If we understand our history, we can figure out how we got here and undo this mess. If we follow the money, we can always figure out the problem. In order to get votes and keep power, we had to oppress the black people in this country. Jerry, that was 233 years ago. Black people have come a long way since then. Yes, but the power structure has not changed. America supported slavery and did it in God’s name by twisting scripture. “Slaves obey your masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.” Colossians 3:22 NLT. The government started it, and the church supported it. Just as we all watched the murder of George Floyd, they all watched the oppression of a people even until today.

So, how do we reconcile 400 years of oppression? Are reparations the answer? We all know that equal rights and having the access to equity are on opposite ends of the spectrum. First of all, must acknowledge that mass incarceration is a direct path from slavery due to poverty.

A person with a mental illness is more likely to be incarcerated than to receive medical help. We incarcerate about two million people a year who have some sort of mental illness. My story is a prime example: as a young five-year old boy, my mother was murdered in the room next to me. No one ever counseled me or my siblings about the trauma we experienced. I lived my entire childhood with undiagnosed PTSD.

(WSPA) – Coming soon: Soteria is hosting an upcoming 20th anniversary celebration and artisan auction.

A mortgage is a debt, but once the debt is paid you receive a deed. You do not become an “ex-mortgager,” you become a homeowner. But we are not talking about a house here, we are talking about human beings, not property. I even prefer “incarcerated person” over the word inmate. Inmate denotes property, and calling a person property is essentially calling them a slave.

We need to start lifting our citizens up instead of tearing them down.

Most privileged people take our economic mobility, the ability to improve our financial status, for granted. When that ability is taken away, it affects not only our family but also the community we live in.

Some experts estimate citizens with criminal records could face up to 50,000 legally-mandated collateral consequences, including restrictions on housing, employment, public benefits, and immigration. These are all barriers that could lead a person right back to prison if they do not have the resources to overcome these challenges.

The United States in the world’s leader in incarceration. There are 2.2 million people in the nation’s prisons and jails — a 500% increase over the last 40 years. Changes in law and policy, not changes in crime rates, explain most of this increase. The results are overcrowding in prisons and fiscal burdens on states, despite increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety.

Soteria Community Development Corporation (CDC) is pleased to announce the new Returning Citizens Housing Initiative, a comprehensive re-entry Housing Initiative facilitated by the Soteria CDC and TGHA – the Housing Authority of the City of Greenville, SC. TGHA and Soteria CDC know thousands of families in the Greenville community have been and are impacted by incarceration, poor financial management and a lack of education. Our goal is to provide Returning Citizens a second chance at becoming productive citizens in the Greenville community

Blassingame tried to get a part-time job to earn extra money during the Christmas holidays and said he couldn't get hired because of a drug conviction more than a decade ago. He served three and a half years in prison.

It "hit home" then that if he, the founder and CEO of the 15-year-old Soteria Community Development Corp., which among other things, helps other ex-felons re-enter the job market, can't himself get a job, "we still have a problem."

Hansen, 50, said he has served about 14 years in prison on robbery convictions. Having a criminal background increases the challenge of finding a job, he said.

It's "very, very hard to find a job," he said. "There's maybe 1,000 nos and maybe one yes."

It’s a fresh start for an Upstate neighborhood and its jobless community. A program that hires former felons to deconstruct condemned homes kicked off Tuesday.

GreenStart Decon has several goals – to create jobs, save energy and rebuild communities.

Jerry Blassingame's testimony and the story of Soteria, a Community Development and Prison Re-entry Ministry in Greenville, SC. Other Soteria programs include low income housing, financial literacy and credit counseling, GreenStart Recycling, and deconstruction.