Community Partner

Everyday Boston

Early in 2020, Northeastern partnered with Everyday Boston on a story collecting project to amplify the voices of men and women affected by the cradle-to-prison pipeline. The project was also structured to build community among a small group of law students and returning citizens.

 
 

It began with a day-long training, with law students learning alongside returning citizens. In a session led by Everyday Boston’s founder, Cara Solomon, a former journalist, the group practiced the communication and listening skills necessary to interview someone else about their life. Then, they participated in a restorative justice session, led by Armand Coleman, a returning citizen with expertise in restorative justice, and the coordinator of Everyday Boston’s Bridge Project for returning citizens.

From there, Everyday Boston paired the students and returning citizens up for in-depth interviews of other formerly incarcerated individuals, providing support during those interviews. Excerpts from those interviews are featured on this site, and longer narratives will later be published in Everyday Boston’s story library.

 

Returning Citizen Panel

 
 

Kent Whitlock

Kent lives in Roxbury and was working in Project Place’s Clean Corners program until the pandemic hit and he lost that job. Since he came home eight years ago, he has been involved in speaking engagement work in the substance abuse recovery world as well as painting and handyman work. He has also volunteered at various organizations supporting people in recovery.

A father, grandfather and great grandfather, Kent's main dream is to live to the age of 84, so that he can see his infant great grandson safely into his 20s. Ideally, he would also like to have his own studio and a job cleaning offices or painting on the 11 pm to 7 am shift.

“I wish my story would reach first and foremost the troubled youth, and then secondly, the men and women returning back into society. I just hope people take away: Never count yourself out. You gotta crawl before you walk. I’m in a recrawling stage at my age, to walk again in society. But if I can do it, they could do it."

 
 

Amanda Pestana

Amanda contributed her story to this project as a participant in Everyday Boston’s Bridge Project.

 
 

John Jones

John is currently living in a three-quarters house in Charlestown and participating in a jobs training program. His goal is to find a job that pays the bills, so that he can spend his free time on his passion: supporting at-risk teens with substance abuse issues. He credits three programs inside MCI Norfolk as critical to his own transformation: the emotional healing group, the Jericho Circle, and the Restorative Justice program. These programs helped him to “identify the brokenness, be okay with it, and move on from it.”

Since he came home six months ago, John has found his criminal record to be more of a barrier to jobs and housing than he expected, but is confident that, with hard work and networking, it all will work out.

“I was appreciative and grateful to participate in something so important. It’s a small way to give back. There isn’t an opportunity I’m offered that I won’t grasp. As humbly as I can, I need to let the world know: they didn’t make a mistake.”

 
 

Derrick Sutton

Derrick is currently living in Dorchester and volunteering with Everyday Boston and Massachusetts Community Outreach Initiative. Since he came home in January 2019, he has been trying to get an apprenticeship in the construction industry. During the pandemic, he worked as a contractor in the cafeteria at Moderna, the pharmaceutical company working on a Covid-19 vaccine; when the quarantine was lifted, he was laid off. The proud father of a 27-year-old son, Derrick enjoys giving back to the community- particularly helping to steer youth in the right direction.

“I took great pleasure in doing the interview at Northeastern. It gave me a lot of insight into myself, with the hopes that it would be informative about the criminal justice system, and hopefully to reform it.”

 
 

Dana Brown

Dana is currently living in Roxbury and is struggling to find a job. He was in the final stages of interviewing with the city’s Parks and Recreation department when the pandemic hit. Dana spent much of his later years in prison educating himself, trying to get out of the “I don’t care” mindset of his youth, and forgiving himself and others. Since he came home, he has worked hard to keep focused, support his teen-aged son, and develop a sanitizing business. But he has struggled with anxiety and too much free time on his hands. His dream is to have financial stability and an apartment of his own.

“I enjoyed it because I got a chance to talk and express some things that is bottled up inside. If nothing else, I hope it just touches one kid to say: ‘You don’t want to look up 20, 30 years and it’s been wasted.’ There’s so much more to life than what I perceived as life.”

 
 

Bobby Iacoviello

An experienced restorative justice and circle facilitator, Bobby has created countless healing and accountability circles for youth and adults as well as healing circles for survivors of violence. His training and facilitation includes work for Turn it Around Charlestown, UTEC, Suffolk University, Everyday Boston, Boston College Law and Northeastern University.

His varied youth work included co-leading Project Youth, the longest running anti-violence program in the country. As he completes his degree in interdisciplinary studies at Boston University, he remains an activist for meaningful opportunities for disenfranchised communities and marginalized youth. Bobby is a life-long resident of the Boston area and is a devoted father to his fourteen year old daughter, Gianna.