[ February 18, 2016]
“I feel like I was robbed of my happiness.”
Many of us are familiar with Kalief Browder’s story: a young man was walking home, apprehended by police for allegedly stealing a bookbag, and remained in a combination of prison and solitary confinement at Rikers Island for 1,110 days.
Say it. One thousand, one hundred and ten days.
Without a trial.
After his release, he indicated to an interviewer that life on the outside was much more difficult than he imagined, particularly because of the paranoia he felt at every turn. This could be the day he was jumped. The people eyeing him could be talking about him behind his back. He would never reach the heights his friends reached, so they didn’t really care about him.
Click on the title to read my full post on MEDIUM.