Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover
Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and mental health. These stories were funded by Staunton Farm Foundation and The Grable Foundation. You can read other essays from inside of the juvenile justice system here and here.
Over 20 juveniles are incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail under Pennsylvania’s Act 33, a law which mandates that children as young as age 14 are charged as adults for certain crimes considered to be serious by lawmakers. Read our investigation into ACT 33 cases and juveniles at the Allegheny County Jail here.
Many incarcerated people report that being unable to help and lend emotional support to friends and family contributed to feelings of deep isolation. This disconnection from community is one of the most difficult aspects of life for them.
The following are correspondence between Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover, a young man who is incarcerated. Bennett and Glover met when Bennett was teaching creative writing in the Allegheny County Jail. Glover was a juvenile at the time, housed at the ACJ. They have maintained correspondence now that Glover is an adult and is housed in a Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution.
This is the third part of a three-part series. Read the first installment here and the second installment here.
Part 3
01/22/24
Hey Mr. Mike,
I’m sorry I didn’t respond back. I ended up going to the hole for two weeks. It was for something stupid, refusing a direct order, but guess what happened? The parole granted me parole but took it away from me because I went to the hole. I was supposed to leave on the 28th of this month but now I have to see them again in June. My parole agent told me keep my nose clean and I should still leave in July and go back to the feds. But this is another example of what it’s like, I will be doing so good and something bad happens out of nowhere. I just can’t catch a break. A lot of my problems be my doing. I was getting comfortable in here and when you do that you start moving stupid and I needed this reality check.
During my time in the hole I read “Writing My Wrongs” and the other book you sent me about the kid who did 8 years for carjacking. I felt like they were speaking to my soul. It’s like they felt my pain that we endure in here every day. And just to see them stay down until they come up is inspiring.
Far as role models, I really don’t have none because a lot of older dudes in here be manipulative. They have hidden agendas. So I stay to myself. I have a few dudes around my age I’m cool with. I do plan on having my mom and boy pick me up from whatever jail I get released from and I want a home cooked meal. Greens, chicken, macaroni, buffalo chicken dip, ribs, turkey, pizza.
The craziest support I have that shocked me is my cousin. We barely spoke when I was home because we were in two different worlds. He was working, going to school, while I was in the streets. But when I came to jail he reached out and when my best friend died last January he really stepped up to the plate. Far as my son, we barely speak because his mom has a new boyfriend and baby and she’s trying to ex me out of my son’s life. So the only time we speak is when she decides to drop him off at my grandma’s house. She’s mad I don’t want to be with her so she uses my son as a way to get to me.
Far as holidays in here, we treat them like it’s another day. Especially if you been doing time like me. I missed my 17th, 18th, came to jail 5 days after my 19th, missed my 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th birth days. So it’s just another day. Hopefully I’m home by my 29th because this parole denial sets me back.
This is a great thing you’re doing Mr. Mike. I feel like you’re the only person other than my mom I can really vent to without having to be so hard all the time. Because in this environment sadness is considered as a weakness.
The younger guys need to know about the other half of the streets because society makes it so cool to be a thug. But nobody tells the other side of it. Childhood friends dying, becoming enemies, people you love abandoning you in. In a cell starving, only getting three meals of dog food, being told what you can do. I just hope my story can reach one youngin and tell them the grass ain’t greener on the other side of them streets. And this coming from someone who slept, ate, breathed the streets. I’m still paying for my work in them streets.
Your Favorite Young Convict,
Denzel
Michael Bennett (he/him) is a writer and educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Chatham University. He teaches young writers at Pittsburgh’s Creative and Performing Arts High School, and facilitates workshops with incarcerated writers at the Allegheny County Jail through Write Pittsburgh. Michael’s work has appeared in The Normal School, JMWW, Sport Literate, and elsewhere.