Summary(0:16) Arrest and sentencing for robbery -- (1:10) Discovering education while incarcerated -- (2:02) The ways the criminal justice system reflects the racism of the United States -- (2:25) Lack of resources in poor communities -- (2:52) Early involvement in gangs -- (3:51) Awareness of the injustice within prison -- (4:34) Self-taught scholars -- (5:26) The potential of many people who are incarcerated -- (6:26) Difficulty of adjusting to technology -- (6:54) Challenge of reintegrating into his family -- (7:14) Learning how to engage with women in society -- (7:39) Learning how to be a good father and reconciling his relationship with his daughter -- (8:35) Difficulty of finding employment after prison -- (9:15) Finding work in reentry advocacy at the Urban Justice Center -- (9:50) Finding his potential through education while inside jail -- (11:40) The illusion of the criminal lifestyle -- (12:00) Advice for his younger self -- (13:05) The ways in which policies do not reflect the values of American society -- (14:05) The need to humanize the people in the system -- (14:33) Practicing the right to engage policymakers and hold legislators accountable -- (15:29) The need to engage people within our social circles to help shift the culture of punishment -- (16:25) Hope for continuing the forward momentum of progressive policies for criminal justice -- (18:32) Uncovering the good within himself while in prison and better understanding his past actions -- (19:37) Difficulty understanding the undercurrent of racism and hatred in the country and fear of seeing that reflected during the 2016 election -- (20:58) Reading about the Holocaust in prison -- (21:49) White male privilege -- (22:38) Trying to understand the election of Donald Trump -- (26:00) America as a historical bully -- (26:56) Protest and the drastic measures sometimes needed in revolutions -- (29:30) The scariness of uncertainty -- (29:39) Immigrating from Cuba in 1980, moving from poverty to middle class status -- (31:00) The need to move on from America’s historical foundations of inequality, oppression, and racism -- (33:11) The link between education and social mobility -- (34:36) The numerous difficulties of moving beyond a criminal record in society -- (36:40) Not being able to look at the world the same after prison -- (37:29) Responsibility in often being the only black person in rooms full of policymakers and lawyers.
NoteAudio interview conducted on November 10, 2016, by Carmen Lopez at Urban Justice Center. Collected through Our Streets, Our Stories, an oral history project of Brooklyn Public Library. This project is a partnership with Services for Older Adults and the Brooklyn Collection.
SubjectArrest ; Robbery ; Education ; Prisons (N.Y.) ; Human rights ; Racism ; Poverty ; Community development ; Gangs ; Technology ; Employment ; Parenting ; Fatherhood ; Social advocacy ; Francis, Pope, 1936- ; Obama, Barack ; Pardon ; Crime ; Legislators ; Criminal liability ; Punishment ; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) ; Trump, Donald, 1946- ; Emigration and immigration ; Civil rights ; King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 ; X, Malcolm, 1925-1965 ; Marx, Karl, 1818-1883 ; Social mobility ; Revolutions ; Cuba ; Middle class ; Equality
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TitleOral history interview conducted with Johnny Perez on 2016 November 10.