Khalil Osiris - Prisoner No More - Criminal to Counselor

As a chid, Khalil Osiris's most treasured gift was the
Encyclopedia Britannica set he kept at the end of his bed and
read cover to cover. Education was the highest priority in the
home of this self-described "happy-go-lucky" country boy. So,
it's not surprising that, at age 13, when the local chapter of
the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense opened in his rural
community, Khalil and his intellectually curious friends checked
it out. Khalil reflects, “There are things in our lives that
resonate so deeply with us that we can be dramatically impacted
by it to such an extent that our view of the world changes.” The
more he learned as a teenager, the angrier he became. Angry at
the system, angry at his teachers for singling him out as special
(token), angry at his parents for complying and angry at white
people who were unwilling to acknowledge anything at all was even
wrong. At 17, feeling entirely justified, Khalil robbed a
pharmacy and was sent to prison. He left 20 years later. But this
soft-spoken, erudite gentleman would not be defined by prior
choices. While incarcerated, Khalil received his Bachelors and
Masters from Boston University. Upon his release he founded the
Reflecting Freedom Network, dedicated to helping soon-to-be
released prisoners find work and employers find qualified
employees. His reentry program, Psychology of Incarceration, has
been used in over 70 prisons across America. Khalil moved to
South Africa, where he was selected to host the popular TV
show,  Each One, Teach One, which won the 2016 South African
Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for Best Factual Educational
Program. In 2020, he partnered with Nelson Mandelas's eldest
daughter on the groundbreaking, ongoing documentary project,
Truth  & Reconciliation Conversations, which builds on
Mandela’s vision of celebrating those taking action to better
their communities via brutally honest conversations about racial
justice (link above to share your own personal racism story).
Khalil speaks publicly on a range of urgent social and racial
justice issues, including Democracy and Restorative Justice,
Hiring Returning Citizens and the Psychology of 
Incarceration. 


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