Photo by Mireya Acierto/WireImage
MC Hammer is paying it forward and giving Indiana women hope for life after prison! The rapper helped implement a computer coding class at the Indiana Women’s Prison. The 3-time-Grammy-winner launched the program with Gov. Eric Holcomb to give incarcerated women the chance to learn how to code and potentially land jobs in the tech field once they are released!
In 2013 Almost 40 percent of the inmates released from the Indiana Department of Corrections landed right back into imprisonment in three years or less according to Indy Star. Additionally, one year after they are released 75 percent of inmates still struggle to find work and are left unemployed.
“When you get properly trained and then you also learn to adapt to culture, the culture in tech, there’s a strong chance that you won’t return to being a person who’s incarcerated,” The U Can’t Touch This artist said to CBS 4 Indiana.
Although the hip hop artist is an Oakland, California native, he serves on the board of The Last Mile program and believes in it’s mission to educate imprisoned women, and to give them a second chance at life. Last year Google gave a $1 million grant to the Hidden Genius Project in Oakland to educate black men in technology and coding and also invested $11.5 million in new grants to organizations across the country working to reform the criminal justice system.
We’re glad to see these life-changing programs that will definitely result in more inclusion in the tech field!
TELL US: Do you think the program will be effective? Let us know!
Like TV One on Facebook and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
