Career’s a challenge when your alma maters are Harvard and Prison, esp for ex-sex workers. See Linked Tweet



Tweet thread by an executive getting ex-offenders hired: https://twitter.com/jessicamckellar/status/1311349439479463937?s=21

How can I get hired out of prison?

When I was doing prison time for possessing a pill (true story) I read a book about how an inmate can reconceptualize her crimes to show off the characteristics of a person who committed certain acts. A thief is goal oriented. A murderer is a self starter. I found it amusing and more than a bit deceptive, but it was not wrong. Add to that book my knowledge that at a top drug treatment program here in Hawaii called Habilitation, the leadership has their mugshots up on a wall to use them as proof of change. It’s all in how you look at it. As Shakespeare said, there’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

The linked Tweet is about a violent offender, but ex sex workers have it harder

In Hawaii, an employer can disqualify a person from a job if the offense is related to the position. I have found that there is nothing as stigmatized as prostitution. Little did I know that people interpret that offense as predatory in nature and do not take into account that it was a means to get money for drugs. Instead I was viewed as a would-be husband stealer. Men who were alone in a room with me were roundly scolded for being near someone like me. It is only with the passage of time that the petty misdemeanor no longer appears on standard background checks.

COVID IS PROBLEMATIC

Anyone in a weaker position will be hit harder by difficulties than others. The sapling cannot outcompete the oak tree in withstanding wind rain, drought, etc…I always wondered why by every measure black people come out worse. More susceptible to this, less likely to achieve that…Then I figured it out. Inmates, who are a truly racially diverse population among incarcerated women in Hawaii, are the same way. A job shortage hits hard. In my view, our #1 industry in Hawaii is tourism, #2 is military, and #3 has to be government. We have no tourism and felons are locked out of the military and government jobs. Lots of people were saved by the pandemic Assistance and eviction moratorium. This election will be crucial. Benefits run out December 26, 2020. Then , who knows?

I Don’t Mind Being an Ex-offender Bc I know I Can Use It

Being an ex-offender is having membership in the only group that will include me when they speak of “people like us.” I just wish I could parlay my background into financial success! How can I get to the place where my mug shot can profit me?

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