Not Home For The Holidays And Getting Personal

Because I haven’t been teaching in prison for awhile, I haven’t posted. I don’t want to fill your inbox with … well, filler.

There’s no shortage of articles about being incarcerated during the holidays. Here’s a round up from my friends at The Prison Journalism Project, click here.

As you know, I don’t charge for this newsletter. It feels wrong – like I’m exploiting the stories of the men in my classes for personal gain. I’ve thought about charging a fee and then turning over whatever I collect to an organization that helps incarcerated people, but that feels weird too. That may not be what you signed up for.

But since it is the season of giving, I will recommend a few nonprofits that do great work with people who are locked up.

The Marshall Project covers criminal justice from the outside and the inside, and they do an amazing job. Bill Keller, the former executive editor of The New York Times, my old stomping grounds, was a co-founder. To be clear, Bill Keller stomped on very high ground at the Times, whereas I stomped around at a significantly lower level. But I did run into him once at Sing Sing, where we were both undergoing security clearance, and he was lovely.

The Prison Journalism Project: They’re committed to “changing the storytellers,” i.e. giving voice to those impacted by the criminal justice system. PJP is particularly sensitive to the challenges that incarcerated journalists face and expert at nurturing those voices.

Rehabilitation Through The Arts: Committed to breaking the cycle of incarceration, this nonprofit uses drama, writing, music, visual arts and more to give men and women behind bars the skills they need for rehabilitation. The group’s track record is amazing – folks who’ve been through their program have a 3% recidivism rate, while nationwide, 60% of people return to prison within three years of their release.

Okay, this ends the commercial portion of “Inside/Out.”

Thanks to all who reached out to me when I shared here that my mom had died. I’d been within days of returning to the classroom when she passed. I made the right decision in pulling back for awhile. There is, of course, the grief that comes with losing a parent, but also I hadn’t realized how much business there is to do around death. Cleaning out the house, figuring out the legal and financial stuff, blah blah. It’s a lot.

In other news, one of the other (non-paying) gigs I have is judging the Audies – the industry awards for audio books. I’m not permitted to disclose my category in the middle of the judging period, but let’s just say these books are l-o-n-g and there are 39 of them. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours of narration. I received the first tranche in October. My final recommendations – top 7 – are due the first week in January, and I have three and 1/3 books to go.

I listen while I’m cooking. I listen in the car. I listen while I sort laundry. Now I’m going to start my holiday cooking, plug in my iPods, and yet again, start listening. While baking in the midst of these transporting stories, I will try to stop and remind myself that according to the Prison Policy Initiative, there are almost 2 million people in the U.S. locked up right now. I can’t imagine what they’d give to be bopping around a warm kitchen and getting ready to see family and friends.

Happy Holidays wherever you are!