sing, sing, under northern lights!

I brought along this photo, captured from fb, for mi amigas.

Sandy and Barbara and I were together again!

Carolyn would have been with us, too, if not for a special choir engagement this evening.

The other two had gone driving in search of the Northern Lights, but to no avail.

One of Genie's friends caught this beauty from her home in Wilmington Island.

Proof positive that the camera sees what the eyes miss!

(smile!)

 

We were all downtown for a preview of a new movie, courtesy of SCAD and their film department.

I had first heard of it on fb last month.

After verifying that the screening was free, I immediately reserved four tickets!!!

That was on April 26th.

Good move!

(smile!)

And just what was it that I saw wanted to see?

"Sing Sing", a film based on "Divine G"s experience at that prison, where he participated in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program.

Did I know who "Divine G" is?

Of course not.

Did I know he was a fictional character?

Nope, didn't know that, either.

To be honest, I thought it was a documentary about a real person, but, in truth, it's purpose was to highlight a program that seeks to allow those incarcerated to "become human again", as one of the characters described it to "Divine Eye" a real person (Clarence Macin), an inmate who was having a problem with the whole concept of acting like someone else in order to become a better version of himself.

"Divine Eye" wasn't the only person in the film who had actually been incarcerated at Sing Sing in New York, as that story was true for many of the actors, with them being part of RTA during their time in the prison.

What that told me was this: RTA is a program that works.

Kudos to that!

A post-film panel was there to discuss other programs, local to Georgia and Savannah.

Going left to right, from the SCAD professor, they are as follows.

 

Coco Guthrie-Papy, Director of Public Policy and Communications, Deep Center
Sherlisa Praylo, Director of Restorative Practices and Community Outreach, The Mediation Center
Omari Fox, Community Organizer, Deep Center
Julius Campbell, Co-Director of Offender Alumni Association + Life Navigator, Deep Center
Fred Green, Director of Filling the Gaps, Inc. and member of Offender Alumni Association
 

The five of them gave us an hour of their time to describe the missions of the organizations they are part of as well as answer questions from the audience.

The statistic that most impacted me was this: Fifty percent of Georgians are related to someone who has been, or still is, in prison.

FIFTY PERCENT.

And when Coco had the lights turned up and asked for those for whom that was true to raise their hands, I raised mine, then looked around.

Nearly half the audience at the Trustees Theatre had their hands in the air, too.

Alarming as that may sound, it was also reassuring.

There were people from all walks of life there...and they had something in common with me.

Small world.

Even my two friends had that link with me.

Barbara had been related by marriage to someone in prison.

Sandy was related to Meyer Lansky, a Mafia accountant, on her father's side.

Had I known those relationships before?

I had not, as they were revealed during our own discussion after the event.

Right place, right time.

(smile!)