I’m down in DC again, for my brother’s graduation. The ceremony was held outside today, on the lawn of the prison; David earned his Associate of Arts degree Magna Cum Laude, completed entirely while incarcerated. There were a good number of other inmates there earning their GEDs, and the co-valedictorians talked a lot about second chances. David has tutored many inmates working on their GEDs, and I’m pretty proud of him. (He also serves as recording secretary on the Inmate Advisory Council, and performs other coordinating administrative duties for inmate life, as well.) My friend Jason the brilliant high school teacher delighted David by sending him a fancy multicolored ’04 tassel for his cap and gown, in addition to the plain blue-and-white one the prison gave him.
After the morning ceremony, there was a picnic (each of the graduating inmates was permitted to invite two family members) where family members were allowed to bring in pre-packaged store-bought food. David was conscientious about asking us to bring in enough food to share with a few of his buddies who didn’t have family members coming to the ceremony. I got a lot of pictures; lots of nice people, and it was great to see so many people who conservatives say should be written off and forgotten about (the Department of Corrections educational budget was recently eviscerated) playing with one another’s kids and laughing with one another’s families. One of David’s friends had been in the graduation ceremony the year before: he had been completely illiterate upon entering the prison system, and had taught himself to read largely on his own, managing to do so earn and complete his GED — and he’s several years younger than David.
It was a good reminder to me of how easily education comes to some and not to others, and of the force of will that one doesn’t often see exhibited by more traditional students. It was a good day.
I’m happy for both you and your brother.
That’s a touching entry. No one should EVER be written off.
Congratulations to your brother. I’m astounded by the man who largely taught himself to read.
Thanks to all for the kind words. I feel like I ought to provide at least a little balance here, however: several of the young men I shook hands with or remembered from past visits are murderers. One of the prison’s few women at the ceremony killed both her parents. Other inmates, my brother included, are serving time for armed robbery. As pleasant and friendly as the people I met were, I can’t entirely separate the deed from the person — and I think that equation of deed with person, of character with action, is what so informs the throw-away-the-key argument. Still, the very fact that it was a graduations ceremony reminded me, as a teacher, of my fundamental belief that people can and do (and must) change.
Yeah, you’ve got that right, Mike. If you don’t believe people can change–and in a way that constitutes growth–I don’t know how you stay in teaching very long. Thanks for that portrait of your good day.