By:听Stanley听Andrisse, Executive Director, Prison Cells听To听PhD (P2P)
What inspired you to start听()?听
My experience with the criminal legal system and the barriers that I faced trying to enter the field of science and medicine inspired me to start P2P. My hope听was听鈥媡o help inspire others with similar backgrounds to excel beyond what society and life circumstances have set to be the norm鈥�.鈥�
My path to science has been quite different than any other scientist or academic in my field of endocrinology and biomedicine. I am a formerly incarcerated person with听three听felony convictions, sentenced to听ten听years in prison as a prior and persistent career criminal. I was once told by a prosecuting attorney that I had NO hope for change. I am now, Dr. Stanley听Andrisse, endocrinologist scientist and professor at Howard University College of Medicine, former faculty at Johns Hopkins Medicine, affiliate at Georgetown Medical Center and my newest title听is听Visiting Research at Imperial College of London. I鈥檇 say that I may have changed just a little听bit.听
If interested, learn more about my journey by getting a copy of my recently released book, .
I am a Board member of the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN), that is connected to听thousands听of formerly incarcerated college graduates and听have听the pulse for these types of things. To my knowledge and FICGN's knowledge, I am the only black male openly formerly incarcerated person who is a medical school professor.
My dad听and听I had fallen off as I was making those poor decisions that led to my incarceration. My dad鈥檚 health plummeted while I was in prison. Piece by piece, they amputated his lower limbs up to his torso. Before I could reconcile our relationship, he fell into a coma听and听died from听type 2 diabetes. This was emotionally devastating.听But,听I used that devastation as inspiration. He remains my inspiration.
In so many different ways, he was the influence for me to thrive,听and听to build听the resilience to become this different person and this better person. Because in a way, I felt that he had been trying to keep me away from making these types of decisions, in the phrase that he was telling me, 鈥淚l ne听jamn听twa听ta po听fe听bien.鈥� Translated as 鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late to do good.鈥澨�
In conversations with my dad before I went to prison, he tried to get me to see the positive impact I could make on the world and to convince me that it wasn鈥檛 too late for me to make changes in my life.听So very much he was the driving force behind me wanting to just change听to听change to become a better person that makes better decisions.听And in a very real way, his condition was what drove me to my current career path.
You wrote that 鈥溾� to you. Can you elaborate on how education transformed you?听
Higher education is transformative for people impacted by the system. It goes beyond the actual material learning and degree attainment. The college experience is a broadening of horizons. It is an introduction to new people, perspectives, and places. For many people in the system, they have been physically and psychologically boxed in their environments and thinking,听respectively. Higher education facilitates a metamorphosis from an old way of viewing the world to a new way.听听
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Higher education also served as a therapeutic tool healing the ills of incarceration for me. By diving deep into my studies, I was able to calm the听post-traumatic stress disorder听(PTSD)听I had been experiencing. I was able to reinvent myself. I was now an academic scholar.鈥�
Tell us about why you became interested in biomedical research that investigates the intersecting pathways of insulin resistance?听
Dealing with death and disease is difficult at any time. But dealing with it while you鈥檙e locked in a cage was very emotionally challenging.听听It was really wanting to know how this disease took this person that I so deeply cared for, from being this strong fatherly figure, that I saw him as, to basically kind of eating away at him.
I wasn鈥檛 driven to be at the bedside, I was driven to understand what was going on molecularly inside the cell of a person with type 2 diabetes. And so, I began studying diabetes. I read my first scientific article on diabetes while locked in my cell. And I was fortunate to have this mentor in my life, who happened to be a biomedical scientist, not in diabetes, but nonetheless he began learning some of the intricacies of diabetes so that he could translate听them听听to听me in a way that was understandable. Over the course of weeks and months, we鈥檇 essentially have scientific journal clubs via brief prison phone calls and mail. And that鈥檚 where I first started learning about the intricacies of the human cell,听and how diabetes affected and caused dysfunction in the human cell.鈥�
What is the percentage of P2P scholars who enter听Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics听(STEM)听fields and how can the chemical industry help P2P?听
Over 400 currently and formerly incarcerated men and women apply to P2P on a yearly basis. About 100 people start the program each year and about 80 of those complete our program. We call the participants of our program scholars. Nearly 40% of the 400 applicants are hoping to pursue careers in STEM and roughly 70% of the 80 people per year who complete our program move into STEM careers.鈥�
The chemistry industry can help P2P by opening their doors to people with convictions, and听by providing true access and opportunities. This requires things like being featured in this publication. But it must go beyond talk. It requires putting money and resources into initiatives that help people with convictions. Starting fellowships directed at recruiting men and women who have been impacted by the legal system. Supporting mentoring networks for currently and formerly incarcerated people to help them find and believe in their science identity. Helping to put formerly incarcerated leaders in positions of power and resources so that they can have bigger impacts on their community.听The social enterprise branch of my organization,听,听works with听organizations听to design and implement anti-racist听recruitment, hiring, and retention practices focused on supporting people with convictions. I encourage your community to reach out to us for assistance in these efforts.鈥�
How was the听听selected?听
Over 85% of the P2P team (30+ paid team members, 20 board members, and听hundreds听of volunteers) are formerly incarcerated (70%) or听directly impacted听(85%)听by having someone who has been incarcerated for any听period of time听(formerly incarcerated)听or has had a close family听member who has been听incarcerated for any period of time.听P2P believes that听鈥淭hose closest to the problem are closest to the solution.鈥澨撎鼼lenn听Martin, founder of Just Leadership USA. We want to bring power and resources to people with convictions.
Tell us about the work the P2P Ambassadors do听
The P2P Ambassadors were created to spread the mission of P2P and to help implement satellite P2P sites in cities across the nation.鈥�
P2P is a partner in the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded initiative called . STEM-OPS will soon be recruiting people to Working Groups, one of which will be focused on creating mentoring networks for formerly incarcerated scholars. We encourage to you join or learn more at the听听and听听websites.
What is your vision for P2P in the next five years?听
P2P was founded in 2017. Every year since its existence it has grown听4-5 fold听in the number of people it helps. We help people rewrite their stories. We have people change the narrative in their personal lives and in the views of the community towards people with convictions. We hope to continue growing in the number of people we impact. We currently have team members or scholars in over 30 states. In five years, we hope to have representation in all 50 states and internationally.鈥�
Tell us about the advocacy efforts of P2P听
We are dedicated to promoting and advocating for higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated men and women. The UNLOCK Higher Ed Coalition is a group of stakeholders interested in policy solutions to increase educational access for individuals with criminal convictions.鈥�
Here听are听the P2P 2020-21 Advocacy Priorities:听
- Restore Pell Grant eligibility for all incarcerated students.鈥�
- Remove Q. 23 from the听Free Application for Federal Student Aid听(FAFSA)听to eliminate the relationship between federal student aid and drug convictions.
- Remove questions regarding criminal history from college admission applications.鈥�
- Support the Office of Correctional Education to standardize educational programming within the Bureau of Prisons through vetting and quality control oversight.听
After four years of working on the issue, we accomplished #1 and #2 in听. We are now working with the US Department of Education for implementation of #1 and #2.听As of September 2021, I have been invited to be a negotiator on the . It is important that formerly incarcerated people have a seat at the table.
We are working with听UNLOCK听Higher Education on #3, where we are working with over 20 states to听听on College Applications (State and Federal).听
This article has been edited for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网.
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