"i invite YOU in": the SYSTEMATIC LADDER

It’s weird knowing that everyone I was extremely close to in prison is now out—and life goes on for all of us….Except my friend Sean McGuirk.  My BFAM! (Brother From Another Mother).Sean is still incarcerated and has about 22 months left to serve on his 8-year sentence. He has recently been moved to a halfway house after serving over 5 years behind the wall, but this move has ironically cut his pursuit of education in half.  Maybe that’s why they call it a “half-way” house, because maybe they are only willing to go half the way to help you. And the catch- 22 is that you are not permitted to go the other half to help yourself.Let me explain:  Behind the wall, Sean was taking mail-in college courses from Thomas Edison State College, where he was able to get a dual degree in Business Administration. Yea, he was one of the most productive inmates I witnessed, and he did it all by his own resources.  His family assisted him in facilitating these classes by paying his tuition, and the institution allowed it, but the “system” did nothing to promote it. You see, in the place of prison, education that is not offered by the state is not endorsed by the state. If they cannot get anything out of it, then they want nothing to do with it.Sean is currently trying to pursue an MBA at this halfway house position, but unfortunately they are making it difficult to finish what he started behind the wall. You would think that with progression in the system comes progression. However, the more you advance down the systematic ladder towards freedom, the more the system tries to hold you down. It’s crazy! It really is.Please pray for doors to open up for Sean to continue his education at this current halfway house.  Heck, they are probably programming him to death. Why?  Because the system weighs productivity by a completely different barometer-- better known as backwards bureaucracy outside those walls. Sean has done his very best charting his future for a successful re-entry, and isn’t that the goal for all inmates?  So why the curbing of individual growth?Just keeping it real from the side that now has a free voice (and presence) to appeal!