Drive Change: Ending Mass Incarceration | Jordyn Lexton | TEDxDaltonSchool

Summary

The speaker reflects on their upbringing, highlighting how their supportive environment provided access to opportunities. In contrast, they recount their teaching experience at Rikers Island, where incarcerated youth face systemic barriers. The speaker emphasizes the broken justice system, particularly for people of color, and discusses the importance of education and alternative learning models. They founded Drive Change, a social enterprise using food trucks to provide opportunities for formerly incarcerated youth. The organization promotes social good through business, aiming to turn red lights of limitation into green lights of opportunity, advocating for investment in people over punishment.

Takeaways

• 🌱 Growing up with access to opportunities and resources gave a sense of freedom and optimism about the future.
• 🏫 Teaching at Rikers Island High School revealed a stark contrast in opportunities, as 16-year-olds are treated as adults in the criminal justice system in New York.
• 🚫 The criminal justice system disproportionately impacts people of color, with 85% of Rikers Island inmates detained due to inability to afford bail.
• 🔴 Young people on Rikers Island often face limited future prospects, with barriers to employment, education, and housing after release.
• 📚 Education doesn’t fit everyone; alternative learning environments are essential for some, as traditional classrooms aren't always effective.
• 👩‍🍳 A culinary arts class provided a positive outlet at Rikers, illustrating the human connection and community that food can foster.
• 🛠 Drive Change uses the food truck industry to provide alternative education and workforce training for formerly incarcerated youth.
• 🌍 Drive Change believes in using business as a tool for social change, aiming to create 'green lights' for youth coming home from incarceration.
• 🤝 The fellowship includes practical training and professional development to help youth gain skills for preferential employment opportunities.
• 🚛 The food truck model allows Drive Change to engage with the community, advocate for social change, and shift investments from punishment to people.

Q & A

What opportunities did the speaker feel were available to them during their upbringing?

The speaker felt that their future was full of broad opportunities and access to resources. They were supported by family, which made them feel like they could do and be whatever they wanted.

How does the speaker contrast their high school experience with their time teaching at Rikers Island?

The speaker's high school experience was filled with opportunity and optimism, whereas the high school at Rikers Island was marked by violence, limited opportunities, and a sense of dead ends for the students, particularly due to systemic issues like automatic adult treatment of 16-year-olds in the criminal justice system.

What impact does New York's criminal justice system have on 16-year-olds, according to the speaker?

In New York, 16-year-olds are treated as adults in the criminal justice system, which means they face adult correctional facilities, criminal court instead of family court, and leave with a felony record if convicted, limiting future opportunities like employment and housing.

What statistics does the speaker provide about the population at Rikers Island?

The speaker mentions that 85% of people at Rikers Island are detained without being convicted because they cannot afford bail, and 93% of the population is Black and Latino.

How does the speaker describe the effects of external barriers on incarcerated youth?

The speaker explains that external barriers, such as difficulty in finding jobs or housing after incarceration, build internal walls, making it hard for young people to have optimism or choices for their future.

What alternative form of education does the speaker highlight as effective in the Rikers Island school?

The speaker highlights the culinary arts class as an area where students at Rikers Island thrived, showing focus, discipline, and excitement, using food as a form of human connection and learning.

What inspired the speaker to create Drive Change, and what is its mission?

The speaker was inspired by the injustice they witnessed and the potential they saw in young people. Drive Change’s mission is to turn red lights into green lights for youth returning from incarceration by providing opportunities through business, particularly using the food truck industry as a tool for learning and social change.

What does the speaker mean by ‘selling dreams’ when referring to teaching aspirations to students?

The speaker realized that encouraging students to pursue careers like architecture without addressing the systemic barriers they face (such as limited access to education and job opportunities post-incarceration) was unrealistic and akin to 'selling dreams' if those barriers weren’t being actively addressed.

How does Drive Change use the food truck industry for educational purposes?

Drive Change uses the food truck industry as a practical learning environment. Fellows work in the kitchen and on the food truck, gaining real-world skills while also receiving education in areas like social media marketing, money management, hospitality, and culinary arts.

What larger social issues does Drive Change aim to address through its business model?

Drive Change seeks to address mass incarceration, racial injustice, and the lack of opportunities for formerly incarcerated youth by providing them with skills, employment, and a community, while also advocating for systemic change and reinvesting in local economies.