Jason's Story

In episode 4 of Hiding in Plain Sight: The Neighbors You Never Hear From, Host Tia Ryans speaks with Jason Conway, who explains with a proud veteran who gave a vivid description of the parallels between his time serving in the military and his sentence in New Jersey’s state prison.

Jason D. Conway is currently enrolled in the M.P.A. program at Rutgers University-Newark School of Policy and Public Administration. He received his Associate's of Arts for Mercer County College and Bachelors from Rutgers- Newark. Jason is a proud student of New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) initiative; an association of higher education institutions in New Jersey that provide college courses inside correctional facilities.

Jason supports his community by actively participating in several social justice and criminal justice reform organizations and spaces such as the Brick City Alliance, All of Us or None-Northern NJ, Newark City Street Team,  and Transformative Justice Initiative.

When asked about navigating his reentry experience Jason states that he is simply “trying to navigate the spaces provided to me with an open mind and positive thought.”

The New Jim Crow, By Michelle Alexander

The Body Keeps the Score, By Bessel van der Kolk

The Power Broker, By Robert Caro

To support the continued work of NJ F.O.R.T.E House and learn more about the organization, visit: njfortehouse.org
Get involved: All of us or None-Northern NJ

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Neighbors You Never Hear From is produced by Tia Ryans, Brit Harley, and Dionysus Augus.

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This series is part of the Newark News, and Story Collaborative made possible with funding support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Victoria Foundation. The Newark News and Story Collaborative is committed to elevating community-driven storytelling to fill information gaps in local and national media. The Collaborative trains community members in storytelling, media-making, and other creative art forms to share and amplify their experiences. It’s laying the groundwork for a collaborative network that will address longstanding information inequities in Newark, New Jersey. For more information and to hear local stories, visit newarkstories.com.