Emerson College Library: Teach-in on Race 2023: Session 4: Education Behind the Wall

Session 4: Education Behind the Wall: Teaching About Race and Racism Inside Prison

Friday, February 17, 11:30am-12:30pm

If racial retrenchment and an antidemocratic backlash make it challenging to teach truthfully about entrenched white supremacy and structural inequality in the academy, how much more challenging is it to teach these important issues inside a carceral context? How much more vital and necessary is it to do so?

Wendy Walters, Professor, Emerson College
Yasser Munif, Associate Professor, Emerson College
Cara Moyer-Duncan, Associate Professor, Emerson College, and Acting Emerson Prison Initiative Director

Moderator

Kim McLarin, Interim Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor of Creative Writing, Emerson College

Location

SPC Black Box, Little Building - Lower Level
80 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116

Spark Prompts

Spark Prompts are a tool to generate curiosity and interest in this year's Teach-In on Race sessions. The presenters have generated the following prompts as a way to spark dialogue while also inviting attendees to deepen their learning by reflecting on the sessions themselves.

Spark Prompt(s)

Who should have access to higher education in America?
What role does broad access to higher education play in the life of a society?
How do we, as individual citizens and as part of larger communities such as Emerson, intervene in and interrupt structural inequities in education?

Resources related to Panel 6: Education Behind the Wall: Teaching About Race and Racism Inside Prison

Education Behind the Wall by Mneesha Gellman (Editor)
An edited volume reflecting on different aspects of teaching in prison and different points of view. This book seeks to address some of the major issues faced by faculty who are teaching college classes for incarcerated students. Composed of a series of case studies meant to showcase the strengths and challenges of teaching a range of different disciplines in prison, this volume brings together scholars who articulate some of the best practices for teaching their expertise inside alongside honest reflections on the reality of educational implementation in a constrained environment.
College Behind Bars by PBS
Call Number: streaming video
Publication Date: 2019
Four part documentary directed by Lynn Novick
Race, Education and Reintegrating Formerly incarcerated Citizens
This book combines scholarly research with real-life testimonials to explore the nexus of Critical Race Theory and education. It offers a serious and responsible analysis of how racial practices in America impact the effectiveness of education as a reentry tool to reverse recidivism and mass incarceration.
The New Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness
A tenth-anniversary edition of the iconic bestseller'"one of the most influential books of the 20 years," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education' with a new preface by the author Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander's unforgettable argument that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it."
College in Prison
This book tells the story of the Bard Prison Initiative-a unique example of academic excellence achieved inside high-security prisons across New York State. The rigor of how students learn, and the careers they go on to pursue once released, force us to rethink our beliefs about who is in prison, reimagine the way forward out of mass incarceration, and renew our faith in the relevance of liberal learning.
Higher Education Accessibility Behind and Beyond Prison Walls
This book explores theoretical frameworks, best practices, and the latest pedagogical techniques in the area of higher education for those currently behind bars or attempting to gain a college degree post-incarceration.

Life inside: Finding College by Way of Prison
by Marcus Lilly, from The Marshall Project
College behind bars. Part one, "Nobody ever taught me any of that"
Incarcerated men and women at Eastern and Taconic Correctional facilities are admitted to the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). When classes begin, they discover they must meet the same high standards as students on Bard College main campus.
College behind bars. Part two, "I'm trying to get home to my family, too"
Students address the difficult circumstances of their past. The debate team prepares to face the University of Vermont. Some make strides academically, as others are sent to the Special Housing Unit, SHU, jeopardizing their education.
College behind bars. Part three, "Every single word matters"
The debate team faces West Point. Seniors embark on their thesis projects. Rodney and Dyjuan's families visit, while Tamara receives terrible news from home. Shawta reckons with her path to prison and Jule struggles to find work in NYC.
College behind bars. Part four, "Home is a work in progress"
The debate team faces Harvard. Seniors complete their 100-paged thesis projects. Giovannie is sent to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) and might not finish his project. Students at Taconic and Eastern receive their degrees at graduation.

Criminal Justice System Statistics

Every Second
This new research from FWD.us and Cornell University examines the important but often overlooked aspects of over-incarceration in America, and how its impact extends beyond the prison walls on to the families on the other side.
Massachusetts Department of Corrections
Various reports which include statistics, frequently asked questions, and data regarding the Massachusetts Department of Correction's prison population.

Related Resources and Further Reflections

Golden Gulag by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Since 1980, the number of people in U.S. prisons has increased more than 450%. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called "the biggest prison building project in the history of the world." Golden Gulag provides the first detailed explanation for that buildup by looking at how political and economic forces, ranging from global to local, conjoined to produce the prison boom.
Abolition. Feminism. Now by Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie
Feminist organizing by marginalized populations such as queer, anticapitalist, and non-white women, has pushed for abolition as a response to forms of state and interpersonal gender and sexual violence, but have largely been erased from this political moment. Leading scholar-activists trace historical genealogies, internationalist learnings, and everyday practices to grow our collective present and future that don't include police or new jails.
The Cross of Redemption by James Baldwin; edited and with an introduction by Randall Kenan
Includes Baldwin's essay "This Far and No Further," in which he draws a distinction between the meanings of 'Criminal' and 'Prisoner.'
From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
The Black Lives Matter movement has awakened a new generation of activists. In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.
Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi
Through his own life story, from childhood through his life as an adult, El Rassi illustrates the prejudices and discrimination Arabs and Muslims experience daily in American society.