Redemption

The new generation continues to gain strength from the triumphs of the civil rights movement, but we face new challenges. Retirement at any age is not an option for many Americans. Four out of five Americans live in near-poverty, struggle with unemployment or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives. According to the Brookings Institution, concentrated poverty results in many societal ills, including higher crime rates.

Experts are pondering these points, while studying a bankrupt Detroit and ongoing gun violence on the streets of Chicago. Overall, violent crime has risen for the first time in this country since 2006, even as progress has been made in other areas such as punishments for certain low-level, non-violent drug offenses. The Justice Department announced in 2013 that it would no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences against these non-violent offenders. This news may be scant consolation to many people who have already spent several years behind bars as first-time offenders and who face the likelihood of felony disenfranchisement. Do they deserve a second chance?

Ex-Fugee, John Forté, received a second chance when his lengthy sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense, was commuted by President George Bush in 2008. John, a Brooklyn native and composer, sang movingly about the “Breaking of a Man” and has described his own experience in an “I am not a victim” essay in the Huffington Post. Since his release from a federal penitentiary, John has recorded over 50 songs (including the viral hit, The Wind Song, with Russian wizard, Sunsay), played over 100 shows, and engaged in various philanthropic endeavors. Although few people can claim to have his musical gifts, one cannot help wandering if there are other unsung Johns languishing in prison who deserve a second chance. As we tackle numerous challenges and make pledges to change, do we have to keep the healing power of redemption in mind?