Monday, 28 December 2020
True Shame vs. False Fame
Friday, 11 December 2020
Happy Breakup & Surprise reveal
Friday, 25 September 2020
Complementing differences
Friday, 7 August 2020
Mary Bell - A Successful Tragedy
The 60s UK was relatively quiet place. The Beatles were conquering the world, while Bond made sure nothing threatens The Queen. The little Village of Newcastle upon Tyne, however, had a year of terror In 1968. Two little boys were brutally murdered. The murderer was caught within year, but the nightmare didn't end there: The killer was a 10-year-old girl.
The story of Mary Bell is not only a gruesome murder story. It's also a success story about rehabilitative power prison could have, once run by loving staff. That's what I'm going to focus on this post, so many of the details will be left out. But now, it's storytime!
Young Mary Bell never had good predictions for life. Her prostitute mother abused her mentally, physically and sexually. Mary was a ticking time bomb about to explode. After she was caught, the officials had a problem: Where to replace her. Britain that time had no place for incarcerated girls and women's prison was right out.
So they decided to place her in Red Bank Secure Unit. She was the only girl in this facility for young offenders. Going in, Mary had every trait of a psychopath. However, In Red Bank she met James Dixon, the warden.
Dixon is one of unsung heroes of his time. There's no statues or biographies about this former navy officer. However, he took Mary in his guidance. From him, she got discipline, but also gentleness and love. Dixon treated Mary like his own daughter. He became the father figure she never had, and desperately needed. With his attention, Mary was able to grow out of violent tantrums she got, when she started her term.
At sixteen she was transported to women's prison despite of mr Dixon's protests. The cold environment of prison wasn’t good for Mary, just like Dixon feared. However, his guidance and gentle care had made such a strong impact on young Mary, that she was able to pull through, despite one adventurous escape in her later years.
When she was released at the age of 23, she was granted an anonymity and could start a new life under a new name. Four years later she had a daughter. Today Mary is a grandmother, living a peaceful life under a new alias. All thanks to the love and care she got after her incarceration.
For a moment, let's assume that the officials had focused solely on punishing Mary for her crimes, which were absolutely horrible. Even she has admitted that. If instead of getting the attention she needed, she was sent to the worst maximum security prison in the UK. Let's then assume that Britain would have come up with some dreadful law allowing them to lock up children for life. How many lives would have been saved and how many would have been lost?
Impossible to say, but one thing is certain: Mary's young victims would have still been dead. Mary would have become bitter and resentful towards the whole system. She would have made life a living hell for inmates around her as well as the prison staff. And as kids like her would keep coming in, the same thing would have happened again and again.
An old wisdom says that civilization can be measured by the quality of its prisons. More importantly, how it treats inmates. How many Mary Bells are inside USAs prison system today? And will keeping them in for the rest of their life really make the society a safer place?
How do you feel? Please comment below!
Freedom Forever!
-Alex
Friday, 31 July 2020
Interview with a lifer
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Note: None of the inmates in the pictures have anything to do with Free. She has chosen not to reveal her name or face for this blog. Only her thoughts |
Friday, 24 July 2020
Cry for Prison Reform
Saturday, 27 June 2020
We need faith...
Friday, 22 May 2020
Locked up and Locked down
Finland is just about opening up again. Schools were opened last week and restaurants open In one week. This doesn't mean the crisis would be at an end. Prisons in US still have More than strict restrictions, such as visiting blocks. Though There's something good In it as well. Last week I saw my loved one for the first time live, as She was able To send a video gram.
They're 30 second videos you can send to your loved one via Jpay, as long as you have the app. In Free's prison, the inmates can't send them, but because of the crisis, they made an exeption. Free was able To send a few videos. I had seen her photos and heard voice In our Phone call, but I hadn't seen her live yet. Now There's so much more to wait <3
Friday, 24 April 2020
Anxiety and distance
NOTICE: This post was written before the COVID-19 crisis broke out, so things were looking up. Now they look kind of bad, especially to inmate population. However, I'm keeping up the hope and so is Free.
Alex:
Free just had a chance of getting out, because of her state changing the laws about sentencing minors. Well, she was in a court, but didn't walk out just yet. Instead her sentence was reduced, so she'll be getting out in two years.
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Saturday, 11 April 2020
Knock on wood...
Whatever happens, this will cause an economic depression. This decade will be all about getting through that. What does the corona crisis have to do with my relationship? Everything.
Prisons are closed as well. Yesterday, Free called me, just before the Phone were closed. Of course There's also the fact, that if the pandemic really breaks out and fills the hospitals, inmates are the last to get treated.
Especially, when Free has some health issues She can Tell more about. The most frustrating thing is, that I can do nothing for us, except pray and wait. Oh well. It will pass In few weeks. Knock on wood...
-Alex
I am exposed to the virus and other germs as inmates have already been rushed to the hospitals. I have a pacemaker and get sick easily, so the work and lockdown is scary. I already go to the hospital a lot and get locked in rooms where there are blood and feces, merely attached to a portable vital machine.
The corona virus is scary and killing people on the streets in the US. In the prisons it has created fear and choas. When will it end?
P.S: This post was written a couple of weeks ago, so the situation's only worse. The virus is in four units. So far, Free's unit is still OK. Only time will tell... -Alex
Friday, 3 April 2020
How I started dating a lifer
I hope you're as excited as I am about this new blog, where I want to tell a bit about the relationship between me and my girlfriend, who's a lifer in USA. She's eligible to pardon in a few years and I'll tell you everything about how we met and what we'll do. I'll tell you everything about how we met and came together and what's to come. Well, not everything, but hopefully enough to keep you engaged and inspired!
Anyway, I better introduce myself. My name is Alex Greenwood (which is a pen name from my actual Finnish name). I'm a writer and a filmmaker from Finland. A few years ago I started my own charity project to write inmates. It started simply, because I wanted to help inmates somehow, but didn't know how. Then I realized, that US has tons of sites dedicated solely for that. Some look like datesites, while others are just for friendships.
I picked a few inmates from a couple of sites and decided to write them. Most didn't write back, maybe just because it's hard and expensive to write overseas from behind bars. Anyway, one of the few people who did answer was Free (for her wish, I won't reveal her true identity).
Free is a lifer, who's done time since before she was fifteen. She will be eligible to parole in a few years. It was definitely a harsh decision to start relationship for both. Long distance and limited connection offers challenges you never even thought before starting it. It's a hard life. But the rewards are worth it. You appreciate each message, each phone call and each letter in a way you'd never do if you lived in 50 mile radius. And the hope, when we finally get together, is always present.
Stay tuned on this journey to see where it takes us! Hope you'll get inspired as well!
-Alex
Below is Free's own introduction, as we're writing the blog together. Me from my home in Finland and she from her prison cell in the US.
Writing overseas was hard via post. Inmates simply don't have the money for the postage. So I was happy when we got on email. It still was hard, but when Alex sent the stamps it got easier. As his situation improved, we were able to start talking on the phone. Now we are in contact of some kind almost every day or so.
I rely on Alex. Without him, I worked 8 hour shifts for 11¢ an hour even as a manager at my job. Now, with the world going nuts over the corona virus, I don't even get that. There are no jobs, no work, no pay. If it weren't for Alex I would go hungry and without showers. He buys my soap, deodorant, laundry soap, clothes, essentials that prison does not provide.
But more than anything, Alex is my emotional support. He is my rock when I have no one. He is a reminder that someone cares about me. He is my fiance, and I love him. Distance, in a way, does in fact make the heart grow fonder.
I hope you enjoy our blog. I write from a prison cell. This is reality. Love between continents and jailhouse limitations.