In One Prisoner's Life Work, Inspiration

I find writing about my own prison experience rewarding in many ways -- the most valuable of which is the ability to feel useful by staying connected with society. Sometimes I receive tangible proof of this connection, as I did recently, when a prison guard handed me an unsolicited piece of mail from an anonymous sender.

The small envelope contained a card with a pen-and-ink drawing of a man I immediately identified as a fellow prisoner. He was crouching, head bowed, hands clinging to the bars that caged him. The prisoner carried a weight of guilt that crushed his back, but still reached out from behind bars, trying to become one with society again. That picture captured my feeling, and after admiring the drawing for several minutes, I turned the card over.

The card credited Gary McGivern as the artist and identified him as “NYS Death Row, 1973.”

Prior to receiving the card, I had never heard of Gary McGivern. Today, though, McGivern's life work -- a 50-box collection titled “An Argument for Life" -- is housed in New York City at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He died in 2001, after writing for 35 years about the New York State prison system, the death penalty and executive clemency.

It isn’t clear to me whether the state executed him. What is clear, though, is that McGivern made a contribution to society of such significance that one of America’s leading universities chose to sponsor the man’s work as a testament to the potential value of every human in society.

The unexpected piece of mail that day inspired me. McGivern’s contribution lets me know that even though writing from a prison sometimes feels as if I’m hollering out into a vast space of emptiness, it's an act that can help society in the long run. Without hearing the voices of prisoners, citizens who evaluate America’s penal system must rely upon the “prison industrial complex” for information -- a prison system that currently confines more than 2.2 million people, costing taxpayers $60 billion per year to maintain.

In the 1980s, while beginning my journey through America’s prison system, I turned to the writing of Dr. Viktor Frankl for strength and direction. He wrote about creating meaning in life, suggesting work as a vehicle. McGivern’s life shows that a man can work even from the cold depths of a prison cell, and he can produce work that contributes to the lives of others.

Because of McGivern’s work, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice's sponsorship, the public can see how at least one man evolved through multiple decades of confinement. That record may help Americans understand the human costs of institutional vengeance that masquerades as justice -- even as it inspires people like myself, on the inside, to continue making ourselves be heard.

Photo Credit: Shermanoz