Bed-Stuy Mural Shows Lifelong Challenge Of Having Criminal Record

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — No matter the number of months or years handed down from a judge, every prison sentence is a life sentence, a new campaign out of Brooklyn contends.

A mural added to Atlantic Avenue in Bed-Stuy over the weekend is part of the #EndPerpetualPunishment campaign to show the lifelong consequences of having a criminal record.

The obstacles to employment, housing, voting and education that those with a criminal record face after getting out of prison are particularly significant in the neighborhood, where 1,045 of every 100,000 adults 16 years or older have been incarcerated.

“As a native of Bed-Stuy, it was important to me that the first mural be near the neighborhood I grew up in,” the campaign's founder Michael "Zaki" Smith said. “Essentially every sentence is a life sentence. I hope these murals can raise awareness about a missing part of the national conversation on reforming our racist criminal justice system.”

(Jonnea Herman, The Century Foundation).

Smith — who works with the think tank Next100 — started the campaign after his own dream job was ripped away by one of the "collateral consequences of conviction" three years ago.

Formerly incarcerated individuals face 44,000 laws and regulations that limit or restrict their access to employment, housing, voting, education, and other rights, according to the organization.

In Smith's case, he had been working as a "Dream Director" for students at a high school in Newark for four years when a surprise letter from the state told him his criminal record meant he could no longer work in any New Jersey schools. Smith had been in and out of prison for 16 years as a young adult before turning his life around.

The campaign argues that collateral consequences like that are part of the reason formerly incarcerated people — disproportionately people of color — are often led back to a life of crime.They are 10 times more likely to be homeless and much more likely to be unemployed than the general population, according to a 2018 survey.

(Jonnea Herman, The Century Foundation).

It's an idea that is even familiar to Brooklyn's Borough President, Eric Adams.

"I would not be here today if my records were not sealed after my brother and I were arrested as young boys in South Jamaica, Queens," Adams said. "My entire career trajectory — from my time as the head of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, to serving as state senator, then as borough president — might not have been possible."

The Brooklyn mural, painted by artist Damien Mitchell, can be found at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Perry Place.

It is the first in a series for the campaign.