My name is Jazsmine Joseph and I am a 36 year old single mother of two whose (1) mistake lead me to prison. Growing up my life wasn’t all peaches and cream but it wasn’t bad. Like most, I grew up with My mothers bestfriends parents because my mother didn’t have the support she needed to take care of me while she was in college. I Learned what god was like from those people. They not only spoke about the goodness of god, they walked it everyday. Have I been molested? Yes. Has my father or children’s father been absent in my/our lives causing much agony and pain? Yes. But honestly the struggles in my life has helped to breed the person I am coming to be.
I lived in fear up until April 8,2025,(shocking)I feared SUCCESS, but not failure. Confusing isn’t it. Not to me. See while being incarcerated, I have come to know who I really am. I now understand the plot with LOT and his wife. Jonah and the whale, the Samaritan women and JOB. (I) in accordance with the Samaritan women: My lively hood wasn’t what society may have wanted to see. I didn’t live by their merits, according to their rules and regulations. I wasn’t educated the way I Was supposed to be in their eyes and I was pretty much a disgrace to the public if my life was measured in latitude of success or their Moral and Ethical standards.. I am a black female lesbian and now I have a sex offense(sex-trafficking), all things shunned upon by society and my direct community.
However through my struggles I have been blessed with the gift to deliver the good news to the people. Although society and my community may have had pitch forks for me, and came out to shun me and/or throw dirt on my name, They came. And when They came, they received a blessing. Like Job I lost things, but those things that I’ve lost were only material things that I can get back through faith. However I Was gifted a mindset that has helped to reprogram the mindsets of many incarcerated women, staff and etc……..and a good heart that like Jonah has learned compassion for people that not just look like me, but struggle in life more than me, So even though I lost somethings, I didn’t lose anything because the most valuable things to have in this life is: an open-mind and a good heart.
I realized on 4/8/25, that I was bitter because I wasn’t living up to my fullest potential. I was bitter because I feared success in life . I was bitter because I refused to let go of the things that happened to me and Because I stayed in my own way.
However on 4/9/2025, I can tell you that I no longer fear success give all credit to the conversation that I had with my Bunkie Lafonda Lee and Jasmine Johnson where I told them that my biggest fear was success because I didn’t know where to go after I have/had obtained and or achieved my success. I also told them that I felt like it would be my time to die. And Jasmine Johnson said that it is actually the opposite, you have to live. I didn’t agree because my mind was unilateral to the concept. I wasn’t picking up what she was putting down. However the holy spirit or for most my self-conscious sent me to buy the movie(Soul) which came on our tablets ironically the same day of our conversation on 4/8/2025 while sitting in my cell. This simple movie taught me how to overcome my fear of success. It showed me what to do once I’ve achieved my success and that is to not only help others but to live which most of us forget to do. Now I am proud to say that in 2018 I created a program for the female population which was coded in 2023 by warden Neely at FCI Aliceville and with the help Of Ms.. Knopp who was the officer facilitator of the program, I was able to bring much needed information to women.
I Jazsmine Joseph am the Founder,Creator, Cultivation and Reformatory specialist for The “WOMEN’S REFORM 2 SUCCESS PROGRAM”, This program helps to articulate a clear vision of success for the female population both inside and outside of prison. My goal is to Increase knowledge and motivation while helping to change unilateral perceptions within my target audience.
Today I can say that I can stand by those words because I no longer fear what was gifted to me. “SUCCESS”, Success is not just money, Success is not just successful friends or associates, Success is the gifts stored within me that I bring to the table to help others live. Success Is economic growth through vigilance, courage, determination and struggles. Success is humanitarianism and worth wild opportunities. AND SUCCESS IS ME. No longer do I look at why I’m here in prison as a burden. I look at it as a gift. I have learned to transition my crime into a plan for success. The government called me a Pimp, and now I can see that term in a whole new light. No longer am I violating the rights of women I am upholding them. And no longer am I “Pimping” them, I am (P)OSITIVELY, (I)MPLEMENTINTING, (M)OTIFIED,(P)ROGRAMMING= FOR THE FEMALE POPULATION to increase their humanistic value in society via (E)ducation, (I)nformation and (M)otivation to help with economic growth.
AS OF TODAY, I choose not to dwell on my past. There could be a lot of things that I could tell you about my life to draw sympathy but I’m not. I’m only going to tell you where I’m going. Yesterdays issues don’t define me. What I choose to let live in me does. Since being incarcerated and finding my truth, I have made it to places I have never been before, I have climbed a mountain and told it to move, And I have conquered the biggest hurdle standing in my way (My self). Today I choose to live successfully and with your help and support I can continue to do this. Just know that my mistake does not define me and once you take interest in the caliber of person that I am, You will have no doubts in your mind about taking a chance on me and You will see that I am WORTH IT.
Thanks to all readers
Be Blessed
