Offender or Citizen?

Words matter. Our choice of words shows how we relate to something. Here in the district of Washington DC ex-offenders are called returning citizens. Interesting.

Until a year ago I had never heard of this term. To me, it suggests looking to the future rather than dwelling on the mistakes of the past. It also implies that the community needs to help the ex-offender with their return in order for it to be successful. Of course, the ex-prisoner has work to do to get a job, re-connect with family and friends and resist re-offending.

One group which is helping me explore the notion is a literacy project called Free Minds Book Club which works with people who are” incarcerated” as they say in America, as well as those who have now left prison. You might ask why I'm interested in them when they're not "doing" radio.

For these reasons:

1) They'd like to get involved in radio at some point and who knows : National Prison Radio in the UK could get a monthly "Letter From America" from this link.

2) I've got a connection with a UK prison literacy project already and I want to know how this one in DC differs. Reading Ahead in England and Wales encourages those who wouldn’t normally get stuck into a book to try it out by starting with just six texts, which can be short, simple and everyday, and then keep a diary. National Prison Radio in the UK has played a crucial role in increasing the number of prisoners involved in it with special programmes like recorded book clubs, book serialisations and author visits to prisons.

3) Because poetry, books and drama make natural radio content, as the BBC Radio 4 schedule successfully demonstrates.

Tomorrow though, I'm sticking to my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust brief more explicitly. I’m visiting a radio programme called CrossRoads. According to its Facebook page it’s where “Jazz and Justice” come together. It’s a radio programme, also available on the web, about criminal justice issues and presented by Roach Brown who served a life sentence himself. It’s broadcast "live" every Tuesday from 10am on WPFW 89.3, a liberal-leaning community radio station with, admittedly, a small reach. I'll be there to watch it go out.