Journal Article: Through These Walls: An educational journey once thought impossible shows the potential for restorative justice
Posted by Liberal Education Magazine on November 28, 2023
An educational journey once thought impossible shows the potential for restorative justice—and brings hope to a Maine prison.
What are some of the benefits of higher education in prison?” Ten years after beginning my college journey from behind the walls of Maine State Prison, I have answered this question more times than I can count. As I step into the first semester of my doctoral program in conflict analysis and resolution in fall 2023, I find myself reflecting on the obstacles that I have surmounted, the work I have done with Colby College, the support I have received as I spearheaded initiatives to transform prison culture, and my ongoing efforts to expand opportunities for incarcerated people.
As the first incarcerated person in the United States to teach outside college courses, I am a living testament to the power of higher education in prison. Higher education in prison programming—and its immediate professional application through paid fellowships, internships, and employment—must expand as an avenue toward remaking the current system of mass incarceration from one that self-perpetuates to one that supports personal transformation and healing, which will help reduce the number of people in prison.
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