Should ex-convicts be the next stars of reality TV?

theGRIO REPORT - The new reality series 'Life After Prison' hopes to shed light on the prison cycle and break patters of detainment....

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Rage against the ‘machine’

Behind bars, Rasberry says she gained a level of patience that’s helped her to adjust to real world situations.

“I’ve dealt with people who I would not normally have dealt with,” she says. “There was just a certain tolerance I had that I wouldn’t have put up with on the street. Inside, I’ve learned to pick and choose my battles, I’ve learned to have a little more respect with authority figures.”

Prison reform activists often criticize the justice system for perpetuating a cycle where those doomed to captivity seamlessly meet their fate.

Laws target minorities and the weakest members of society, and the prison system puts them under lock, demands free labor, allows them to self-destruct, and releases them into a place where they return to ill-fated measures.

Attempting to break the chain, Ross and Watts want to help their fallen comrades open a window of light.

“We’re trying to fight against this machine that’s turning on people of color,” says Ross, blaming specifically the music industry for promoting a false sense of hope and demand for instant gratification.

“You can’t let your environment dictate who you are, and what you believe and where you’re going in life,” he continues. “You’ve got to be the one to control that and sometimes you might have to be an auto-mechanic, you might have to wash cars, you might have to cut lawns. People right now, they’re just not into that. They’re into the microwave: give me my money right now.”

For Troy Peltv, a member of the L.A. Crips gang who spent over 20 years in prison for drug conspiracy, the system nearly took his life.

Now 45 years old, Peltv describes prison as a place where evil harvests its fruit. He calls it a holding cell not meant to reform people, but test their stamina.

“While I was in there I utilized my time, I made the best of it,” he remarks. “It would have destroyed me. I would have failed once I hit the streets. I would have been right back, I would have been a product of the system again.”

Before he turned to education, Peltv participated in “numerous riots,” moving back and forth from state to federal prison. He spent time in the Supermax and Security Housing Unit (SHU), an environment where living conditions have been said to violate constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment.

“I kept moving around because of gangbanging,” he recalls. “In the federal prison, you’ll be killed faster because you’re dealing with guys from different states. The Crips and Bloods, they’re in every state now…You’re dealing with every gang member that’s from a ghetto in every state.”

Seeking a new way of reformation

A microcosm for degenerative society, prison may have left each of these ex-convicts with a scar, but not a malignant stain.

On Life After Prison, they will deal with their wounds; assert new ground; and work through what mental and social issues have developed over time.

Watts recruited a self-described “blond, Beverly Hills psychologist,” who will be staying with the group.

Out of place, maybe, Watts believes she could be the trick to holistically tackling issues at hand.

“Whatever she can bring to the table to raise spirits, I think it could be good,” he points out. “Whether they accept her, we’ll have to see how it plays out because she don’t come from where we came from.”

With the backing of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Watts has devised a program similar to a halfway house that he believes will not only be valuable to those who go through it first hand, but to the American public interested in understanding the justice system. He currently is working with Ice-T to negotiate with networks and bring the show to air.

Following the success of programs like Oz and Orange is the New Black, along with MSNBC’s reality series Lockup, Watts senses a desire from people to watch the entire process of law and order.

And it will be honest.

“People may volley, people may end up back in prison,” he says, acknowledging that two of the characters he filmed in the teaser are already back behind bars. “Of course, there’s going to be fights and attitudes. You’ve got somebody fresh out of jail doing 20 years, he got a chip on his shoulder.”

Rasberry adds, “I meet a lot of people who find out how long I’ve been down and they want to know [about it]. They’re so interested in prison life and this is a real inside look…That place is crazy, I’m happy to be out of it.”

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