I was with these people for
only a brief window of time, but in
that moment I saw the difference
between prison and jail. I saw the
difference between criminals and
people who’ve committed crimes. I
saw the hardness in people’s faces. I
thought back on how naive I’d been
just hours before, thinking jail
wasn’t so bad and I could handle it.
I was now truly afraid of what
might happen to me.
When I walked into that
holding pen, I was a smooth-
skinned, fresh-faced young man. At
the time, I had a giant Afro, and the
only way to control it was to have it