"I have seen that everyone, or the majority of the world, spoke for themselves. Then I looked closer and they seemed to have things in their ears - with the things on the phone. iPhone, they say, or something? And I thought in my mind, what, they all became CIA or agents and such? "
Otis Johnson was jailed in 1975 when he was just 25 years old and released last summer, 44 years later. After being removed from society for attempting to kill a police officer, he was released with only one ID, documents related to his case, two bus tickets and $ 40.
With no family or outside help, Johnson decided to explore the modern world on his own. Al-Jazeera English followed in 2015, Johnson in New York City as he re-entered a metropolis that was difficult to recognize and admire the signs, shops, food and technology that surrounded him.
He had a small box where he kept old, tattered photos of family members, but that was basically all the information he had in them.
"The only address I really have is Asbury Park," Otis said.
As soon as he arrived at the train station and started walking on the streets, little things were slowly returned to him for his old house: members of the extended family, friends, shops. He wanted to find his aunt, Dottie Moore, and some other family members. He said many would probably think he was dead.
He was a member of the Fruit of Islam (paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam, the Islamic religious movement once led by Malcom X) in his later years. The stated goals of the Nation of Islam were to improve the spiritual, mental, social and economic well-being of African Americans. Otis was a devout Muslim who said he helped "clear the streets" of drug dealers.
With the help of the Fortune Society, a nonprofit that provides housing and services to ex-prisoners in New York, Johnson can finally start a new life outside of prison.
"Everything happens for a reason, I believe. So I try to let go of that and deal with the future instead of dealing with the past. "