H began class last week. He was there before I got there--which is always a good sign! His math scores were terrific; his reading scores less so. He said something to me about having lost 18 years of his life and knowing nothing about computers and those phones people have. I figured that meant he had been in prison. The next day he mentioned that he had been on Fox News in Chicago and something about his being in prison for something he had not done. I don't believe everything I am told any more--not like I used to--so when I got home, I checked it out. There he was, being interviewed on Fox News, earlier this month. There was also a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune.
Eighteen years ago, when he was 15, he and three other young black men confessed to a rape and murder of a young woman. Last fall, the Innocence Project in Chicago took up their case and linked DNA results to a serial rapist and killer who died himself of gunshot wounds in 2008. The men were released and just a few weeks ago, it was determined that they would not be retried.
H has been in class every day. He stays into the afternoon hours and works on his own. He had to be shown how to use a mouse and a cursor on a computer, a skill I haven't had to work on with anyone for years. He said education in prison was limited due to lockdowns.
He told me today he is in no hurry to go on with his life because he is adjusting to being out. At some point he wants to go to college. I am overwhelmed by the opportunity given to me to work with him.
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