May 4, 2017 - 10:53
Okay, it's time to conglomerate my experiences with our brief hours on the inside. Leaving on the last day, I felt sad and angry that our classmates on the inside couldn't walk with us into the sunshine, too, and enjoy the spring air. That's, I suppose, the point, when it comes to learning about prisons. Incarceration is unacceptable...prison abolition, and restorative justice are key. Because this is bs. Absolute bs. Those of us from bmc are no more or less valuable than our classmates...and yet when we hop in our van to head back to campus, our classmates are counted to make sure every number is present. I'm happy and warm from the friendships forged within the Bryn Mawr Course. I think our time together was valuable and meaningful. But it's not enough. We have to address the system at a broad scale, too...policy and restorative justice work and schools and....so many ways. How to pick the most effective? Where can I be most useful? Go for the passion. Go for what I have skill in? Go for where basic labor and hands and writing is needed so that the experts can handle the big picture work? All of the above. I will work with kids and mental health education, because that's where my skill and passion lie. And for now, as I learn, I'll also lend my "menial" basic, but useful hands to move books and...to canvas maybe. I hope I don't see our classmates again on the inside, but I do hope to see them again someday.