Greg Donaldson talks about spending eight years reporting on a couple—an ex-con from Brownsville, Brooklyn, and a young woman with a six-year-old daughter—attempting to make a home together in Elmira, New York. Zebratown: The True Story of a Black Ex-Con and a White Single Mother in Small-Town America looks at the difficulty that ex-cons have in successfully re-entering society and the problems that this can cause for them, their families, and the communities where they live.
Guests:
Greg Donaldson
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Comments [6]
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the gospel hour.
Please continue to have the two gospel programs with your insightful editorials. They are fabulous and I enjoy them so much. I have encouraged friends and neighbors to tune in also.
jedavis
Thanks for this interview Mr. Lopate! Sad reality but worth learning and trying to understand. To "Ro" and "Mr. Bad" if you have any questions for Greg Donaldson, send him an email. I have and he responded quickly.
If Mr. Donaldson is still in contact with his subject, maybe he could become aware of - and share, if it seems wise - a film and project called "Operation Emotional Freedom" which was organized for war veterans suffering from PTSD. (My own PTSD diagnosis came from a forensic psychiatrist who did research work at Rikers - but I didn't meet her in a prison setting.) I can tell you EFT does work - the results the skilled practitioners in the film were able to get are moving.) http://www.operation-emotionalfreedom.com/ Maybe you could forward this comment? Thanks
I grew up on a farm in the hills above Elmira and worked there in social services for years. I find it sad that Kevin thought he wanted to stay in Elmira because of the view out his prison window. The prison is in a not great part of the city. Its next to a national cemetery and across from a public housing project. What must he have come from to aspire to life in that part of Elmira.
Well well, what do have we here? I'm getting the feeling the real romance at the heart of this story is between author and subject. All these hushed, clipped pronouncements and rather less than revelatory observations masquerading as profound distance is most certainly masking some interesting feelings. Why not talk about that?
Could you ask your guest to not swallow some of his syllables? I am very interested in the interview and am having a hard time hearing him speaking.
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