Beauty in the Struggle

San Quentin Letter

Dearest Shakespeareans and friends,

Where to begin…I left last Sunday feeling very perplexed. I came into that situation curious and left even more curious. During our workshop, I forgot that I was conversing with men who were in prison, because that is not the way my…

A change of heart…

San Quentin was more than an amazing experience. Inspirational, informative, hopeful are just a few words that can explain the experience I had. Initially I was very apprehensive about going, I almost did not go but there was something telling me to go and maybe I could change lives.

The San Quentin Experience

Last Sunday I had the unique oppoortunity to do a Shakespeare workshop with inmates inside of San Quentin prison. Before going in I really had no idea what the experience would be like other than that it would be similar to the Theatre of the Oppressed workshop we had done earlier…

San Quentin’s Message: Love

Initially I was a little uneasy going into San Quentin, not because I was afraid, but it was more so that I didn’t want to seem disrespectful. To me it felt like a human exhibit, and I honestly felt a little pretentious going in just because we were kind of going in as a group of…

Nothing but Positivity

When I first entered the premises of San Quentin, i was primarily nervous. Although it didnt show, my fears on the inside were killing me. Once we started walking through the yard, i started thinking about all of the movies about prisons and all of the tv shows. All of these stereotypes…

I See Hope in the Men at San Quentin !

I want to acknowledge everyone that made this experience happen. It was one of the most significant and most challenging opportunities I have had. My initial feeling for the trip was excitement and curiosity, but it changed by the end of the journey to feeling…

Education vs. Prison in the US

We define criminals as terrible, inhuman and evil but what are the stories behind that mask? The story of Kid CAT members showed that their life was ruin because of their childhood (something they have no control over) and the social structure (that we expect them to end up…

Equal opportunities for all

“In Chicago (as in other cities in the United States) young black men are more likely to go to prison than college.” This shouldn’t be the case in America. Another stat showed that in Illinois, 20,000 more black men were in prison than enrolled in college. A big root cause is the…