Finding College by Way of Prison
“Taking classes helped me forget that I wasn’t free.”
“Name your favorite book, and tell the class what you like about writing,” our professor said on the first day, asking each of us to introduce ourselves.
“‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X,’” I replied. “And I like writing because I can paint a picture of equality and justice with my words.”
We sat at tables clustered in the middle of the library, which served as our makeshift college classroom. Our professor stood at the front of the room near the chalkboard, where he’d write up his lectures. Off to the side there was a set of computers that never seemed to work properly, and an officer’s desk. We’d read books and taken non-accredited classes in the library before. But when the Obama administration gave some inmates access to Pell grants
