Bars – part 1

Bars. What image comes to mind? A place you go after work where everyone knows your name? A scene of friends, laughter, music, noise. Right?

For me it conjures up a very different scene. What many do not know about me is that I have spent the last fifteen years as a volunteer and advocate of prison reform.

Saturday, I received a package from my dear friends, Tony Vick and Jeff Noland. The two have just published, “Locked In and Locked Out: Tweets and Stories on Prison and the Effects of Confinement.” Tony Vick is currently serving two-life sentences at South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, TN. Jeff Noland was once his cellmate, but served his ten-year sentence and was released in October 2020. He now lives and works for prison reform in Nashville. Both men share their point of view of the struggles of confinement, and what it is like to re-enter society.

I knew immediately that I wanted to share their story but also mine as someone who was allowed entry into their world. Over the next few weeks, I will be blogging about my experiences.

When I lived in Nashville, many of my friends worked in the social justice arena – they still do. It was through their encouragement that I had my first experience in participating in a volunteer visitors program with a young man who was on Death Row at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. 

Not many people ever get to see death row – and for those of us who have, it is not a place you want to spend much time. My reason for sharing these experiences is simple – you need to know.  

I am most assured that some may disagree with my opinion on the subject. It’s not my opinion that I am concerned about. It’s the  information regarding prison reform and our judicial system that the average American does not know. I sure didn’t. Now that I do, I can no longer act as though I am ignorant. What you do with the information I will share is your own business. I hope it will cause you to question elected officials BEFORE they get elected, or even seek out opportunities to make a difference to someone behind bars.

Why? You may wonder. Death Row? Really? Why NOT? The Creator of Love says to love, even the least of these. In our United States, prisoners and addicts are the lowest of low. Not many people want to address why they have issues, only to get them away from ‘normal’ society. Out of sight, out of mind. Throw away the key. They should have thought of that. They get what they deserve. As a believer, I have to look beyond what society says, and look to what Love teaches me.

You may be surprised to know many inmates never get a visitor, or if they do, not very often. Most of the time it is because they live too far away from family to make many visits. Others are estranged from family, and then there are some who have no family to speak of. Riverbend has a volunteer group that pairs visitors specifically for death row inmates falling into one of these scenarios. Enter people like me.

The coordinator for the program works hard to pair you with an inmate, which is not always easy. Some inmates refuse a visitor, but the Prison Chaplain sometimes request one anyway because they sense the inmate would benefit from a friend. It doesn’t always work out, and the coordinator will start again. The first inmate chosen for me was a young man named Tim who was very artistic. The coordinator felt we would have that in common. She was right. He was my only inmate to visit during my Riverbend experience.

As in all things, there is a process to follow before becoming a volunteer at a prison. Next week I will share what requirements were needed and my first visit to Tim on Death Row.

In the meantime, I encourage you to check out Tony and Jeff’s book on Amazon. Link provided below. Also consider following them on Twitter and Instagram under Locked In and Locked Out.

Jeff mans all the social media now but it was something that I started doing for Tony back in 2018.

More on that later. Much, much more.