it's so strange to say this, but i love prison.

im super tired, so i hope all this makes sense.

there are not many things i’m more passionate about than the tennessee prison for women. TOMS wearing, Dr. Goode is amazing and started the LIFE program at the prison and im sure he has changed many more lives in his process than mine. after three weeks of classes, it made me realize how much i’ve missed it since last year when i was there. those women are amazing and they make me realize how much i take for granted and how much i let the world influence who i am and the way i think. our society makes prison look so different than it really is, and tonight i was reminded of how judgmental i can be and it really broke my heart.

one of my favorite girls in the class, Billie Jo, wrote a question that our entire class got tonight that really made me think about society and the view we all have of prison and prisoners themselves.

“A story was aired on News Channel 5 about a group of inmates that spent the date building a play ground in a local Antioch community. The families of the children within that community contacted the news station and complained about the fact that inmates were the ones commissioned to build the playground. It’s though the children would somehow be affected by that fact. After the story, the news commentator stated his opinion, which surprisingly mirrored my own. He stated, ‘it’s not like the inmates are going to be out there playing with the kids.’ I was shocked that the inmates building the playground was unacceptable but it was perfectly agreeable for inmates to sandbag the Cumberland River during the flood earlier this year. When is it politically correct to to use criminals in a way that benefits community? Do natural disasters constitute exploiting a felon more so than a park?” - Billie Jo

and after reading that she wrote this, it really broke my heart. i don’t understand why people are so closed minded about prison. if the media did not portray prison as people who are full of hate and are horrible deep down. those women have taught me more about myself than i ever imagined possible. they completely make me rethink who i am and why i believe things i believe. one woman Sam, that was that was new to our class tonight was talking in class about her opinion on some things and it really struck me when she said, “small minds condemn everything they fail to understand.” and it really makes me wonder how many things i fail to understand because i don’t want to go out of my comfort zone and i don’t want to have to feel so passionately about things that are not common. i hate the idea of changing my world, but i honestly don’t think that i’m going to be able to last this semester without my perspective of life having to make a major change. those girls are such a blessing and a curse at the same time, but i could not be more thankful for all of them.