DEUCE Community Update: September 2024
Sometimes, I’m asked what the hardest part of prison was. I usually pause before I reply.
1.) Because of how ridiculous the question is
And…
2.) Because the question should be ‘what’s the hardest part of the human experience.’ And how do we overcome it?
There are plenty of physical and psychological difficulties that come with incarceration.
But, regardless of environment, we all experience the same things.
“All of us know what it’s like to feel alone and unloved. All of us know what it’s like to feel hopeless. That is prison. We are all the same.”
The way you are controlled in prison is by getting you to believe the lie that you are not the same. The way you are controlled is by getting you to focus on all the things that don’t matter like where you grew up, or your skin color, or the tattoos you put on the side of your head.
When we focus on superficial differences, we destroy the power of human connection and blunt our ability to empathize with others. When, instead, we look for the common thread of humanity in one another, what we are capable of becomes limitless.
There are several metrics that are built into the social service industry that are quite problematic.
The first is demographic served.
While it is extremely important that we provide resources to underrepresented populations, this metric focuses on how we are unlike one another.
When I’m asked who DEUCE Community serves, I get a little irritated. I get irritated because of the implication of the question.
We serve people who are attempting to overcome the hardest part of the human experience. We connect them with mentors and empower them to believe in themselves and take responsibility for the outcomes of their behavior.
Period.
We choose not to see humanity through another lens and believe that everyone is an unfinished version of themself. Those who have not had others believe in them have not had an opportunity to realize their potential.
This is where some other problematic metrics come in.
Take recidivism. In reentry programs, recidivism is the gold standard by which success is measured. The best possible result is not going back to prison.
My major issue here is that we are taking people at their worst. We are presupposing that a large number of people will end up back in a cage.
No wonder the results we are getting are so mediocre. What if, instead, we presupposed the infinite greatness inside humanity- what if we took each other for all that we could be rather than the lowest we’ve been?
DEUCE Community dreams of a world in which metrics like recidivism become outdated. We want everyone to be empowered to realize their potential and contribute to the world at the highest level without being shackled by their past.
My experience is that when you limit another person, you limit yourself, but when you uplift someone else, we all rise together.
Every Friday at 5:00 p.m. | Sober Workout with Coach Joe @ 5:00 PM 110 Lincoln Blvd
Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Community Workout at DEUCE Gym @ 110 Lincoln Blvd, email campbell@deucecommunity.org
Every Last Thursday of the Month | Community Dinner at 2603 23rd Street, Santa Monica, email joseph@deucegym.com to RSVP
Every Last Saturday of the Month | Street Cleanup at 12:00 PM DEUCE Gym 110 Lincoln Blvd
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.