In December of 2007, Andre Smith's son, Daniel, was murdered. I was fortunate to interview Andre recently and learn how approach to life has enabled him to cope with death of his son. Although disabled, he volunteers weekly at Nash Correctional Institution, leading workshops to help prisoners realize peace through compassion and forgiveness; helping the prisoners in this way also benefits the prison staff and all of us on the outside. Here he explains how and why he does it.
“You cannot take a person from that violent environment and just put them out on the street and expect them to survive. That is like releasing a tiger out on the street and expecting him not to attack. That is insane!” It does seem a little reckless on our part. We can do better—for our neighbors and for ourselves.
People have been in here twenty years, and they still blame the cops who caught them, the DA who prosecuted them, the judge who sentenced them and the system that imprisoned them. They still haven’t come to terms with themselves and what they did. They have to get angry at themselves, understand how they created their own fate and get through that.
