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How radical hospitality can change the lives of the formerly incarcerated

1,723,431 views |

Reuben Jonathan Miller |

TED Salon: American Family Insurance

• November 2021

For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn't end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who've lived it, left it and still have to grapple with punishing policies after their release. A challenge to rethink the criminal justice system in the US -- and make a place in society for all people, even those who've done harm.

For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn't end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who've lived it, left it and still have to grapple with punishing policies after their release. A challenge to rethink the criminal justice system in the US -- and make a place in society for all people, even those who've done harm.

This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with American Family Insurance. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TED Salons.

Donate to A New Way of Life Reentry Project, an organization supporting women from the day they return home from prison until they get back on their feet.

Donate to JustLeadershipUSA, an organization building the capacity of formerly incarcerated leaders throughout the US to bring about change.

Donate to the Detroit Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm working alongside communities to create economic opportunities, transform the justice system and promote equitable and just cities.

Donate to The Decarceration Collective, a woman-founded and woman-led law firm that represents people serving life and virtual life sentences for federal drug crimes, and advocates for change in federal drug policy.

About the speaker

Reuben Jonathan Miller

Reuben Jonathan Miller

Sociologist, writer

See speaker profile

Reuben Jonathan Miller is a sociologist, criminologist and social worker whose work centers on race, democracy and the social life of the city.

Reuben Jonathan Miller | Little Brown and Company, 2021 | Book

Halfway Home: Race, Punishment and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration

I wrote this book after spending 15 years with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, their families and friends. This included my brother who was incarcerated and released while I was writing. The book represents the culmination of my work, but above all, I tried to bring the reader into the lives and emotional worlds of people we've learned to be afraid of while focusing on what their incarceration means for the state of our democracy.

Michael Walker | Oxford University Press, 2022 | Book

Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail

This is the best book I've read on what it means to do time. Michael Walker, a sociologist, finds himself locked away and writes, with the skill of a novelists, about the challenges you must confront when you're held in a cage and what our dependence on mass incarceration says about the state of our nation.

Megan Comfort | University of Chicago Press, 2008 | Book

Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison

This is a slim, beautifully written, deeply researched and soulful book that shaped, profoundly, how I understand family life in the age of mass incarceration.

Eve Ewing | Haymarket Books, 2019 | Book

This beautiful book of poems uncovers the racial tensions that led to the "bloody summer" of 1919, the series of race riots that shaped our nation. Ewing takes us into the before, during and after of the riot in Chicago without flinching or losing hope. My favorite poem in the collection (and one of my favorite poems all time) finds Emmet Till, now an elder, shopping at a grocery store.

Susan Burton and Cari Lynn | The New Press, 2018 | Book

Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women

Susan Burton is a national treasure. This memoir charts her journey from incarceration to becoming the force she is for justice in our nation.

David Leonhardt and Kevin Quely | New York Times, 2016 | Article

"1.5 Million Missing Black Men"

This important article examines what it means for our communities to have "lost" so many black men to death and incarceration.

Fresh Air | NPR, 2021 | Listen

"The Afterlife of Mass Incarceration"

I had the opportunity to chat with Terry Gross about my work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. I was deeply moved by her questions and won't soon forget our time together.

Learn more

About TED Salon

TED Salons welcome an intimate audience for an afternoon or evening of highly-curated TED Talks revolving around a globally relevant theme. A condensed version of a TED flagship conference, they are distinct in their brevity, opportunities for conversation, and heightened interaction between the speaker and audience.

Read more about TED Salons

This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with American Family Insurance. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TED Salons.

Donate to A New Way of Life Reentry Project, an organization supporting women from the day they return home from prison until they get back on their feet.

Donate to JustLeadershipUSA, an organization building the capacity of formerly incarcerated leaders throughout the US to bring about change.

Donate to the Detroit Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm working alongside communities to create economic opportunities, transform the justice system and promote equitable and just cities.

Donate to The Decarceration Collective, a woman-founded and woman-led law firm that represents people serving life and virtual life sentences for federal drug crimes, and advocates for change in federal drug policy.