Kako Bitcoin pomaga preživelim v zapornem industrijskem kompleksu

Ubaydah Baa'ith je eden od tisočih nekdanjih zaprtih Američanov who found greater financial security thanks to bitcoin, since zaposlovanje, bančništvo in stanovanjska diskriminacija proti državljanom, ki se vračajo, je zelo razširjeno po Združenih državah.

“I come from generational incarceration. My grandmother and uncle did time, here I am years later with armed robbery,” Baa’ith said. “I learned about bitcoin when I was in a halfway house in 2018.”

Ko je Baa'ith vstopil v hišo na pol poti, je srečal Clovio Lawrence, soustanoviteljico Projekt Vračajte skupnosti, in se takoj vključil v izobraževalne programe, ki se osredotočajo na temnopolte skupnosti z nizkimi dohodki. nekaj Študije ocenjujejo, da je več kot polovica Afroameričanov imela družinskega člana na neki točki v zaporu, kar pomembno vpliva na dostop do stanovanja in prehransko varnost. Precej manj verjetno je, da bodo prejeli nekdanji zaporniki posojila or ponudbe za delo, razlika pa je še večja med temnopoltimi in latinoameriškimi skupnostmi.

“It’s common for people coming out [of prison] to face homelessness. Their family members may have died or not have a place for them,” Baa’ith said. “There can be no bitcoin without beds. First and foremost we need to get someone coming out of incarceration food and shelter. Now I’m a project manager with Project Back To Community. We have 35 people at a time and have helped hundreds of people through seven reentry houses.”

Na splošno je projekt Give Back To Community neprofitna organizacija, ki se osredotoča na pomoč zapornikom in državljanom, ki se vračajo v Virginiji, da postanejo pozitivna sila v svojih lokalnih skupnostih, namesto da bi se počutili izobčene. Kot vodja projektov se Baa'ith ukvarja z najmlajšimi operacijami, ki pomagajo oživiti te programe, nalogami, kot so načrtovanje sestankov in vodenje skupinskih sej.

Nato raziskujejo, kako bi v zapore uvedli več izobraževalnih programov. Vendar je ta postopek počasen in birokratski.

Although it’s tricky to convince prison operators to allow civilians inside to teach convicted inmates about bitcoin, an asset which already has some reputational issues, Baa’ith believes it’s crucial to solving the nation’s unsustainable incarceration problem.

“The number one thing people get incarcerated for is money-related issues, like robberies, and habits that are learned from generational poverty issues. So we’re using bitcoin to change the narrative,” he said.

He added that giving both inmates and returning citizens something to look forward to, like saving bitcoin for generational wealth, can radically alter their perspectives for the better.

“We’re talking about staying out of prison for life and holding on to your bitcoin,” Lawrence said, agreeing with Baa’ith. “We want you to sit back, redirect your skillset, and think about holistically using that skillset for the greater good. We call it Beta to Bitcoin, 101.”

Prekinitev kroga revščine

Vsako leto iz zapora izpustijo na sto tisoče Američanov, a več kot 50% izpuščenih zapornikov je ponovno zaprtih. Jasno je, da so pri povratništvu v igri sistemski problemi. Za samo en primer več kot 37% zapornikov so diagnosticirali duševna bolezen, a le malo jih je deležnih kakršnega koli zdravljenja ali storitev duševnega zdravja, ko so za rešetkami.

Alex Andrews, nekdanji zaprti spolni delavec, ki je zdaj izvršni direktor neprofitne organizacije SWOP za rešetkami, said that healthcare costs can further cripple inmates during incarceration.

“Some jails and prisons charge a daily fee, so your account can get wiped out quickly. They charge you for health insurance and medicines. You can actually end up in debt by the time you leave,” Andrews said. “People’s civil rights are taken away, so they can’t impact elections and vote for people who might do better by them. In some states they automatically restore your right to vote when you’re released, but that’s not the norm.”

Andrews lost her ability to vote in 1993, after she was incarcerated for prostitution, and was only able to regain her full voting rights in 2017. That was the same year she also learned about bitcoin.

“The trend of denying sex workers banking access is still really bad,” Andrews said, adding that this is part of the reason that her nonprofit accepts bitcoin donations. “Around 300 people have donated with bitcoin so far, since we started accepting bitcoin in 2021.”

Ni čudno, zakaj je toliko zaprtih ljudi ujetih v krog revščine. Za zapahi so lahko prisiljeni delati za samo $ 1.15 uro, tudi ko dela za zasebna podjetja, kot je Victoria Secret. Potem, ko končno pridejo ven, večina delodajalcev izogibajte se zaposlovanju osebja s kazensko evidenco. To se pogosto pripisuje osebnim napakam in ne sistematičnim napakam, kljub dokazom iz Norveške študije recidivizma da imajo lahko namerni programi za pomoč zapornikom pri ponovni vključitvi v družbo pomemben vpliv.

Pomanjkanje bančnega dostopa je bil eden od razlogov, da je spolna delavka otišla mimo @btcsexworkers is so bullish about bitcoin. It’s been several years since she spent 48 days in a Los Angeles County jail because her ex-husband sold a joint, which she had given him, to an undercover cop. Yet she still has banking issues related to that incident.

“My bank recently limited my transactions because I was assessed as ‘high risk,’” she said. “Bitcoin is helpful because they can’t just go in and take your money. Sometimes they’ll go into the inmate’s bank accounts and decide this money is mine and you can’t do anything when you’re in custody, because they charge you all these fines for basic necessities when you’re in custody, like soap.”

Btcsexworkers je dodal, da je aretiranim spolnim delavcem še težje dobiti zaposlitev in bančne storitve v primerjavi z drugimi zaporniki.

»Nobena poklicna služba ne želi delati z vami. Veliko organizacij, ki pomagajo nekdanjim zapornikom, se ne bo dotaknilo vašega primera, če ste bili spolni delavec,« je dejala. »Zaporniški industrijski kompleks je le nova oblika suženjstva. V zaporu ali v zaporu lahko dobiš službo, vendar ti bodo plačali penije in nimaš popolnega nadzora niti nad temi zaslužki ... Imeti strojno denarnico [na zunaj] je tako dobra naložba vase in svoj mir uma. Nihče ti ga ne more vzeti.”

From Bars To Bitcoin

Pravice zapornikov niso nišno vprašanje. Vpliva več kot dva milijona ljudi samo v Združenih državah Amerike. Organizacije, kot so Human Rights Watch consider the treatment of many such prisoners to be an alarming humanitarian crisis. That’s why Bitcoin educator Justin Rhedrick, author of “From Bars To Bitcoin,« se trenutno pogovarja z različnimi lokalnimi ustanovami oddelka za prestajanje kazni zapora, da bi ugotovil, kaj je mogoče storiti za ublažitev te humanitarne krize.

“My ultimate goal is to open a lid for people, so they can see there is hope for them when they come home from prison,” Rhedrick said. “I want to teach them about what money is and about bitcoin and create ways for them to be trained when they come out [in] skills related to bitcoin.”

Rhedrick je eden od tisoče of returning citizens who used cryptocurrency to further social justice causes in the United States. After he was convicted of armed robbery, Rhedrick realized he needed to turn his life around. Before serving time, Rhedrick had already experienced homelessness with his mother and watched a friend get murdered. Violence and economic desperation were devils he knew too well.

Potem, ko je leta 2014 izstopil, se je Rhedrick trudil dobiti dostojno plačano delo. Pripravljal je koncerte fizičnega dela, a je komaj zaslužil za najemnino.

“I did a lot of reading and studying in prison. The only way to go up is to go through it,” Rhedrick said. “When I first got out I was living from month to month, so I couldn’t afford a full bitcoin. But I knew getting bitcoin knowledge was going to be valuable.”

Luckily, bitcoin enabled him to be his own bank as he started a teaching and consulting business, then he eventually wrote and published his own memoir.

“My main income today is my business, selling my courses and my book,” Rhedrick said, adding that he’s sold hundreds of books since he published the memoir in 2021. “If you have 600,000 people coming out of prison every year, they need to get employed or start their own businesses. If the world isn’t going to hire you, bitcoin offers opportunities for you to work.”

All of these personal stories from returning citizens, from California to Texas, Florida and Virginia, highlight how bitcoin has become a useful tool for alleviating a nation-wide human rights crisis.

“I know a lot of people who have come home from prison who found bitcoin,” Rhedrick said. “I think the possibilities are endless.”

This is a guest post by Leigh Cuen. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.