On A Mission

I am writing a long-form paper about the work options available to U.S. prisoners including rates of pay, in addition to evaluating some newer practices that are working well in certain states, as a means of helping people to be better prepared for reentry into their home community.

In his book On Writing Well, William Zinsser said “there is nothing more interesting than the truth”, so I wanted to look at the way people are paid for the work they do while incarcerated, and expose the inhumanity of paying people pennies, and what it means for their overall welfare, and the well-being of the communities they rejoin upon release. 

In coming up with an interesting ‘teaser’ for the promotion, I decided to relay a compelling fact or truth that would get the attention of advocates and policy makers.

Channels: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook

Twitter message immediately below is written from the perspective of an Advocate for incarcerated people appealing to Legislators who are in influential government positions:

On Oct. 1, 1957 the CT minimum wage was $1 per hour. Today incarcerated people in CT prisons earn 30 cents – $1 an hour, shackling them in a cycle of debt and desperation upon release. Let’s change this.

(190 characters)

#CriminalJusticeReform #Equity #Connecticut

Some time ago Elon Musk doubled his character length from 140 to 280 characters, and from what I read on PRnewsonline the ideal length of a tweet is 70-100 characters. While I didn’t distill what I wanted down this far, I reduced it to 150 characters in the second example below by removing the first sentence:

Today incarcerated people in CT prisons earn 30 cents – $1 an hour, shackling them in a cycle of debt and desperation upon release. Let’s change this.

(150 characters)

#CriminalJusticeReform #Equity #Connecticut

I chose a single U.S. dollar as the visual. Simple and to the point.

Also came across Twitter Notes, a way for writers to attach longer blog-style writing to a short ‘index’ on Twitter. Perhaps this is still in test-mode with select writers before a full nationwide rollout. I did not find it as a public feature in my Twitter account.

LinkedIn message is again written from the perspective of an Advocate for incarcerated people appealing to business decision makers who may have unfilled openings that formerly incarcerated people can fill. It is a message about giving people a second chance.

There are thousands of skilled workers under DOC community supervision or returning home to CT after incarceration who are ready and willing to fill vacancies you hold. Are you willing to give someone a second chance?

#Justice #Reentry #SecondChance #Connecticut

I chose to talk to people in first-person versus third, to encourage the reader to think about what decisions are within their control.

In real life, I would create versions that focus on specific industries like manufacturing, food services or transportation. In these situations, I would mention a specific certification(s) and use a visual that speaks to that industry, targeting specific industries in posting it to LinkedIn.

Facebook is a channel geared for social networking among friends and family, where people share pictures of birthdays, holidays and everyday life. In this channel I took a different tact, focusing instead of people who may know someone who is or was justice-involved and may be willing to submit testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly.

Today incarcerated people in CT prisons earn 30 cents – $1 an hour, shackling them and their families into a cycle of debt and desperation upon release. If you know someone who is justice involved, help create the change for someone to be successful upon reentry by contacting your legislator in the town where you live or work, or by submitting written testimony to the CT General Assembly.

#JusticeReform #Reentry #Connecticut