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Students, Prisoners and a Nun: A unique book club meets in one of the largest prisons in the country

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CHICAGO (AP) For college student Nana Ampofo, an unconventional book club at one of the nation’s largest prisons modified her profession ambitions.

Every week, the 22-year-old drives a van of her DePaul University peers to the Cook County Jail to speak about books with inmates, most recently with renowned activist Sister Helen Prejean. Ampofo is ready with thought-provoking inquiries to spark conversations in the Chicago jail about the latest books they’ve read together.

One rule of the club is obvious: talking about personal lives is inspired, but questions on why other members are in prison usually are not allowed.

“It’s part of dehumanizing people. You want people to tell you their own story and have their own autonomy,” Ampofo said. “When you go in with an open mind, you see how similar people are to you.”

The student-led volunteer program began a few years ago as an offshoot of a DePaul program that offered students and inmates for credit at a prison on the city’s southwest side. The book club, which a latest group joins each academic quarter, tackles books that personally appeal to the group’s members, who’re almost entirely black or Latino.

DePaul student Nana Ampoto talks during a book club at the eleventh Department of Corrections in Chicago, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Associated Press journalists were allowed into the prison Monday to watch the current club’s final meeting to debate Prejean’s book “Dead Man Walking,” at which a Louisiana anti-death penalty activist made a special appearance. The book, which was also adapted into a film and an opera, tells the story of her experiences as a spiritual advisor to a pair of men on death row in the Eighties.

Seated in a circle in the prison’s window-filled chapel, 10 inmates in brown prison uniforms sat amongst 4 students and Prejean, who visits the Catholic University of Chicago yearly.

Ampofo, who advocated for Prejean’s visit, cried as she talked about how vital the group members and the discussions they’d were to her. Laughter erupted when Prejean told a vulgar joke involving folk characters from the Louisiana swamps. When inmate Steven Hayer discussed why many inmates return to prison, there was no shortage of vehement nods.

“Our society is not investing in solutions,” he said. “And when they come out, they will go back to what they knew.”

Book club members took the opportunity to ask Prejean questions, similar to the differences between the book and the movie and what it’s like to observe people die.

The 85-year-old nun was present at seven executions. Her archival papers are at DePaul, including notes for the script of the 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon.

After seeing her first execution, Prejean said she vomited, but stated that it was a privilege to be with people in their final moments.

“When you witness something, a fire starts burning in your heart, demanding justice, that we need to change this,” she said.

Sister Helen Prejean (right) talks as Richard Obot (left), an inmate at Department of Corrections 11, listens to her during a book club at Department of Corrections 11 in Chicago, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. huh)

As a white woman who grew up in the South, Prejean said working in a prison opened her eyes to racism.

Most of the book club’s incarcerated members are black, reflecting the demographics of the prison that houses nearly 5,000 inmates. According to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, about 70% of inmates participate in some type of educational program, similar to a book club.

However, college student participation sets the book club other than other activities.

“When you suddenly have outside students sitting next to you, you start to think about yourself differently,” Dart said. “It changes the mentality.”

Detainees are invited to participate in classes resulting from their interests, he added. He added that their internal behavior determines their ability to affix, not what they’re serving time for. Health issues are also taken into consideration.

There are as many as 40 people on the waiting list to affix the club in prison.

Jarvis Wright, who has been detained in Cook County for 2 years, said he’s a reader but has never been to a book club before. The 30-year-old reads at night when the prison is quiet. Other book club selections included “The Color of Law,” which delves into the issue of residential segregation.

“Even though we’re in jail waiting for our cases to go to trial, it gives us something positive to look forward to,” Wright said. “We’re not just here to waste time.”

Inmates, DePaul students and Sister Helen Prejean attend a book club at Department of Corrections 11 in Chicago, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Since 2012, DePaul has offered college classes through a nationwide program called Inside-Out Prison Exchange. Classes are held at each the Cook County Jail and the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security men’s prison positioned about 40 miles from Chicago.

There are security guards present during the book club, but no one is in handcuffs.

Helen Damon-Moore, who oversees prison teaching programs at DePaul, says there has never been a security problem.

“Everyone is equal when they’re on the inside,” Damon-Moore said.

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Stanley Allen, a 36-year-old inmate, said he was interested in the club because of its connection to the university. He hopes to take part-time classes in the future. For him, the most surprising part of the club was meeting the students and Prejean.

“There are some really good people there,” he said.

Other book club members say the experience has brought them closer together.

“I feel like I’m talking to a bunch of my brothers,” Clark, a DePaul sophomore from Chicago, told the Group Seven. – The way you talk is so familiar. I feel like at home.”

Ampofo will return to prison at the end of the week, when a latest club specializing in black women’s writing begins. It’s a topic that particularly interests her as the American-born daughter of a Ghanaian immigrant mother.

Ampofo, the first in her family to graduate from highschool, plans to attend graduate school to pursue museum studies. He dreams of improving access to museums for inmates and their families.

“I want to take care of people,” she said. “And I found people I want to take care of.”


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Education

Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program

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Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.


Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.

The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.

Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.

“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”

The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.

“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.

Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.

“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.

Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.

Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.

Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.

“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”

The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”

The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.

“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”

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In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.

“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.

The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.

Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.

“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”

Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.

King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.

“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.

Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.

Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students

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Issa Rae, georgia state university

Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.


Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”

On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.

The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.

As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.

The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.

“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .

It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.

“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”

Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.

“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”

According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”

The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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