2008 Woodie Awards
Operation U-turn
Crystal Daman
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: Campus
In Pelican Bay State Prison, prisoners are creative in finding ways to express themselves. One made a beautiful drawing of a woman in a dress using M&Ms, coffee and a state pen. Others write poetry and short stories.
For people with limited freedom, little bits of sunshine in the forms of art, poetry and human contact can be remarkable. For prisoners in Pelican Bay and San Quentin, the efforts of Operation U-turn (OUT) bring hope to a bleak reality.
The program helps both adult prisoners and at-risk youth to continue life while in prison and on parole. It provides pen pals and referrals to various resources and services.
Elizabeth Behrens, social work junior and member of U-turn, said community feedback shows a need for such programs.
U-turn helps prisoners fill out financial aid forms and other school-related paperwork. The program also makes referrals for prisoners to schools across the state. Some prisoners are completing their associate degrees while still incarcerated, and U-turn is starting a Scholarship Textbook Fund to help them buy textbooks.
On April 27, U-turn will host "Speak OUT on the Prison Industrial Complex" in the Goodwin Forum, designed to make people aware of what the prison industrial complex is.
Tables from Democracy Unlimited, Prison Focus, Bar None and NORML will be at the free event for information and discussion.
From 8 to 10 p.m., poems intermixed with short stories written by prisoners will be read to the audience, while images are projected onto the walls. U-turn volunteers will represent the prisoners by reading the poems aloud.
To begin the event, a little after 5 p.m., volunteers will play the movie "Concrete and Sunshine," featuring interviews from Pelican Bay prisoners and prison experts, followed by a discussion.
From 7 to 8 p.m. Ashanti Alston, a former Black Panther and political prisoner, will speak about his experience and what the prison industrial complex is.
For people with limited freedom, little bits of sunshine in the forms of art, poetry and human contact can be remarkable. For prisoners in Pelican Bay and San Quentin, the efforts of Operation U-turn (OUT) bring hope to a bleak reality.
The program helps both adult prisoners and at-risk youth to continue life while in prison and on parole. It provides pen pals and referrals to various resources and services.
Elizabeth Behrens, social work junior and member of U-turn, said community feedback shows a need for such programs.
U-turn helps prisoners fill out financial aid forms and other school-related paperwork. The program also makes referrals for prisoners to schools across the state. Some prisoners are completing their associate degrees while still incarcerated, and U-turn is starting a Scholarship Textbook Fund to help them buy textbooks.
On April 27, U-turn will host "Speak OUT on the Prison Industrial Complex" in the Goodwin Forum, designed to make people aware of what the prison industrial complex is.
Tables from Democracy Unlimited, Prison Focus, Bar None and NORML will be at the free event for information and discussion.
From 8 to 10 p.m., poems intermixed with short stories written by prisoners will be read to the audience, while images are projected onto the walls. U-turn volunteers will represent the prisoners by reading the poems aloud.
To begin the event, a little after 5 p.m., volunteers will play the movie "Concrete and Sunshine," featuring interviews from Pelican Bay prisoners and prison experts, followed by a discussion.
From 7 to 8 p.m. Ashanti Alston, a former Black Panther and political prisoner, will speak about his experience and what the prison industrial complex is.
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