As on Michael Baisden Live
If you have done the time, you have certainly earned a second chance at living your life.
That was the message Angela Rye expressed to the graduating class of the Potter House’s Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative (T.O.R.I). The noted political and social activist was the keynote speaker for Sunday’s ceremonies in Dallas. She stressed the importance of giving ex-cons a ‘purpose-filled’ reset on life.
Watch the full program below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvDOXELu8U]
“Brothers and sisters , I do not consider that I have made it my own yet. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” Rye quoted, referring to the biblical scripture. Phillipines 3:13-16 and 17. “I press on toward the goal to win the heavenly prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature, pursuing spiritual perfection, should have this attitude and if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too, God will make clear to you. ”
This specific passage refers to a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church of Phillipi while he was in jail. The political commentator and advocate called the passage a “timely reference” because despite his circumstances, Paul was able to keep his eyes on the prize, a message she encouraged graduates to instill in their own psyches.
“He who has a why to live can bear almost anyhow,” Rye said. She used technological glitches in our I-phones and other electronics to show how some things in our life need to be reset when they are not functioning properly. However, resets do not happen overnight. Rye says first there is captivity and then a breakthrough.
“Human beings, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom, some of us have to be given no other options, all distractions removed,” Rye said. “Stranded, tragic loss or trauma has to occur for us to realize that we need a hard reset.”
During her speech, Rye also expressed the need to have friends and accountability partners to keep them motivated and on the right path and cautioned the graduates to be wary of those individuals who still see the “old them” before the reset.
#HardReset
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“People don’t want to understand that you went through a process to get to your new beginning,” Rye said. “But I got news for you, you’re not proving your reset to them, you’re proving your reset to you.”
T.O.R.I was launched in 2005 by Bishop T.D. Jakes after the pastor realized the holistic impact his ministry efforts were having on inmates.
“This is, to me, what the Gospel is all about,” Bishop T.D. Jakes tells CW 33. “It is the Word made flesh to reach out and to care for those that have been left behind or left out of the system.”
The rehabilitation program helps incarcerated men and women reenter society. The program offers assistance in healthcare, employment, housing, education (i.e. GED), financial, technological advances and spiritually of course. Mental health and mentorship assistance are also available.
Rye stressed the need of a rehabilitation programs such as T.O.R.I in every state and country for former inmates. Such initiatives could decrease the number of re-convicted inmates. According to T.O.R.I, at least 67% of former prisoners were rearrested and 52% were reincarcerated within three years of their release. Most of the arrests are drug-related and there are more men enslaved today in prison, than there were in slavery in 1850.
Rye or ‘Cousin Rye’ as she’s affectionately called on Twitter says part of having a hard reset in life is changing the way they think.
“The reason you go from captivity to breakthrough to hard reset, which is in effect your true liberation, is because release from bondage in and of itself is not freedom,” she said, “your mindset has to change. ”
The 38 year-old encouraged graduates to fight for ever freedom that belongs to them and reminded them of the rights no one could take away from them, unless they allowed them to.
“They can’t take away your why you live,” Rye said. “They can’t take away the why you press and the why you hope. Do you recognize you’re free? Do you recognize you’re liberated? Do you recognize you’re made anew, truly redeemed and living out your purpose filled calling.”
In her closing, Rye empathized leadership and listed 5 things the graduates can do to live out their purpose-filled reset and higher calling on their lives. They include:
1. Embracing your purpose
2. Step into your power
3. Lean into your humility, your vulnerability
4. Work in compassion
5. Change the world
Rye serves on several boards including the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and the Congressional Black Caucus Action Committee. She is also the CEO of Impact Strategies, a political advisory firm. T.O.R.I has served over 10,000 former inmates in Texas. To learn more about the program and how you can volunteer or donate, click here.
Sources: CW 33, T.O.R.I
