What a Former Prisoner Taught Me About Freedom

What is freedom and what is it like to lose it?

Photo by Dev Asangbam on Unsplash

What is freedom and what is it like to lose it?

That’s what I kept asking myself while I was talking to Harley Blakeman in his sunny, well-lit office in Columbus, Ohio. With his buttoned-up shirt, well-groomed hair, and wide smile, you wouldn’t immediately think of the word “felon.”

The terrible F word is applied to people of all sizes, shapes, colors, and creeds once they’ve been convicted of a felony, and you don’t get rid of it, no matter how long it has been since you committed a crime. In Harley’s case, he was arrested 3 weeks after his 18th birthday. He’s now 27, has been out of prison for nearly eight years, and still feels the impact to this day.

In his office, we sat and talked for nearly an hour about his experience getting out of prison and reintegrating into society. The story started when he began to tell me about the lead up to his release:

Day 1

Harley: It’s weird. When you’re incarcerated, you think about this “day” all the time.

More than you ever thought about Christmas or more than you ever thought about your birthday, this is like the day you…