Workshop 4 - Ariel and Katie

in our workshop, ariel and i have been working on spoken word. last week we started off by focusing on the performance aspect of spoken word. at the beginning of the workshop ariel read the poem "Church" by Anis Mojgani twice, once in a tone that conveyed contentment and happiness and once in a resentful, angry tone. after she read both poems we discussed what was effective in conveying intended emotions in each reading, i.e. tone, speed, volume, body language, pausing, inflection etc. we then had everyone perform "Church" in a way that was meaningful to her. we followed this with another discussion about what makes a performance effective. we did the same process of performance ad discussion with the poem "Bedrooms and Battlescars" by Buddy Wakefield. picking up on a writing project we started the previous week, we finished the workshop by writing autobiographcal poems in 30 lines or less, and then performing and discussing those pieces. we plan to continue working on those poems, cutting them down to 15 or 20 lines so as to work on word selection and distill specific strong images and language, and to work on the editing process in general.

the workshop was very small, only two women (well, three at the very beginning), but this actually made the workshop more effective because everyone got to perform each poem and discussion was more fluid than in previous weeks. while the workshop was an overall success, at the very beginning a very negative woman was in the room. from the moment she walked in she seemed to have something against ariel. she repeatedly bashed ariel's performance of the poems. ariel and i handeled the problem well, i think. ariel simply ignored the negativity in her comments and instead probed the woman about why the pice bored her. i took the opportunity to point out that her reaction exemplifies the beauty of spoken word, which is the versatility and personal nature of the poems and their performances. fortunately the woman removed herself from the workshop (she didn;t have her glasses and was aware of her own negativity). at the end of the workshop the two women who stayed for the duration were enthusiastic about the work they were doing, which was awesome to hear.

mariya and amanda workshop 2

for our second workshop, mariya and i wanted to provide more structure than our previous workshop (which mariya will post on). we did a langston hughes-focused workshop, where we brought in three poems: i, too sing america; may america be america again; theme for english b. we read the three poems and discussed them/shared our initial reactions about the poems. then everyone had to write their own i, too ____ america poems. meaning, that had to be the title and first line of their poems. everyone wrote for about ten minutes, and then we gave them a line from one of the three poems (i.e./ it's hard to say what is true for you and me--taken from theme from english b), which they had to write into their poems, wherever they were at that moment. and then continue writing. then another ten minutes passed and we gave them a new line, etc. we had five lines in all.
we chose langston hughes because his poems are really poignant but also extremely accessible and easy to understand. they're straightforward and also universal. the poems were full of really rich themes; some of the poems that the workshop participants wrote were about america directly, some more abstract. they were all very personal and sincere, and i think everyone was really proud of their work.
it was a really powerful workshop, and everyone wrote really kickass poems. everyone shared and was completely supportive and in awe of everyone else's work. it was a really encouraging space and afterwards everyone wanted copies of each others' poems. i think the structure was just enough to keep everybody writing (sometimes time limits can get you going, and they had new prompts every ten minutes to refresh their poems if they maybe were getting lost) but the themes were broad enough that everyone found her own voice. it was just a really great workshop, and i was completely blown away by it.

Workshop 4: Chen and Rachel

A really interesting workshop... lots of things on my mind...

Rachel brought in a poem called "Safe Subjects" by Yusef Komunyakaa, from his collection of poetry "Copacetic." There are a lot of dense, frightening imagery in this poem-- very evocative and very sensual. can't seem to steer away from that in the poetry that we like. Interestingly enough, some of the women had a harder time with this poem than the Neruda poem, which had more abstract imagery. Perhaps because of Komunyakaa's specificity, it is hard to extrapolate that into your own personal life. Rachel also had the thought that since one of the women was a really great writer, she tends to control the direction of conversation, if she's confused than other people are hesitant to challenge that confusion.

So we began with a warmup... I took lines from the poem we brought in and wrote one line on each sheet of paper. I gave each woman one paper. They would write the next line, fold the paper over so that only their line is visible, and pass it on to the next person. It had some hilarious results... if a poem started out as funny, it would end seriously, and vice versa. The tonal range is just huge, and the sort of freedom it allows is really great.

Then we read the poem and talked about it. One line really called out to some of the women "Redemptive as a straight razor/ against a jugular vein--". One of the women essentially said that if someone were to cross her, that was how she would act. She wouldn't take any shit. So parts of the poem were really concrete, but others somewhat confusing.

Then we had them write a poem themselves, incorporating repetition drawn from the poem. These turned out really great. One of the women mentioned "railroad tracks" in her poem and I inquired about that, thinking it was a metaphor. Turns out she was talking about shooting up. I was a bit taken aback, especially when she confronted us very honestly about how we felt about coming into prison, considering our backgrounds as college students. This is the first time that this has ever happened to me-- someone questioning our purpose in this space and comparing and contrasting our lifestyles... I did not know what to say at first and then told her that I wanted it to be a safe space, no censorship... And she said she knew that, but she really wanted our opinions on what it felt like to be there... Rachel can speak more on this.

I am very glad that she opened up this conversation: the essence of why we even go to prison in the first place. She then went on to talk about writing habits in and out of prison, and wasted talent.

We've had some women come to workshops more than once and it's good to see familiar faces in workshop.

Liberation through Education

Many of you have asked for resources on systems of incarceration. There are so many, but I will go over a few. First, a list of websites, then links to specific texts. I encourage you to look at these!

SITES:

• History is a Weapon
• Bureau of Justice Statistics
• Critical Resistance
• Families Against Mandatory Minimums
• It's About Time: Black Panther Legacy
• MotherJones: Debt to Society
• National Coalition to Free the Angola 3
• Prison Activist Resource Center
• Prison Legal News
• Prison Moratorium Project
• PrisonSucks.com
• RI Family Life Center
• RI Right to Vote
• The Freedom Archives
• The Sentencing Project
• Center for Community Alternatives
• AssataShakur
• Sasha Abramsky
  

TEXTS:

• In 2001, Christian Parenti, author of the excellent Lockdown America: Police And Prisons in the Age of Crisis, delivered a talk at the Stop The ACA(American Correctional Association) conference. His talk is about the thirty year explosion in prisons in the United States. A rough transcript is included below the mp3. Check it.
• George Jackson -- Black Revolutionary
• Linda Martin Alcoff -- What should White People Do?
• Angela Y. Davis -- The Challenge of Prison Abolition
• Angela Y. Davis -- Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex
• Stephen Hartnett -- Prison, Labor, Slavery & Capitalism
• David M. Oshinsky -- Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm/Prison
• Christian Parenti -- Crime as Social Control
  
• Gregory Shank -- Radical Criminology and Social Movements
• Paul Street -- Race, Prison, and Poverty
• Paul Street -- Empire Abroad, Prisons at Home
• Kim Gilmore -- Slavery and Prison: Understanding the Connections
• Kristian Williams -- the Demand for Order
• Anthony Platt -- Social Insecurity
• Bettina Aptheker -- the Social Function of Prisons
• Assata Shakur -- Women in Prison: How it is with Us
  

Becky and Britt Halloween Wkshp

In response to serious requests to make Halloween decorations, Britt and I did a pre-Halloween workshop. Only 5 women came this week, which is the lowest numbers we've had yet.

We began with a writing prompt: "When I think of Halloween, I think of....", and the women shared an array of wonderful memories. Then we prompted with "The best celebration of my life was/is...." and shared. Again, wonderful, intense memories.

Then we did collages: designing your own Halloween costume. We used newspapers and color magazines, and we did our collages on Halloween-colored construction paper. We shared, and each of them was totally different, different reasons, different colors and materials...they look great. And mad positive comments kept coming, like "I dont want to leave!" and saying how fun the activities were. It was really nice.

BUSINESS

- I bought a boombox. I have it in the trunk of my car (it's little and cute) so let me know whenever you need to borrow it (preferably one day before your workshop) and I'll bring it to you.
- Let me know when you want to buy materials with SPACE monies. If we agree that it is a smart purchase, go ahead and buy it with your money, then bring me receipts so I can reimburse you.

- There is a file cabinet on the 3rd floor of the Swearer Center at the top of the stairs where we can put some shared materials (Chen mentioned construction paper).

- I have release forms for publishing in the Zine. I will have them for you at our meeting (Sunday, 8 pm, 34 congdon).

- Certificates are on their way, please be patient.

Love A

Anna and Molly 3rd workshop

Our workshop this week was pretty intense, but overall went well. The workshop itself was a continuation of last week– where we brought in cutout words from the newspaper and everyone constructed their own individual newspapers by either collaging the words or writing out sentences including the words. We had found that this was a great activity because it allowed for a lot of individual creativity and choice, as the inmates and ourselves were able to make things that were either bizarre, funny, or more of a more serious nature. We had decided to do the same project for two consecutive weeks since last time it had felt like there just wasn’t enough time to complete the papers in the time allotted.

One challenge was that different women kept coming in and out of the workshop (to a greater degree than before) so it was hard to do introductions and closing presentations. What made the workshop especially intense was that one woman in particular broke down and began to tell us about being brutally raped. We weren’t really sure how to address the situation– on the one hand we had to keep the workshop going, and on the other it was really frustrating to feel like there was so little that we could do to work with her in the context of SPACE. Ultimately, we gave her Mimi’s contact information and emphasized the importance of contacting Mimi for legal aid. Molly and I also discussed how to deal with future situations similar to this one. Also, we realized that we had gone way over the allotted time (leaving Tasha and Evan waiting) and discussed working to follow the schedule more closely.

In the moment, this experience also seemed to undermine the value in doing funnier, more lighthearted workshops. For next week, in light of this, we are going to bring in a poem of a more serious nature and try to have a more in-depth discussion and writing session. While we know that we’re not psychologists or lawyers and cannot provide these services, we also think that it will be beneficial to create a space where these issues can at least be safely discussed among the women.

First few workshops

Chen and I have gone in three times, and each time has been very different.

The second week we read and worked with a Pablo Neruda poem called "No Hay Olvido (There is No Oblivion)." The poem negotiates a space between the concrete and the abstract and is very intense in tone-- one woman was resistant to this, but the general response to it was incredible.

To respond to what Molly was saying about sensitivity and being "on" as a facilitator: I was really affected emotionally by what the women were seeing in the poem-- moving through the poem, instead of on top of it, to get somewhere-- their interpretations spoke to an amount of life experience that is inconceivable for most of us. One strand of the conversation, about a woman's associations with "broken things" (she shared traumatic memories), was absorbed into the general discussion-- not ignored, but brought back into the fold. This was all the doing of the other women in the workshop.

There wasn't really a way to directly address this woman's responses to the poem, because my instinctive response to someone's having shared something like that wouldn't have been appropriate to the environment... I think she didn't even want to shift the focus to herself. She said it as though it wasn't even real to her. I'm still working through my thoughts about this-- it came and went and then I got my driver's license back from the C.O. and got in the car and went back to my house? As more time passes I get more of a sense that I hope the workshop can be a place for women to encounter and work through personal questions in materials outside of themselves-- to constitute themselves-- to even conceive of themselves in a way that the simple fact of being in prison does not (I say this knowing I have no idea what that effacement of identity might be like). Is that even valid?

Is it self-indulgent to be horrified, want to vomit? Is the question also: is it self-indulgent for me to give my own emotions range and space when, as Molly put it, the world in all its multiplicity does not even exist in the prison? What's been strange to me is that there is rarely a specific thing that affects me-- it is something in general. I'm not sure what it is.

Last workshop was strange. The women were very shifty, things were happening all over the place, there wasn't much positive response to the workshop content. Maybe we should do more at the beginning of the workshop to bring everyone into the same space? Or should we, if no one seems to be into it, adapt the workshop to that? How?

Sometimes, women leave the room and come back with writing/drawing they've done and show it to us. I appreciate their wanting to share their work with us but it really disrupts the space of the workshop. This mostly happens right at the beginning or toward the end when we're wrapping up... we are thinking in the future of discouraging this. Things get chaotic. Has anyone else had this experience?

sensitivity vs. effectiveness

I really wanted to address Molly's post on sensitivity because I found it very thought provoking. I too had some of these issues sophomore year but I never paused long enough to think them through. So thanks for making me think them through. Yes, I think there is a way to balance sensitivity with holding a good, successful workshop. I mean, I often go into the prison with the mentality of: Ok, I want this to go smoothly. I want people to generate good ideas and good writing. Sometimes I forget that people have lives outside writing, they've had bad days, prison sucks, there is a super personal aspect to this I will possibly never understand.

To give an example I went in sophomore year once and I said my day had been "painful" for some stupid reason or other. And one of the women just made fun of me for that, because how could my experience compare to theirs in matters of "pain"? I think it's one of those times to not take ourselves too seriously though. Things do slip out unintentionally-- you can't be uber sensitive all the time-- although the very fact that you think about this is great, and it should be a continuing process.

There's also just a huge discrepancy in the different types of women I've met throughout my time in SPACE. Some just "get it." Doesn't mean they're smarter, it just means they were probably educated in some similar manner to our educations, or their learning process melds well with the teaching methods most people use in highschool. Some people have never heard of Picasso. Just one of those things... I learned not to assume people's background or knowledge, and never never to underestimate anyone.

Umm yeah... so I don't really know how to answer your question, but only, do what you do best and be honest and a "good person" whatever that means, and people will see that and respond to that honesty.

Workshop 3: Chen and Rachel

Because one of the women had expressed interest in learning more about color in the previous workshop, we did a color workshop today. I think I was a little too ambitious... see my lesson plan below. I made a handout for the women that reiterated some of the main points to lessen confusion, but there was still a lot of confusion, mostly because color is just a broad and hard concept to understand, and a lot of color examples I would bring in (paintings etc) are much more than one color scheme. Some of the fundamental things I found hard to explain, even things I take for granted. For example, red is a warm color and blue is a cool color, right? Yes, but you can have a "cool" red and a warm red, and sometimes brown can swing either way. It's very hard to grasp.

We started out with an Anne Sexton poem (For my lover, returning to his wife) with a lot of color imagery. I'm not sure this was the best way to do a color workshop, because the women had to shift gears twice: once at the beginning and once at the end of the workshop, when I tied in the poem to the exercise. I do like to have alternatives to just writing or just visual art, so that is part of the reason I put this in there. I also wanted to bring up the emotional value of color, but by the time I had reached the end of the lesson, people's attention had strayed.

Part of the problem is that yes, this is sort of a boring workshop. Color wheel, yadda yadda. It's sort of like teaching grammar. Yet these concepts are the very foundation of what painters use to make pictures, so I thought it was important to convey this.

Finally, I think that just because of the nature of the workshop, you lose a lot of focus from people after the first 20 minutes.

Lessons I learned from this workshop:

Perhaps this needs to be a two part workshop, starting with VALUE and THEN color, because you build off from one to the other.

Have one person sit at the other end of the table in case one group gets cut off from the conversation.

Definitely have free-draw at the end. It's a good release from the info I was throwing at them in the beginning.



Color Workshop


1. Read Sexton’s poem. Keep an eye out for mentions of color. We’ll come back to this later.
2. Color workshop:
- primary colors (medium specific… oil paint, watercolor, acrylic water-based paints you can mix will follow color mixing properties. Not so much dry media, because the colors may turn muddy.)
- Secondary colors and complements
- Color wheel exercise. Also, just experiment with medium.
- Warm / Cool colors (cool recedes, warm comes forward.)
- Color schemes: primary colors, complements, warm/cool colors, or mix thereof
- Examples of what we just talked about. Example of primary color scheme, complementary color scheme, a warm / cool color scheme, and something “complex.”
- Colors in shadows, colors to aid creating dimensionality, space. (ex.)
- Finally, color as emotion and mood. Matisse, etc. Picasso’s cool period.
3. We’ll read the poem again and talk about the moods / meanings color creates
4. Create a piece that uses one thing we’ve learned: Pick one scheme to go with. If you pick a complementary color scheme, remember that you don’t just have to use those two colors, but make sure they are the dominant aspect in your work.
5. Free draw.

Evan And Natasha's WorkSHop

We started with 30 second self portraits, in which no one could look at the page or themselves. then we had everyone draw who was across from them - not looking at the page - and people had 1 minute. then we drew our hands, looking at page and at the hand. then we drew gesture sketches - 30 seconds each and we did a set of seven. then we could draw whatever we wanted for however long we wanted and it went well.

ACI inmate protests new restrictions on publications

Thanks to Evan for sending me this article by Tom Mooney in today's ProJo on the Department of Corrections’ latest flop: restricting inmates’ access to books and magazines.

He writes:

Until earlier this year, state prison inmates could receive paperback books, magazines and newspapers ordered and paid for by friends and relatives.

But corrections officials — saying they want to prevent inmates from extorting items from each other and reduce the time-consuming process of reviewing incoming mail — have changed that long-standing policy.

Now inmates can receive only those publications they order directly from a publisher and pay for in advance.

Forget about reports of newly-transferred 17-year-olds getting kicked around in the exercise yard… it’s time we focus on the real issues, like the tedious process of connecting inmates with reading material and the inevitable prisonyard fights that erupt in the mayhem of reading. I don’t know about you, but I feel just a little bit safer knowing that the criminals will remain as we’ve intended them to be… illiterate.

Workshop 1 Feedback: Anna and Molly

October 10--Anna Ninan:

Overall, I was pretty happy with the way our workshop on Monday went. I felt like in a strange way it really did flow from concrete forms of creative expression (i.e. drawing and writing) into other forms, such as the conversations we had at the end. Beginning with these basic starting points of automatic writing & drawing seemed to get people settled into the environment, and allowed those who didn't want to be there to leave. As the workshop progressed into creating a final project, it seemed that there was a natural flow of expression, feeling, and connections within the room. In a way I believe it actually did become a safe space for people to be open and share.

From that, I think that it could be interesting to explore the possibilities of collaborative workshops where the projects themselves would actually tap into the creative energy flow between individuals as a group, rather just from individuals itself, to perhaps put together a project that would be meaningful.

On the notes of logistics:
I agree with our discussions after the workshop that as facilitators we could be more authoritative, although I think it's a careful balance between the being authoritative and still letting the needs and interests of the participants dictate the direction of the class. And our introduction was way too long.

October 10--Molly Little:

Anna, I think your comments are astute.
In thinking about how I would write my reflections on the workshop, I started off trying to differentiate between my experience of it and more objective reflections of how things went. Then I realized that I couldn't really differentiate between the two, because I think my experience of the whole thing affected my ability to be cognizant of different dynamics in the room and also to be an effective facilitator.
So, here are some things that have been on my mind:
I don't know why it didn't occur to me before we began the icebreaker, which involved asking people to write down a good and bad aspect of their day, but as soon as I had the piece of paper in front of me I froze. It was as though some of the reality of what was going on suddenly hit me. I realized that anything I'd write down about what had happened in my day would likely be something that is outside the bounds of the reality of daily reality for these women. This was one moment when some of what prison is all about began to get through to me--depriving people of life, of the world with all its multiplicity, in the most basic way. I realize that these are really obvious things to say, but I guess I just mean that they began to hit me emotionally as well as intellectually.
Why should that matter? I think I need to balance being sensitive and aware of and awake to what is going on while also staying 'on' as a facilitator, being present, engaging with people and not shutting down in a state of being stunned and horrified. Most of all, I don't want to get used to it--I don't want the feeling of horror to go away, I don't want that reality to become normal to me. I'd rather feel like I'm going to throw up once a week than have it become normal. But then again, feeling like I'm going to throw up isn't helping anyone and maybe it's just self-indulgent.
I feel like all of these thoughts are a little rambling and not particularly helpful. I agree with Anna's assessment of the workshop, logistical and otherwise.
I guess I would find some reflections from those who have done this before helpful. Is it stupid to ask how one ought to balance sensitivity and effectiveness?

Workshop 1 Feedback: Becky and Britt

October 4--Britt Harwood:

Ariel,

Hey. We didn't have any trouble getting the photos today; it took about ten minutes total, which was great. We went over to Medium and got in at about 6pm, and decided to teach in the classroom on the third floor of B Wing. There was a question about conflicts--visits are on Mondays and NA is on Thursdays at the same time as SPACE--so I was wondering if you have a plan worked out for that. Otherwise, the workshop was more of an introduction and meeting session, we all talked a lot about ourselves and our goals (we all = both us and the women), we did a short writing exercise, we threw out some ideas for future workshops, and then we called it a day. All told, about an hour and ten minutes. It was really really good.

A few of the women are wondering about certificates from last semester. Do we give them out? Does the prison? Why did some women get them and not others? Did you and Ruki give them, and Tess and Mariya and I just dropped the ball? I'm not sure how that works, but they asked that I try to see if it's possible to let someone know that they were skipped over. Do you think Janet would know?

I'm too tired to think of anything else right now... I hope this is helpful... See you soon, have fun tomorrow,

Britt

October 4--Becky Mer:

Hi Ariel!

I thought it went really well last night. Photos took a total of 1 minute, and after they were taken they went directly into the computer. The COs were really accommodating and friendly. We had about 15 women from A and B, and our classroom was on the 3rd floor next to the common room (which definitely was distracting for some of them, but we did have the benefit of a wonderful CO nearby). Some women did say that they preferred the basement room because it was bigger. Also, two women told Britt that they never got their certificates last year, and they really want them. We began the workshop with introductions, which really was a wonderful chance to see why people came, what they wanted and expected, and definitely made it a really comfortable atmosphere. We were able to tell them our goal for the space as a safe and expressive place. After intros, we did an envelope activity that Rosi did last year: on the outside, draw or write what people see on the outside/what you want them to see, and on the inside write what's inside you. The women could chose to seal it or not. Most women shared, and I never expected the high level of honesty and openness we had in just that first activity. The sharing of the envelopes was my highlight for the workshop. After that, Britt gave them the option of reading the memoir now, or saving it for next week and instead brainstorming ideas for workshops. The women really wanted to share their ideas, so we got a nice list of what they'd like to do with us. We ended around 7:15, and I think we were able to communicate that we really wanted them to come back and have some continuity in the group. Also, Britt and I talked to one of the women about their schedules (when they have AA, NA, visits, etc) which was really helpful--it seems like Wednesday is clear for many of them.

Thanks so much Ariel, have a great weekend!
-Becky

A Forum for Discussion

Hey hey,

First, major props to Chen to for getting this off the ground. Just to re-cap from the meeting, the point of this blog is:

• to prevent overlap among the (count em!) SIX workshops we are holding each week
• to suggest new materials to bring into the ACI that meet DOC regulations
• to share ideas for productive and successful workshops
• to discuss problems, concerns, and questions
• to share exciting moments and triumphs
• to circulate articles, etc. on incarceration and prisons and criminal justice and anything of that nature for our internal education
• any direction we want to take it...
  

If you have immediate questions or responses that concern logistics, please e-mail me in addition to posting on the blog.

Please also be aware that this is a public forum. We have made it a public forum in order to share this discussion on leading arts workshops in prison with people elsewhere who may be working under the same restrictions without access to resources, as they are limited. This means that, not only will people from Mens' SPACE and the Swearer Center be reading this, but also, people anywhere in Rhode Island or the country may happen upon the blog. Therefore, it is so important that YOU USE FAKE NAMES FOR ANY INMATES YOU MENTION. I repeat, FAKE NAMES FOR ALL INMATES.

I'm running to class now, but I have two more points:

1. Some of you have been sending me 1 paragraph write-ups after your workshops. I'd love those to go on the blog. Feel free to edit or add to them yourselves and slap em up here. Otherwise, I might just start posting your write-ups tomorrow. Cool?
2. Just to start the education sharing, everyone check out www.historyisaweapon.com.
   

That's all for now.
Thanks, again, Chen!

Solidarity,
A.

first post

Welcome to Space in Prison for Arts and Creative Expression, a student group at Brown University that holds workshops in the Rhode Island ACI weekly.

This is a place for us to post things about workshops and anything else on our minds about the prison system.

I hope there is lots of discussion that goes on here... an extension of things we are not able to discuss in person.

Cheers

Chen