Out of Solitary

Ryan Speedo Green’s star is on the rise. The 30-year-old winner of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, currently performing in the Met’s production of La Boheme, is an unlikely break-out bass baritone, not least because he served several stints in solitary confinement when he was age 12.  As described in the new book by Daniel Bergner about Green’s trajectory, Sing for your Life, Green was an angry African American boy in Virginia, surrounded by violence, when he was sent to juvenile detention.  Because of his infractions, he spent much of his time in a solitary cell.  After his release, he doubled down on trying to find his way through involvement in football and Latin Club, then gradually came to realize his deep interest in music and performing and — in an incredible success story — is now a member of the Vienna State Opera.

Interestingly, Green attributes his success not to his time in solitary, which drove him to despair, but to the interventions of special mentors and teachers — the teacher who used Martin Luther King Jr.‘s speeches to teach Green about his own worth and potential; the vocal coach who focused on developing Green’s voice while drilling down to improve his diction; the aide at the detention center who noticed and supported him in small ways.

On December 5, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have imposed modest but important curbs on the use of solitary confinement. including restrictions on such incarceration of young inmates under age 21.  Christie defended his actions arguing that the criminal justice system needs flexibility to impose extreme sanctions, despite evidence that solitary confinement simply serves to undermine prisoners’ mental health, rather than teach them a lesson.

Having reached the rarified heights of grand opera, Ryan Speedo Green is one-of-a-kind — but his story has lessons for policymakers like Christie.  As Green found, simple recognition of his humanity did more to heal him than multiple stints in solitary confinement.