At least 70% of the EITs responded YES

This data point showed me many of these men didn’t even have a chance. For them, a life of crime and violence was the only thing they knew. This fact also struck me as the potential key to help massively reduce incarcerations to begin with.

If we attack the problem by helping rehabilitate those who have committed crimes and turn them into positive influences on their families, we can potentially break the vicious cycle.

Supporting this program is all contingent on you believing in the power of forgiveness and second chances (no matter what the crime). The 39-year-old man above has been locked up since the age of 16 for a horrible offense. Unless you spend the time to break bread with him you will never hear his story and appreciate he is a human now fighting to regain control of his purpose in life and internal being. I saw him cry and cried with him as we figuratively stripped ourselves down to our core as humans. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had in my life.

What else did the day help expose for me? In business and in life check your biases at the door. Being an African American Venture Capitalist I always felt I was aware of the biases in my line of work. It's easy to walk into a prison and judge everyone there without knowing them much like you can with entrepreneurs and companies. Until you hear their story can you really make a fact based assessment. Ask yourself the question:

How do you judge others?

Inspired

Humbled

Privileged

Sense of Duty

Those are the feelings I now have when I think about my day at Lancaster. I hope you will take the effort to participate in one of the many programs run by Defy. It’s easy to make up excuses but I guarantee it will give you a better sense of humanity. It will not only change your life, but that of many EITs and their parents, siblings, children, potential would be victims and our nationwide issue of mass incarcerations.

#transformyourhustle

Read all the posts in this series here