The R.I.S.E. and Fall of Serious Reentry in Philadelphia

By Thomas Ford
July 20, 2013
 

The rescheduling of Philadelphia's Job Fair for Ex-Offenders is now being billed as an "Ex-Offender Expo" hosted by RISE (Philadelphia Mayors of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders). Returning Citizens seeking employment, mark your calendar for Tuesday, July 30, 2013 @8:30am. The event will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Enter on Broad Street, Broad St & Race St, Philadelphia PA 19107...

YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER TO ATTEND THIS FUNCTION

CLICK HERE TO PRE-REGISTER

The City of Philadelphia shut down a career fair for ex-offenders on May 17, 2013 after close to 5,000 returning citizens showed up dressed to impress résumés in hand... Eyewitness accounts back in May reported, "It was a madhouse, unorganized, just mass confusion," an attendee said. "There was no organization... we got by the door and that was when they said 'we're shutting it down,'" another attendee told NBC10 Philadelphia.

As reported in the Returning Citizens Manifesto blog on June 28, 2013, RISE was planning to shift the focus from jobs to "opportunities” according to Mr. Hart, the Director of RISE. This shift from jobs has translated into literacy and education, legal services, interview preparation, explaining your criminal record and expungement/pardons.

“It’s going to be an employer informational, resource and expungement clinic,” Mr. Hart told CBS reporter Cherri Gregg. “We’re going to also have the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, we’re going to have probation and parole, [and] we’re going to have Community Legal Services” says Hart.

This is truly a travesty because the majority of folks that will be on hand later this month are JOB READY and they do not need or want to be preyed upon by self-serving reentry bandits. A large number of returning citizens have already participated in a myriad of job readiness or re-training programs; they already have a high school diploma/GED and many have post-secondary degrees. By the way, wouldn’t it be better for folks to be employed BEFORE they seek relief from the state in terms of expungements or pardons? Just saying...

RISE writes on their site that up to 100 employers will be on hand at this expo. According to Mr. Hart back in May, the previous event had less than 10 employers on hand. So, we are to believe, RISE miraculously located 90 additional employers willing to hire folks with a criminal history; the “up to 100” leaves a lot of fudge room. We will remain cautiously optimistic about what this forum will look like on the 30th of July. We hope the pressure EXIT-US has applied to RISE in previous postings will produce some successful outcomes for our constituency...

Read below for the official details from RISE...http://expo.phila.gov/

PHILADELPHIA EX-OFFENDER EXPO!!!!

click here for PRE-REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY!!!


DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 2013
TIME: 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM
LOCATION: Pennsylvania Convention Center
Enter on Broad Street, Broad St & Race St, Philadelphia, PA 19107


DESCRIPTION
The Mayor’s Office of Re-Integration Services for Ex-Offenders (R.I.S.E.) is hosting the Ex-Offender Expo on July 30, 2013.

The Expo will feature more than 100 service providers and up to 100 employers, as well as workshops and resources, to help returning citizens search for employment, prepare for interviews, and develop the skills necessary to be successful on the pathway to self-sufficiency.

IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SERVICE TO ALL ATTENDEES, INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT REGISTER WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO THE EXPO.

SCHEDULE

•8:30am: Doors Open
•8:30am - 10:00am: Sign-in
•10:00am - 10:30am: Keynote Delivered by Everett Gillison, Mayor's Chief of Staff and Councilman Curtis Jones, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee
•3:00pm: Event Ends

WORKSHOPS

Literacy and Education Workshop
In today’s economy, education is the key to employment. As technology progresses, changes in GED testing are fast approaching. With our interactive workshop, people who want to advance their careers or find employment can find all of the information necessary for classes and testing from various providers across Philadelphia.

Legal Services Workshop
This workshop will provide a general discussion of legal issues ranging from court costs to child support, and is designed to help returning citizens navigate their way through the often-complex legal system. Angus Love, an attorney who specializes in ex-offender issues, will be among the panelists.

Interview Preparation Workshop
A great interview is one of the most important steps to finding employment. This workshop will feature a mock-interview process with top HR professionals and career services experts.

Explaining Your Criminal Record/Ban the Box Workshop
Explaining a criminal history to potential employers can often be difficult and unnerving. The ‘Ban the Box’ Legislation, which makes this easier, will be explained by Rue Landau from the City’s Commission on Human Relations. There will also be a focus on finding the best ways to tell employers about this history.

Expungement/Pardon Workshop
In Pennsylvania, each arrest creates a publicly available record that can be sold and shared regardless of the arrest’s final disposition, including arrests not leading to conviction, acquittals, or not guilty verdicts. Featuring the ‘Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity’ (PLSE) and Wayne Jacobs of ‘Ex-Offenders for Community Empowerment,’ the workshop will explain ways to explore record expungement and the Pennsylvania pardon process.

Support Network for Returning Citizens; 4-25-13 Meet-the-Candidate Forum

The Support Network for Returning Citizens' vision is one where returning citizens are at the center of progressive public dialogue, facilitating the implementation of fair and just legislation, and nurturing humane and sensible public safety initiatives.  SN4RC envisions a new dawn for humanity where our differences, nationalities and backgrounds are embraced and are essential for nation building.  We build on the shoulders of the likes of Nelson Mandela, the Nation of Australia, Malcolm X and others who have contributed to the development of humanity.

NIGGA PLEASE!!

By Thomas Ford
July 14, 2013

Boy, I stepped away from my computer for a few to watch the commentary following the Trayvon Martin verdict; and now that I'm back online most of what I've read is foul language being tossed back and forth between folks that know and love one another.  Damn, facebook friends are going at it tooth and nail trying to force folks into agreeing with their opinions.

And aint that what we do?? 

We cuss each other out when the judicial system, employers or legislators do us wrong.  All kinds of heated energy disputing the "uniform" Trayvon was wearing when he was murdered. Next thing folks will be saying is that women get raped because of what they wear.  Oh, that's right, folks already say that bullshyt!!  He had a afro, his pants were sagging, he looked like the guy on T.V. who did this or did that.

My response to all that chatter is...NIGGA PLEASE!!!

Chill with trying to justify why amerikkka, especially in NRA headquarters Florida, is willing to kill a Blaq man, woman or child.  It's all been documented and those who fear the browning of this country or fear a Blaq planet will continue to kill us as long as we stay distracted on dumb ass shyt. 

I find it real interesting the folks screaming the loudest about this injustice are the same folks who don't vote when it comes time to choose a D. A., judge or city controller.  These are the same folks getting high with their kids, letting their sons hide guns in their house and accept blood money from their kids when the rent is due.  These are the same folks that make sure their kids have the latest I phone, most expensive heels or sneaks, pay for the most expensive weave, nails looking spectacle and little Hakim or Tawanda aint going to school and can't read a lick.

Okay, now your Blaq ass wants to talk about "race"!!
 
What was your conversation yesterday when the kid down the street got his head blown off by the kid around the corner?  Was it about lighting a candle, saying a prayer or singing a hymn...or was it about PLANNING AND IMPLENENTING a viable strategy to transform our current and future circumstances in our own neighborhood??

NIGGA PLEASE!!

Blaq Citizens: Public Enemy Number One

By Thomas Ford
Originally Posted on October 6, 2012

A major problem with our electorate is many Brown & Blaq citizens refuse to read between the lines when they hear people describe President Obama or his policies.   We have either forgotten or we ignore our consciousness, our gut feeling when we hear racial ‘code’ phrases synonymous with white supremacist ideology, i.e.,: food stamp president, he’s a Muslim, wasn’t born here, communist, socialist, he’s building the welfare state, he has a rhythm we don't understand, doesn’t have the stamina and desire to be president (lazy), false president, should go play basketball etc...   

We heard these coded attacks on urban citizens before coming from several prominent presidential administrations Nixon, who called drug abuse "public enemy number one", which led to aggressive criminal justice policies.  Nancy Regan’s “Just say no” campaign led to aggressive federal antidrug legislation.  Remember Congress and the Reagan administration's response to crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine sentencing disparities, which resulted in the Antidrug Act of 1986, which established a 100:1 ratio for mandatory minimum sentencing associated with cocaine?  It would take 5,000 grams of powdered cocaine to land you in prison for a minimum 10 years--but only 50 grams of crack.

“The war on drugs/get tough on crime” rhetoric which was code for, let’s instigate a war against poor Blaq/Brown citizens and make a whole bunch of loot in the process via the over-proliferation of the for-profit ‘PRISON PLANTATION INDUSTRY’ and mass incarceration.  

EXIT-US, in Philadelphia, is the first and only social transformation organization to use the description, prison plantation industry to describe the over-criminalization of urban citizens; however, this excerpt from H. Bruce Franklin, “From Plantation to Penitentiary to the Prison-Industrial Complex: Literature of the American Prison”, 2000; (read below) provides a great historical analysis for why EXIT-US has coined this phrase.

...The prison looms today as a central feature of American society. Since 1976, we have been building on average one prison every week. More than two million Americans are now crammed into the nation's still overcrowded jails and prisons. In fact, there are now about as many prisoners in America as there are farmers. Over half of those incarcerated are people of color. More than four million Americans, again mainly people of color, have been permanently disenfranchised because of felony convictions, many under laws enacted explicitly to prevent African-Americans from voting. Studies have shown that this disenfranchisement has had a significant impact on the outcome of presidential and senate elections prior to 2000.  We need no detailed studies to show the direct impact of this disenfranchisement on the most recent national election. Prior to November 2000, one third of the African-American men in Florida were convicted as felons and then stripped of their right to vote, while thousands more were purged from the voting rolls as alleged felons by fiat of a corporation hired by Governor Jeb Bush. If only a small percentage of Florida's 204,000 disenfranchised male African-American citizens (not to mention the other 200,000 disenfranchised ex-felons in Florida) had been allowed to vote in 2000, even the U.S. Supreme Court could not have installed George W. Bush as President of the United States..H. Bruce Franklin.

 

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter's Misplaced Priorities

By Thomas Ford
June 28, 2013
 

When it comes to who is responsible for the fiasco that took place on May 17, 2013 at the Philadelphia Citywide Ex-Offender Career Fair, which damn near turned into an all out riot in front of the city’s downtown municipal building, Mayor Michael Nutter’s name is first on the list.

"It was a madhouse, unorganized, just mass confusion," Mitchell said. "At one point the crowd just dispersed and ran towards the door." 

Fellow job seeker David Coates, who served 2-1/2 years for robbery heard of the event through the Veteran's Affairs office. He was hoping to find work as a mechanic but said he never got the chance.

"There was no organization... we got by the door and that was when they said 'we're shutting it down,'" Coates told NBC10 Philadelphia.

The official flyer that went out to the public read:

After further investigation by EXIT-US, we discovered the Mayor assigned the overall coordination of the Citywide Career Fair to his Chief of Staff, Everett Gillison.  Keri Salerno, an underling working for Mr. Gillison was given the lead responsibility for the project. In government, shyt usually rolls down hill and we will not be surprised if Ms. Salerno is reprimanded because of this poorly planned event.   

The real miscarriage of justice was suffered by the 4-5 thousand returning citizens who were prepared to accept the challenge of ultimately becoming more productive members in our community. These men and women showed up dressed to impress with resumes in hand hours before the doors to the municipal building were scheduled to open. What do they tell their love ones who loaned them the travel money or professional attire to present their BEST first impression to an employer?

This has got to be the first time in Philadelphia history a job/career fair was cancelled because the outreach to the targeted audience was an overwhelming success.

Members of EXIT-US visited city officials, to offer the INFORMED EXPERTISE necessary to successfully host the next Ex-Offender Career Fair.

We discovered the Fair will not happen until July 2013 and William Hart, Director of the Mayor's Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders (RISE) has the responsibility this time around to make sure this event is a success.  RISE believes the focus of the upcoming Fair should be adjusted and marketed differently from the event that was planned this past May.  According to Mr. Hart, the emphasis will be on opportunities rather than careers or jobs. 

This shift from careers/jobs to "opportunities" will in all likelihood translate into a process where RISE will funnel returning citizens into their job readiness workshops which provide no stipend or financial support for job seeking participants.  Offering two tokens, a pep talk and smile is the type of ineffective lip-service that has damaged RISE's repetition among returning citizens in Philadelphia.  EXIT-US representatives will be on hand during this event in July to witness first hand the type of opportunities made available to job seekers. 

Several questions Philadelphians need to ask ourselves: should the city alone be responsibility for galvanizing the support from the business community to consider returning citizens for employment; and, is the Blaq & Latino business community doing enough to re-enfranchise the 40,000 returning citizens released to Philadelphia each year?  The mass exodus of convicted citizens released from federal, state and local penal institutions are not moving into the affluent sections of Philadelphia, they are coming home to live in our most underserved neighborhoods.  Do we provide our struggling family members a spare bedroom or couch to sleep on, meals, tokens and other supportive assistance necessary for them to arrive presentable for a job interview?

It is our responsibility as citizens to cultivate relationships with businesses such as Jeff Brown’s ShopRite grocery stores who hire returning citizens at a higher rate than any other employer in Philadelphia.  What the Brown family has discovered over the years is that citizens released from prison are dead serious about not recidivating when they first get home; and when opportunities to become self-sufficient are made available to them they turn out to be the most dedicated employees on the payroll.   

As witnessed during Mayor Nutter's tenure, the city budgetary focus is skewed toward tourism and downtown businesses as exemplified by the $50 million ice-skating rink currently being built in front of city hall, the $4.5 million skateboard park being built below the Philadelphia Art Museum and the numerous influx of bike lanes throughout downtown Philadelphia.  Funding and opportunities for our public school age youth, on the crime-prevention end of the spectrum are at a catastrophically low level under this Mayor so no one should be surprised by Nutter's dismissive attitude toward Philadelphia citizens released from prison.
 

Thomas Ford is President of EXIT-US, a community capacity building organization empowering returning citizens to become transformation agents in their homes and neighborhoods.

Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders' (RISE) Failure to Communicate

By Thomas Ford
June 27, 2013

For all the staff working at the Mayor's Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders (RISE) in Philadelphia, who constantly make it a habit of telling Blaq men seeking services from their office that "you are not victims" and "no one owes you shit", please read these two articles.

U. S. Prisons Full of Innocents

 

The Fight For Black Men
 

It is extremely hypocritical for city employees in management positions, who they themselves have criminal records, to forget about the injustices they faced during their plea bargained disposition at trial, their inhumane treatment while in prison and their violations/re-arrests following their release.   

 

No one is asking for returning citizens to be coddled; however, the public IS demanding that the tax-financed city employees working at RISE to GET THE HELL OFF THEIR HIGH HORSE and do your job without browbeating the citizens we pay you to serve.