Inspirational messages on mental freedom from incarceration
Dr. Tiffany Love Rawlings, founder of ‘Beauty Behind Bars,’ brought her unique message of positivity and perseverance to three classes of Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment students in the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center gym.
The goal of Beauty Behind Bars is to encourage people to free themselves from mental incarceration and self-imprisonment, according to Love Rawlings, whose aim is “teaching people to be free while incarcerated, to give hope to the incarcerated.”
Resident Bill Sanders discussed how inspired he was by the event and the conversations.
“The stories were good. They were inspiring. The story of Clemmie G. was amazing given the fact that she had been through so much, was uneducated, and still overcame adversity to give back,” said Sanders.
Rawlings, who also visited SQ in 2017 and 2019, brought her husband Dr. Dennis Rawlings and several representatives of the Go Foundation to the event. These representatives included Clemmie ‘G. from Tennessee’ Greenlee, former law enforcement officer Michael Brown, and Project Pat and Big Kountry Nate from the Three-Six Mafia.
“If you can do life for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, then why can’t you do life for you and/or your family,” Love Rawlings challenged attendees as she shared her own life story.
After enduring a childhood filled with spousal abuse, Love Rawlings attended East Tennessee State University on a track scholarship and married a man twenty years her senior. The relationship was abusive, and she described her state of mind locked in the prison of her own mind.
After that experience, Love Rawlings wrote a book on how to free oneself from the shackles of the mind. She then learned social work to help free her incarcerated brother. While she was successful, he died from stage-four leukemia two years after being released.
Resident Mike Thompson talked about how inspired he was after hearing Love Rawlings say “A made up bed, is a made up mind.” Since then he has made sure to make his bed every day.
“There was no ah-ha moment. It was all very common sense stuff, which is not as common as it should be.”
The Go Foundation was started during the pandemic, with members handing out books in the streets. Now, the foundation visits prisons, bringing a message of hope. Co-Founder Michael Brown spoke about the power of a positive mentality, describing the power of mental focus and perseverance.
“If you can think it,” claimed Brown, “You can have it.”
Big Kountry Nate of Three Six Mafia, also representing the Go Foundation, shared his own perspective as a formerly incarcerated person.
“Think before you do, listen and learn from a lot of people that’s been through these problems and situations,” he said. “There’s more people inside now that can make a difference on the outside but they won’t let them out because they too powerful to be out there.”
