By Sheila Rule

Editor’s Note: With this issue TheDefendersOnline.com begins a continuing series of articles on a vitally important topic: the relationship between those who are incarcerated in America’s prisons and jail or on probation or parole and their families. The alarming number of African-American men and women behind bars or burdened with the record of a felony conviction makes this one of the central issues black Americans and the larger society must discuss today. The essays of this series will further that discussion. They are drawn from a multi-part anthology, The Think Outside the Cell Series. Sheila R. Rule, co-editor of the series with Marsha R. Rule, explains its purpose:

Stereotypes. Myths. Fears. These are the lenses through which Americans typically see the incarcerated, the formerly incarcerated, and their loved ones – when they see them at all.

More than 7.3 m million people in the United States – or one out of every thirty-one adults – is in prison or jail, or on parole or probation. Yet this population is largely ignored until a well-publicized crime by one person casts the wide net of demonization over them all. Tabloid headlines and reactionary scare tactics reduce anyone with incarceration in his or her background to a few dehumanizing descriptions – violent, hardened, menace to society, predator, heartless, unrepentant, and irredeemable, as in ‘once a criminal, always a criminal.” And the people who love them are viewed as low-lifes, desperate, or just plain crazy.

The descriptions conspire to form a dramatic distortion, one that has created for these men, women, and families living in the shadow of prison persistent disadvantages and discrimination that few others in our society face. From employment to housing to voting rights and the everyday struggle to avoid being swallowed whole by poverty, the stigma of incarceration makes its weight felt.

But behind the stereotypes and myths, hearts beat and yearn, break and endure. Doubts, suspicions, and jealousies fester. Deaths are grieved and births are celebrated. Bonds shatter; wounds heal. Hopes are realized and dreams are trampled. Victories big and small stand alongside defeats of similar magnitude. Mistakes and bad choices are made. So, too, are wise decisions ad hard-won transformations. Loneliness creeps here. Joy dances here. Love lives here, too.

Behind the stereotypes and myths, real people live here, too.

One of the best hopes for bringing about a more realistic and balanced view of those living in the shadow of prison lies in having them raise their voices, tell their own stories, and speak their own truths about their lives. Over time, hearing their stories can lead the larger society to exchange stereotypes for names and faces, hear individual heartbeats, and witness nuanced lives. Hearing these stories can lead the larger society to discover that it is not “us” against “them,” but simply “us.”

And in telling their stories, the people of this forgotten population can inspire, encourage, and motivate those in similar situations. They can also begin to make greater sense of their own experiences, give expression to complex emotions, and gain a deeper understanding of themselves.

For more information visit the The Think Outside The Cell series and Think Outside The Cell:”Our Books” web sites.

Sheila R. Rule, a former reporter for the New York Times, is founder and publisher of Resilience Multimedia.