Abigails October Meeting - Successful Prison Reintegration

Maxine Bryant, Ph.D. will present Successful Prison Reintegration: Why is it so difficult, Particularly for Black Americans?                

From African Kingdoms to Crime Free Housing in Savannah, this presentation will briefly cover the historic journey of Africans in the Americas and the culture they created.  Often their culture clashed with systems in the New World – particularly the new order of police or slave patrol.  In spite of extreme obstacles, the Africans in America formed a unique culture – Gullah Geechee as they’ve come to be known in Coastal Georgia.  This culture of Blacks in America continues to clash with the European power structure in the US.  Evidence of this clash is particularly demonstrated in the criminal justice system:  arrests, convictions, incarceration, reintegration, and recidivism. The goal of this presentation is to help audience members to better understand the ‘why’ behind the present state of our criminal justice system, specifically reintegration of formerly incarcerated persons.

Dr. Maxine Bryant holds a BS from Ball State  University, a MA from Saginaw Valley State  University, and a Ph.D. in Human Services from  Walden University. All of her degrees have a concentration in Criminal Justice & Corrections.

Dr. Bryant is currently an Assistant Professor in Georgia Southern’s Criminal Justice and Criminology Department. Additionally, she is the Director of the Gullah Geechee Center and the Center for Africana Studies.  She is a published author and has received numerous recognitions and honors over the years. In 1994 she was recognized as one of America’s 2000 Notable Women, in 1998 she was listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in the Midwest and in the International Who’s Who of Professionals, and in 2022 the Georgia Associated Press awarded her for her journalism work that shed light on the local Gullah Geechee community.