RLCC inmates form public speaking club

A prison inmate organization at Raymond Laborde Correctional Center hopes to improve its members’ ability to re-enter society by improving their communication skills.

The Making A Difference Everyday Making Education Necessary (MADE MEN) Gavel Club is modeled on the Toastmasters International public speaking club, but with a few adjustments to meet the inmates’ needs.

The group is in the process of becoming a recognized inmate club at RLCC, but members are still meeting and “very committed” to making the club successful, RLCC Administrative Director Jude Pitre said.

The acronym MADE MEN is a play on the Mafia term for someone who has been accepted as a full-fledged member of the “family.” However, in this use it reflects someone who is trying hard to distance himself from previous criminal associations and activities.

Pitre said the club’s 25 members are given an opportunity to speak in public at functions at the prison, but also work on other communication-related skills.

“It is about more than just public speaking,” Pitre said. “They learn job interview skills and how to speak properly in different situations.”

RLCC vocational instructor Scott Lee is the club sponsor.

“What they learn in the Gavel Club will help them in here and when they get out,” Pitre added.

The organization recently began what it calls a “gratitude project” to show appreciation for those organizations working on meaningful prison reform.

MADE MEN President Jirrico McKee said some of the club members decided to do more than just talk about their appreciation to groups working to pass “smart-on-crime” and prison reform legislation.

“Seeing other people fight so passionately for our liberation gives us, as prisoners, a sense of gratitude that we are really unable to express completely,” McKee said.

Club members Corey Francois and Hubert Antoine came up with the idea of each club member writing a letter to organizations such as Justice Reinvestment Task Force and CURE.

“Many of the organizations we wrote to were established by ex-prisoners who transformed themselves in prison and then successfully re-entered society,” McKee said. “In acknowledging their efforts, we also wanted to let them know that we are transforming ourselves as well, so that upon release we can become positive forces in whatever spaces we occupy.”

McKee said MADE MEN is about more than public speaking and improving its members’ communication skills. It also emphasizes personal discipline, accountability and responsibility.

Pitre said a positive aspect of the club is having older prisoners “serve as mentors to the younger ones, teaching them the value of developing their communication skills and helping them become more ready to re-enter society when they are released.”