Transforming from Nobodies to Somebodies

While reading Nobody, I was extremely surprised when Hill shifted gears in his last chapter.  The change of pace from being so negative before was surprising to me.  I believe that it is a big venture that we must take to be able to address the causes of the vulnerability and Stat violence that Hill explains.  Mass incarceration is a big deal in which minorities are yet again enslaved and controlled.  There are many "Nobodies" that have been incarcerated for seemingly minute crimes.  The war on drugs was one way in order to incarcerate, and it was targeted at specific communities.

There has been reversing of legal policies concerning decriminalizing some drugs.  This is a great first step to eradicate the problem of mass incarceration.  While looking around the internet for topics for this post (I'll be honest, I struggled at first trying to tackle this huge topic) I came upon the following graph:



While, it is outdated since it ends in 2013, it depicts a story of America's mass incarceration.  While, 2013 was a year in which we saw the least amount of people incarcerated since 2001, it is obvious that it barely means anything.

As a society, we must recognize that there even is a problem at all.  Without identification, there is no chance there will be change.  Education is something that we need to pursue.  Hill takes this step in publishing his book.  I am certain that there are a large amount of people that are oblivious to all that Hill brings up.  By putting this out there, hopefully those people would begin to engage with the material to learn.  This is a stretch to expect that those whom don't agree with these ideas will pick up this book, read it, and discuss the material with those around them.  We must find a way in order to lessen the polarity in which we find ourselves today in order to promote discussion and more holistic learning.

Further, making incarceration a more rehabilitative experience would be necessary.  If we are only locking people up for a certain amount of time and expecting them to learn a lesson, we are mistaken.  The lesson that can be learned from being incarcerated is to not get caught.  For, if they were to just not have been caught, they would have been fine.  However, by interacting with those that are incarcerated and help them understand that they have a part in the choices they make would be much more beneficial towards the pursuit of rehabilitation.