‘The system leaves us to fend for ourselves’: In Conversation with Joshua Garner
Joshua Garner is a Reentry Support Specialist with the Institute for Community Justice, ensuring that returning citizens and those affected by mass incarceration receive all the resources they will need to become successful in society. Garner is also the founder and lead Certified Paralegal of Right To Be Free, a board member of Helping The Homeless, and volunteers with the Free Tyree Wallace Campaign.
This interview is part of an interview series by Just Media to highlight, uplift and support the work being done by local movement organizers in Philadelphia. The work being done by directly impacted community leaders is often missing from mainstream media narratives.
How did you get your beginnings as an organizer interested in transformative criminal justice?
I spent seven years in Pennsylvania’s state prison, which really started my journey. While I was there, I started studying the law and became a certified paralegal. As a jailhouse lawyer, I began to fight my own case, and help other people with their cases.
We can’t put people in places of mass torture. Prisons now aren’t rehabilitative at all. Prisons pose as “corrective” institutions – they are actually cages of torture. A lot of young people who end up in prison for petty charges come out of short sentences with bitterness at the policing system and feel rejected by society. The system isn’t designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals or give them second chances. There really is no individualized assessment of what they need after reentry to be successful at the institutional level either. The system leaves us to fend for ourselves.
The general idea behind the existence of prisons is capitalistic. Why would you want to take your best client and give them all the tools, so they don’t come back? If they come back, that’s more money for you. If you own a store and sell a product, you want people to keep coming back and buying that product. Prisons work the same way. If there were no inmates, there would be no prisons. The justice system is designed to produce more inmates and prisons. That’s why laws are built around long-term sentencing instead of alternative programs that get people to help. That’s why I love reentry work because that’s what we do. When someone comes home, we sit there and try to analyze their needs. This is what I live for and have a passion for. I want to help people and see them succeed.
What do you do in your role as a re-entry support specialist?
When an individual is released from prison or county jail, they immediately need a lot of resources - even small things like an ID, social security cards or feminine hygiene products.
We assist them in fulfilling these basic needs free of charge. We also assist them with much bigger things like housing, medical support, mental healthcare, employment or any legal support they may need. We also offer parenting and anger management classes. I work as a case manager - I closely work with recently released individuals to ensure that they have what they need to reenter society. In my experience, a lot of individuals become re-incarcerated because it is difficult for them to readjust and access their fundamental needs. Going through the prison system also strains one’s mental health. Unfortunately, recently incarcerated individuals are left to fend for themselves by the system, which is a leading cause of recidivism.
Fighting against extremely powerful institutional structures often proves exhausting and disheartening. How do you stay motivated, determined, and hopeful as an organizer?
My two children are my main motivation. A lot of my interest in public school safety and reduction in gun violence is steered by me wanting to provide a stable and nurturing environment for my kids.
The second reason why I am committed to justice work is the people I met while I was incarcerated. No one should be subjected to what they experience every single day for mistakes they made decades ago. I’m constantly reminded of my time in prison as I celebrate the little things, for example, being able to get in the shower and control the hot and cold water. When I came home, I was very dejected at first just because I felt like I was leaving my friends behind and abandoning them. I thought to myself: what can I do to help them and be supportive?
How can we support justice organizers and recently released individuals?
Financial donations! A lot of the grassroot organizations aren't funded. When I started Right to Be Free, I paid for everything out of pocket. After coming out of prison and getting a job, I used my first paycheck to set-up Right to be Free. There are also bigger campaigns and bigger organizations that are going through the same problem. For example, the Free Tyree Wallace Campaign is in need of financial support.
Reentry projects do get grants, but the money is not always being spent in the best direction. Thousands and thousands of dollars go out to get your record expunged, but that doesn’t really help someone who just came home from prison because state law in Pennsylvania says that recently released individuals are not eligible for an expungement because they have to stay years without being incarcerated. What people need immediately are care packages. I need to report to my parole officer within 48 hours, but I don’t have transportation. How do I eat before my food stamps are approved? What am I eating in the meantime? What am I wearing?
So, donating to these organizations, even just $5 or $10, can go a long way in supporting reentry efforts.