Darchaun Ewing was released from prison 289 days ago. Since then, he’s had to learn quickly about the barriers that come with having a criminal record.
“That’s 289 days of – not freedom,” Ewing told a crowd of more than 200 people Sunday afternoon. “But 289 days of hurdles, 289 days of challenges, 289 days where me and my wife have been putting in a fight, side by side.”
Ewing was one of several people, those formerly incarcerated, their family members and faith leaders, who shared stories as part of a call to action to change laws, rules and policies that create barriers for people trying to reintegrate into their communities after incarceration.
Collateral consequences or collateral sanctions can prevent people who have a criminal conviction from renting a home, getting a job or professional license, going to school or volunteering.
The speakers were part of Building Freedom Ohio’s “Felony Impacted Liberation Movement: The Convening,” a half-day event organizing and voter mobilization held at the Huntington Convention Center.
‘I’m gaining my power back’
In the last nine months, Ewing, of Akron, learned his name couldn’t be on the lease for the home he shares with his wife. His wife had to become the sole owner of their businesses because his background was keeping them from getting contracts, he said.
This didn’t just affect their family, Ewing said, but also his employees, who relied on business to put food on their own families’ tables.
As Ewing recounted the struggles, people in the crowd responded, “That ain’t right.”
“Those moments when you feel hopeless, worthless, inadequate. … that’s something that you gotta battle with yourself,” he said. “No one knows exactly what you’re feeling. … This is what causes substance abuse. This is what keeps us stuck in the criminality mindset. Those are the moments that we have to change. This is the moment that I have to go in and try to fight and say, ‘Hey, I’m gaining my power back.’”
Getting involved with Building Freedom Ohio (BFO) has helped Ewing, and others, regain that power. On Sunday, the speakers, most of them organizers and members of BFO, urged more people to join the fight to increase their voting power.
Sheila Calloway has seen several family members go to prison – her brother, her sons and grandchildren. When family members were released, she used to feel powerless as she tried to help them move on with their lives.
Calloway watched her family members struggle to find a job, find housing and to open bank accounts, all because of their criminal convictions, she said. And it was on her, just as it is on other family members, to provide support. “I felt like I was the collateral to his sanction,” she said about her brother.
Calloway urged people to join efforts to increase voter turnout and to advocate for relief from collateral sanctions.
“If you’re in this room, don’t leave this room without making a commitment to join us in this fight,” she said.
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Growing power through voting
Shauntae Metcalf, a BFO member who also has had to overcome her felony conviction, shared information on a bill introduced by two Ohio Republican lawmakers in March that would make it easier for some people with felony convictions to get their records sealed after a crime-free period.
The Getting Rehabilitated Ohioans Working Act (GROW) would not help all felony-impacted people, but it’s a step in the right direction, Metcalf said. The proposed law would exclude record sealing for violent offenses and prosecutors could still object to sealing records in certain circumstances.
If state legislators passed the GROW Act, it could affect up to a million people in Ohio, making it easier for them to get a job after they’re released, Metcalf said.
Donovan Harris, an organizer with BFO, asked people in the audience to join the organization at a rally at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on June 12. He urged them to write to their legislators, expressing their support for the GROW Act. He asked them to become “conductors” of the BFO “On the Ground Railroad” movement, a commitment to register 10 friends to vote and bring 10 people to the next BFO event. Conductors will host meetings and political teach-ins every other week.
Sunday’s event was the start of a campaign to push for the GROW Act and to end collateral sanctions in Ohio, Metcalf said. Organizers plan to meet with Ohio House of Representatives members between June and November.
About 11.7 million people live in Ohio. Nearly a million people in Ohio have a felony conviction.
There are 9.1 million eligible voters in the state. In Ohio, people with a felony conviction can vote as long as they’re not serving a sentence in jail or prison.
Fred Ward, state director of Building Freedom Ohio, helped put the power of voting into perspective.
“People in power only want to know two things about you: Whether you have enough power to keep them in power or whether you have enough power to take them out of power,” Ward said.
The last competitive governor’s race was decided by less than 200,000 votes, he said. If people impacted by felony records and their families across Ohio came together and voted, they could match those numbers.
“We could easily allow people in power to know that, if you don’t put our values on the table, the probability of getting elected is slim to none,” Ward said. “This is a conversation about power.”
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Building an ‘On The Ground Railroad’: Group aims to remove barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated people
Building Freedom Ohio event will uplift felony-impacted people’s stories and look at ways to reduce collateral sanctions.