Velocity - Magazine - Page 14
SANDERS TURNS PRISON
SENTENCE INTO LIFE LESSONS
by Damon Bennett
Ricky Sanders sits with a small group of men in a workroom at
the Center for People every Sunday. He walks these men through
one of seven principles: Maturity, Accountability, Nobility, Honesty,
Organization, Opportunity, and Discipline.
“
I want to use it as a turnaround point
to show that transformation to other
people that come behind me.
The acronym spells MANHOOD, the class started by Sanders
while he was incarcerated. He plans to take the class outside,
to juveniles.
“I decided to start the class I want to implement when
I get out with juveniles because a lot of them don’t have
fathers anymore,” Sanders said. “That’s a major thing in
my community, so I want to be able to exemplify manhood,
have those conversations about maturity, accountability,
and discipline.”
Sanders plans to graduate in December with his Associate of
Applied Science in Electronic Systems Technology. During his
incarceration he completed two classes, and he took
three more classes on work release at the Center for People.
“Now I can have the confidence that I can get a good job.
You know, despite my felony, I can show what I’m doing on the
other end, and how I changed,” Sanders said.
Sanders was serving a 15-year sentence at the Nebraska
”
MANHOOD represents the values Sanders believes every
man should have. Everything he talks about in the group
comes from his own experience, where he put himself in a
situation that brought him to where he is today.
“I could blame the community, I can blame all type
of things,” Sanders said. “But at the end of the day, it
was because I made poor choices. That’s what led me to
that situation.”
In addition to his nonprofit idea, Sanders is also
publishing a book for young people that shares
transformational stories of men who are incarcerated.
“I don’t see this as only an opportunity to get my
degree,” Sanders said. “I want to use it as a turnaround
point to show that transformation to other people that
come behind me. I want to try to educate at-risk juveniles
to stay focused, and that this is what life is about, not the
other things.”
State Penitentiary when he found out about the UPWARD
program. He was active in multiple self-betterment programs
throughout his sentence, and when UPWARD Dean Amy Doty
hosted an orientation at the prison, Sanders took advantage of
the opportunity.
The Students
Served
“The UPWARD program introduced me to everything,”
Sanders said. “I met some people who aren’t judgmental, who
are supportive, so it’s been helpful.”
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