Conversations About A Brighter Way - Welcome Home: Recent Episodes
A Brighter Way
Conversations about A Brighter Way Season 1 - Welcome Home is a podcast showcasing the humanity of people who have been incarcerated. By sharing struggles and successes, these stories will highlight the complexities of navigating the world post incarceration. Each person’s perspective is unique and by sharing their experiences, we hope these conversations will lead us towards – A Brighter Way. abrighterway.org. (734)-896-3770.
As we take you on a conversation about our thoughts on Season 2 - listen in on what we have to say.
We hear from two employers on how they handle the felony conviction on a job application.
We learn from those in the mental health profession about our mental well-being after incarceration.
What makes A Brighter Way special? It's our mentor program. Please listen to hear these two great men inspire each other.
adam and i wrap up the season
with insights and thoughts
of season 1
with gratitude and inspiration
we give you this episode
With much light,
robin
1.5: Lawanda Hollister shares her journey navigating society after 34 years in prison – a term she started when she was just 17. She talks about processing the deep trauma left by incarceration, adjusting to technology she’d never been exposed to, and what it’s like to be a chef who was never allowed to hold a knife. Plus – find out what she was the most excited to try when she got out (Here’s a hint: it’s a little triangle). Lawanda also discusses her work running The Chow Hall, a prison fare-based food service that raises awareness for prison reform and the struggles of the formerly incarcerated.
1.4: More than two decades into a life sentence, Arthur Thomas decided he needed to find a way out of prison. And after spending 44 years incarcerated, he shares his journey home. He goes through the struggles of unlearning all the things prison taught him and why being out was almost as bad as being in a prison. But then he shares how that was all changed by the community he found at A Brighter Way, and why that community is so essential to the formerly incarcerated.
1.3: Patrick Domingo shares the realities of incarceration, from being served rotten meat for dinner, to going through a pandemic in prison, to strip searches so regular it felt weird to leave them behind. But he also shares all the joys of coming home, even as life post-incarceration has its struggles. Patrick Domingo is Conversations About A Brighter Way’s Producer and Engineer.
1.1: Adam Grant shares his journey coming home after 27 years – Just two months before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Hear about the consequences of doing too much good in prison, the speech he gave just as he was getting out, and how the pandemic brought some hidden blessings. Plus – Our other host Robin shares a bit about herself and her vision for the podcast. Adam is our Executive Director here at A Brighter Way.
1.2: Just 50 days since getting out, Laquan “Q” Hill shares his story. After 16 years in prison, he’s left struggling to process how any of it can be real, and what it really means to be free. He talks about the amazing community he’s found since getting out, and how it feels to be truly welcomed home. Q is our Program Director here at A Brighter Way.