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Release Date

Lakiesha Smith

Painting by Gwynne Duncan 

The day seemed like it would never get there. October 4th was right around the corner and I was finally being released from prison. I swear it felt like I was never getting out and I only had 18 months. It was women in there serving life sentences that was never going home. I still think about them to this day. Are they ok? Are they still sane? Anything new happened with their cases? They stay on my mind. 

             Finally the day came and I was ready to go. When you are released from prison they wake you up at 5am. They do a worldwide check for warrants, check your belongings that you’re leaving with, and give you about $40 to go be great. You would think it wouldn’t take that long to let you out the gates but because it’s prison and they do everything to make your time there impossible I was actually released at noon SMDH. My family had been outside the prison at 5am like I asked em to be so by the time I was actually released they had already left. That sucked big time because after that long-ass process I was finally let out to no family, no friends, no nothing. I didn’t let that stop me though because freedom is freedom. I was finally free after serving 18 months and I was ready to be GREAT!! 

             Thirty days before you’re released from prison they put you in some pre-release classes and they share resources that you can supposedly use to help you get back thriving in the community. Well guess what? I went to all of the places that they put on the list and they all were full of shit. Some said they had a waiting list and some just truly didn’t want to help. I was feeling like was it a set up. Did the teachers give us resources that wasn’t even valuable? Did they want us to fail? I started getting so discouraged I almost went back to my old ways that had landed me in prison in the first place. After so many doors was closed on me I decided to be the door. I decided to go find the resources I needed and not just keep em to myself but share them with other people who needed them too. It’s crazy cause when I was released from prison the guard said you’ll be back. Yeah I did go back but I went back as a speaker to speak and uplift my peoples. To show them that just because you have a past doesn’t mean you can’t still have an amazing future.

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