Contributor’ s
Cynthia McDonnell
CONTRIBUTORS
PRISON LIFE & BEYOND
Contributor’ s
FAMILY FIRST India Porter Verdell Miles
YOU SHOULD KNOW Vincent Frazier Timothy J. Muise DeWayne Harris
A SLICE OF PRISON LIFE Edward Malave-Otero Terah Lawyer( Sage) Aminah Dorsey Brandon Bernard
US & WORLD NEWS Gerry Delano Hudson Robert Andrew Bartlett, Sr. Gerry Delano Hudson James Fayne Verdell Miles
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EDITOR’ S WORDS
Cynthia McDonnell Editor-At-Large
You cannot change the fate, but you can control and change the destiny. It is said that destiny is set in the direct relation to how you either obey or disobey the conscience. Conscience is something on which we can most certainly work on, by choosing the proper paths of our existence, moral and behavior. The things which we cannot choose from the moments of our birth are the society and environment in which we are supposed to live. But, one thing is certain; we can make changes in such society.
Many criminals are born into environments where crime easily becomes a lifestyle. From the moment they begin interacting outside of the home, their peers are already involved in misbehavior and illegal activities in one form or another: petty thefts, skipping school, bullying, and gang affiliation. The pressure to go along to get along is tremendous. Embracing misbehavior becomes easier by the day and, finally, a life- style.“ It’ s what we do! We are hustlers! We get money by any means necessary!”
Once the criminal lifestyle has been embraced, the reality of the criminal justice system dictates that most criminals are arrested sooner or later, and the consequences can be severe, including years of incarceration, one detention to another, spending more than half of their lives in prisons, not even remorseful because arrest at this point is simply an occupational hazard.
Read this issue and find out about the motivations and the mindset of those who have chosen a criminal lifestyle, justifying it. Could they be holding scalpels in their hands, as doctors, instead of guns, as robbers? Can society change the mindset of career criminals who believe that their destiny was set the day of their birth?
Cynthia McDonnell