New York State Literary Center

What Do We Do Next

Monroe Correctional Facility

2013

Dale Davis, Founder and Executive Director of NYSLC, adapted the writing of adult males incarcerated at Monroe Correctional Facility with whom she worked at Monroe County Jail in 2013 to create What Do We Do Next

INTRODUCTION TO WHAT DO WE DO NEXT

I just want to ask a question

Who really cares?

To save a world in despair

Who really cares?

There'll come a time, when the world won't be singing

Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringing

Who really cares?

Who's willing to try to save a world

That's destined to die

When I look at the world it fills me with sorrow

Little children today are really going to suffer

Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson and Marvin Gaye, “Save The Children.”

What Do We Do looks from “Save The Children” in 1971 to 2013, from when there was no internet, no email, the personal computer was not yet introduced, Grandmaster Flash had not begun working on a new technique for DJing, before two all-beef patties on a sesame seed bun at McDonalds, before the pop-top can, before Russell Simmons, before Star Wars, before SugarHill Records and asks:

Who really cares?

What do we do next?

Dale Davis