What? What struck you/stood out for you the most about this documentary, particularly in the way that the students express the ways in which education is the practice of freedom?

A few ideas that stood out:

• The importance of creating an education that is meaningful to students. Max Kenner, the Founder and Executive Director of BPI, stated that “[Most students] will be sent back to the communities from which they came, and will engage with their families and those communities, and they will be better at that when they’re educated in a way that is meaningful to them.” I noticed how important the Senior Project was to this, and was fascinated by the topics the students chose. So many were social-justice oriented, or, if not, they were just plain fascinating. This aspect of choice, and ability to study what is interesting to each student on a personal level, is so important in creating an education that is meaningful to students. Otherwise, they’re all slotted through the same path—and that never works.
• Really strong statements about what a good education (and one that fosters critical consciousness) can be. Among the many, two stood out in particular:

“The professor isn’t telling us if we’re right or if we’re wrong, she’s leaving it up to us… That’s even more of a challenge because now I’m questioning my own self.” — Tamika Graham

“I believe that a good education makes a person respectful, but challenging of authority. It builds a person with a sense of independence.” — Bard President, Leon Botstein

• Education as a tool for combating the invasiveness of prison. Dyjuan Tatro talks about how prison is very invasive, how “it can get inside of you,” but states that school is one of the means he uses to keep it out, to temporarily escape that invasiveness. The invasiveness of prison was a theme throughout all the episodes. When Jule Hall got out and had a room to himself at his aunt’s house, he noted how incredible it was to be in a room where he no longer had to worry about a guard shining a bright light in at any time. This really solidified how me how education, inside prisons, can serve as both a tool for radical self-transformation and transformation of one’s situation, and also as a refuge, or even as a way to cope with the situation. In the last episode, one of the graduating students stated that, “Inside the walls of the classroom, you escape the walls of the cell. And you become an individual again.”
• Sincerity. Sincere gratitude for education, sincere excitement over getting to write a Senior Project, learn a language, speak up in class. Giovannie Hernandez said, “A friend forced me to apply to this program, which was probably the kindest, most loving thing anyone has ever done for me.” And his smile, in that moment, was one of the purest things in the world.

So What? Describe connections between this documentary and the stories, perspective, and information that Miguel and Ke shared with you about their experience and current motivations?

In one segment, a few BPI students were gathered around a table, and Dyjuan was talking about his transformation as a person throughout the past few years. He said, though, about the growth he has made: “At no time do I wanna be some kind of poster boy for, like, ‘Look what prison can do for you.’”

Giovannie replied, “You framed it as you don’t want to be an example of what prison can do for you. But it’s not what prison is doing for you. This is what education is doing for you.”

I think this is a very important distinction, and something to remember as we listen to stories from people who have been in prison. I was thinking about this when we were talking with Ke and Miguel. Both of them went to San Quentin and experienced (for true lack of a better word) an “exceptional” prison. I love stories of people who were able to use their time behind bars to reassess, reflect, and transform. But at the same time, I worry that these types of stories are starting to make me think of prison as a transformative place. It is not — in fact, it is quite the opposite.

There are two things at play here:

1. I need to remember that we are hearing from Ke and Miguel because they work in activism and are vocal about their experiences. I think we, as listeners, are more likely to hear from people like Ke and Miguel — people who went through prisons that had educational opportunities and a culture of reflection — because they are more likely to come out and want to talk about what they went through. I need to keep in mind that their experiences are not the norm but the exception.Very few prisons have programs. Very few have educational opportunities. That’s the norm.
2. Ke and Miguel, and many of the people featured in College Beyond Bars have good things to say about the transformation they went through in prison. But they did that work — not the prisons. The education did that — not the prisons. The prisons did the opposite of that. Prisons are life-threatening places. Prisons, as Ke said, are trauma. Many of those who are incarcerated, in Ke’s words, “come out worse than when they came in.” Against all this, it’s a struggle to make transformation happen.

Now What? Pick one of the organizations below (or find your own) that are founded or co-founded by formerly incarcerated people.

The Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) is an organization based in San Francisco.

From their website:

“TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people — inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers — creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.

We work in collaboration with others to forge a culture of resistance and resilience to strengthen us for the fight against human rights abuses, imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and societal pressures. We seek to create a world rooted in self- determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice.”

They also note on their website that their members are “low income transgender women of color and our families who are in prison, formerly incarcerated, or targeted by the police,” and I was able to read about their executive director, Janetta Johnson, who is a formerly incarcerated Black trans woman who has been an activist and advocate in transgender communities for 20+ years. I can’t find any information on other staff staff members, and whether or not they are trans and/or have been incarcerated themselves. However, I do know that TGIJP is a member of the national organization, Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People & Families Movement, so I think that speaks for itself.

Their website has so many resources on it: resources written by formerly incarcerated trans women about surviving prison as a trans woman; resources for trans people on how to navigate the parole process; resources for cis people on how to advocate and show up for trans people as they navigate prison, the parole process, the court system; and so on. TGIJP facilitates contact between advocates and staff outside prisons and members inside prisons. They have a grassroots re-entry program, a visitation team, and they organize advocate support. Twice a year, they send copies of their artfully-crafted newsletter/magazine, Stiletto, to over 2,000 TGI people inside prisons, jails, and detention centers and hundreds more copies to ally organizations and supporters across the country.

Right now, they’re raising money to provide housing, food, money, and hygiene supplies to trans and gender non-conforming people being released from San Francisco jails and prisons. They created a sign up sheet for Transgender, Gender-Variant, and Intersex Mutual Aid Network volunteers, and are now facilitating this program. Volunteers help deliver groceries and supplies to elders and others who cannot do their own shopping during the crisis.