While I was in san francisco, I got to go to a really amazing exbibition of prisoner writing and photos of inmates called Who We Are: A Conversation which was on display at the San Francisco Public Library.
The exhibition pamphlet describes the project like this:
Most stories about people in prison are written by journalists, screenwriters, and novelists. Such narratives focus on the details of a crime, high-profile jury trials, or cell-block violence (as dramatized in television series like HBO's Oz) -- all of which tend to reinforce readers' preconceptions about people who commit crimes.Much of the writing was so beautiful, insightful, and eye opening - not only because it addressed the lives of incarcerated people or specific hardships, but moreso because it revealed the essential qualities and experiences in life that define our humanity.
In many of these stories, the crime itself becomes the focal point and the action by which the perpetrator will always be defined. The story of the crime comes to stand in for the story of the individual.
Who We Are restores the story of the individual through the presentation of first person essays, written by a diverse group of men pursuing the Association of Arts degree at San Quentin State Prison. They've chosen to write about the life-altering events they feel define them: ceasing to stutter; struggling against peer pressure; turning away from violence; entering college at age 35; emerging from the loss of loved ones.
"Get in control of your own narrative," says Joe Loya, author of The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of a Bank Robber. By enrolling in college, writing deeply personal essays, and sharing their lives with other readers, these men have taken control of their own narratives. Their stories help us to recognize the connections we share with human beings everywhere.
In a more informal way, through a dialog of letters, sharing of artwork, and sending of literature, the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project also lets incarcerated people "get in control" of their own narrative and through their words and the words they read, share a part of themselves beyond their crimes or incarceration.
Link
submitted on Tue, 2008-01-01 22:37
