Summary(0:23) First time in court at age 10 at brother’s sentencing to translate for her mother -- (1:28) Cultural associations with incarceration in Bangladesh -- (1:45) Driving to visit her brother upstate -- (2:02) Brother’s death in a street fight -- (2:35) Getting involved with organizations providing services to people with experience of the justice system -- (2:58) Helping her younger brother find services after incarceration at age 21 -- (4:44) Article published about her older brother’s death that listed only his crimes -- (5:14) Her older brother’s positive legacy in the Astoria community -- (6:12) Lack of communication between the school system and her parents about her brothers’ issues -- (6:52) Her younger brother’s anger issues and lack of outlets for coping -- (7:41) Police presence around her building -- (8:49) Her brother’s constant involvement in street fights -- (9:50) Lack of understanding among South Asian immigrant community about the links between poverty and juvenile delinquency -- (10:47) Visiting her brother at a group home in Brooklyn -- (11:16) Lack of services available that could have helped her brother -- (12:06) Learning about forgiveness and judgement in relation to people’s criminal past -- (13:26) Correspondence work with formerly incarcerated people -- (14:31) Her younger brother’s privilege of being able to afford bail -- (15:03) The ways in which the law targets black and brown men -- (16:57) Following Kalief Browder’s story and conducting orientations at Rikers Island -- (17:11) Sexual harassment entering the prison facility -- (18:33) Wishing her brother had reached out to his family for help.
NoteAudio interview conducted on February 23, 2017, by Carmen Lopez at Central Library. 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.
SubjectPrisons (N.Y.) ; Rikers Island (N.Y.) ; Bangladesh ; Astoria, Queens ; Suspension ; Deportation ; Social service ; Crime ; Community development ; Anger ; Police ; Immigrants ; Poverty ; Juvenile delinquency ; Bail ; Racism ; Kalief Browder ; Sexual harassment
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TitleOral history interview conducted with Ofia Begum on 2017 February 23.