04. February 2009

"We are never coming back!"

The book club "Free minds" in Washington DC helps young male prisoners get back on track by giving them books to read and pens to write

“High up in the air, I wish I could!” This last line of a poem by Rico might seem romantic at first. But Rico, a young black man from Washington D.C., is behind bars. Many young African-Americans, some as young as 13, are imprisoned in the capital of the United States.
William Rivera was one of them for two years. Through the book club “Free minds” he got a second chance in life. In weekly meetings members of the group visit prisoners and discuss literature with them. “I really love this club”, William says and explains: “The book ‘My Bloody Life’ by Reymundo Sanhez really helped me to think about my situation and to express my feelings in poems.” For him, the book club changed his life. When he was free again, he did not return to fight on the streets, but started to study business administration and now works part-time as an event manager for “Free minds”.
And he is not the only former inmate to be affected in a positive way. “It’s good to see that the boys are really making it”, describes Deputy Director Tara Libert, it’s her motivation to go on: “They were used to express themselves through violence, but reading the books and actually writing their feelings down, they learn to rather take a pen than a weapon.”
But it is not only the poems that help the young men. Together with her colleague Kelli Taylor, Tara organises internships as a starting point after time in jail. Some of the young men decide to finish school or even go and study, like William. During his part-time job he assisted in setting up an event to present the work of the “Free minds” group to a wider public. Wearing a tie and smart trousers William opened the evening called “Hear us out!” Together with some other former inmates he read his own poetry, but also gave a voice to those young men who still were behind bars.
Dealing with sorrow, the desire to be free again and even philosophical questions, the texts were quite diverse and personal. Only in the last poem did the “Free minds” speak with one voice and agreed: “We are never coming back!”