Hello, this is Wife of a Lifer and today I have James Nelson "Prison Peacemaker" on the "Life of a Lifer". he comes and talks about all the positive programs he has been involved in, which sadly have been put on hold due to the pandemic.
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James describes himself as:
My name is James Drannon Nelson II. I'm currently incarcerated in Ohio at Ross Correctional Institution, serving a sentence for vehicular assault, failure to comply, but also waiting to be sentenced to life for aggravated murder. I have been incarcerated since 2016. I'm 41 years old and I have been in and out of the system since I was a kid 11 or 12 years old. A lot of childhood trauma. Broken Fatherless home, a mother addicted to drugs. I knew very young that my life was different from most kids I went to school with, and I started out acting out and rebelling against any kind of authority figure. I came in contact with mostly just running away and using drugs and trying to be accepted by the wrong crowd. I did a few years in juvie, then graduated to the adult system. I made my way into a Level three prison at 18 or 19 years old. Everything revolved around my addiction and my wanting to be accepted By the time I was 34 I had spent almost half my life incarcerated and I was being released from prison yet again, my fourth number for drug charges of some kind. And I felt deep down in my very core, I was done with that life. My irresponsibility left me in serious debt and a criminal history that almost certainly no employer would hire on and trust. I was really not ready for what society had in store for me. Because of my past behaviors and actions, I had made things too difficult from my maturity At that time to handle. I fell again victim to my own emotions and ended up involved in the worst possible crime ever facing the death sentence. It happened in an instant, and it has changed me forever. I was arrested and started this time in the state of New Mexico. I was there for 2.5 years before being extradited back here. I have spent my time doing all I can to reach out to the younger inmates and hope that I can reach them with my testimony and share what my life experience has been. I'm in a program block here called Going Home for Good and my position and role is a residential advisor and mentor. I am an inmate facilitator and facilitate several different programs, such as Conflict Resolution, TOPUCU which is an acronym for the Only Person U Cheat is U. The psychology of incarceration, forklift simulation training. And I started a spiritual awakening program for those who wanted to get in touch with their higher power. I was also a dog handler for a program called Elite Detection K9 on and did the basic dog training for puppies that go on and become dogs That search for explosives and guns. Covid has stopped everything As of now. There's nothing I could ever do to make up for the pain I caused but I refuse to add to it and cause anymore. I know that for the rest of my life, my purpose will be spent being a positive example to others instead of misleading them into negative ways to handle things, trying to be a peacemaker in an environment where violence is normal is not normal and a lot of times it gets you a target on your back, especially coming from someone that was involved in the prison gang, like for years and took it upon myself to cover up my gang tattoos and speak out against it. It leaves you dealing with serious problems. But I believe in order for others to take you seriously you have to lead by example and be serious....
