Author: Ana Michaelis Page 2 of 3

Through reading chapters 7 and 8, the biggest thing that stuck out with me was how creative and persistent the community of Richmond was throughout history in trying to limit the rights of Blacks and continue to discriminate. Learning about the burning of Richmond was so crazy. The fact that they would rather burn their city than have the union take over was so eye opening to the true intensity of the deep rooted racism from Richmond.

Also, the law making made by Richmond surrounding housing and land in attempt to split or damage prominently Black communities was very intensive and just straight up immoral. I cannot believe that they just destroyed a whole community and built a highway through it. Also, that they made so much efforts to bar the education and rise of christianity for the black community says a lot.

A topic from chapters 4-6 that I had not known much about before was the colonization movement, and efforts to transport free blacks to a colonized area in Africa, Sierra Leone. I had no idea that this movement had gained so much traction, and that many abolitionists as well as the white population of Richmond, and James Madison had supported it.

It was also interesting learning about the jails within Richmond. Historically, this connects with writing our way out, and the racism within the justice system. Listening to specific stories about the torture faced by incarcerated blacks within the Lumpkin jail were horrific and stomach turning. It was also interesting to see that the beginning of jails being owned by private entities began so long ago, and that these entities were using their incarcerated as slaves for profit, just as we see in some jails today.

I also decided to read chapter 3, and I really enjoyed learning so much about Pocahontas. It was so interesting to me that she had been baptized, and lived the last years of her life in London. I did like how the author emphasized that we do not know her true motives for her baptism, or whether or not she was forced into doing what she had done, as there are no written entries from her.

Reading the first two chapters of Richmond’s Unhealed History certainly has been eye opening. In Arkansas, on school wifi or devices anything related to Native American’s in ANYWAY is blocked. I have had to learn to educate myself about our history through other routes, but I certainly was not aware of the extent to how gruesome and disgusting colonists were. It is so interesting how colonizers used religion to justify genocide, slavery, killing, etc. I was just reading about how colonizers and South America said they had the right to go to war because it’s what God wants.

It is so interesting how to this day people abuse religion for power, or justify discriminating against others because it is in the bible, or is what God would have wanted…

Even though it is so disturbing, I am excited to keep learning about Richmond’s unhealed history, and learning more accurate depictions of colonization and how this country and city came to be.

The article from the conversation

• a quote that stood out to me was “Between 1985 and 2001, however, youths convicted of murder were actually more likely to enter prison with a life sentence than adults convicted of the same crime.”
• it is good that the goal for juvenile court has shifted from punishment to rehabilitation. and although the reasoning of adolescents brains being not fully developed makes it justified, I believe that all incarceration should be based on rehabilitation not punishment. It is sad to see that we are still in a system that has given up on such a large population.

RVA. gov

• It is great to see alternatives like this within the juvenile system, and for me, living in Arkansas there is no access to good rehabilitation services, and even worse the majority of our locality do not support it, and consider it “being soft on crime”
• Obviously, I am aware though that most programs or anything that is advertised is never as successful and transparent as it claims to be. I would like to continue to learn more about this program and see the effects it has had on the community.

Video, Inside Juvenile Detention

• It was nice to see inside of Bon air, and see what the director would like to do with renovations, and creating a new facility centered on the east side of the state
• I liked hearing about RISE YOUTH’s advocacy, and the discussion about how change must happen from the child and their family, especially the environment and community they come from.

Question: Has trauma focused therapy had positive impacts on the lives and actions of juveniles facing incarceration?

How can we advocate for change within the system in southern states?

I am very sad that I was not able to attend the group lunch with Kelvin, Terrence and Dave but Nick’s prep note and Kristine’s reply also gave me really good insight. One thing that surprised me was how much they were interested in us as students and curious to why we choose to take this class. I had envisioned the lunch going more like an interview, students asking visitors a lot of questions but it seemed to end up to be more like a conversation. Something that really stuck with me was “Terrence could’ve written a lot more, and extraordinarily. Could’ve shared so much more. However, his experience wasn’t something to glorify but to help him heal and move forward.” Knowing your limits, and always understanding why you’re doing something and trying to do it for the right reason is so important. Terrence talks about struggling with understanding his identity, but based on his actions I think he is more aware of himself and who he is than he knows.

Writing our Way out has been an incredible novel to read. It means so much to know that these are these mens real stories, and also that all of this happened in Richmond. It says a lot about the bubble that we live in here on campus compared to the communities that these men grew up in. It is beautiful to see the way that these men have transformed their lives, and it is also so powerful to hear their stories and try to understand the struggle that these men have had to endure.

Since our last class period, as I have been reading the book I have been looking at which of these mens stories appeal to me the most, and who I would potentially like to write about. I really enjoy Naji’s story, I think there is so much beauty in his religious transformation, but most of all in the way that he forgave his grandmother for the disgusting abuse she put him through. And went to take care of her while she had Alzheimer’s. He seems like a selfless individual.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to have read this book in class, and I am very excited to meet with Dave and Kelvin.

I have enjoyed reading the first part of Writing Our Way out. David Coogan does an incredible job of sharing these men’s stories, and coming in and out of the present and the past. It is just astonishing that every single one of these men had dealt with some type of major trauma before going to jail, and it furthers the point that past trauma and committing crimes are linked. Many just do what had been done to them, and obviously these actions are inexcusable, but it furthers the point that the way the jail system is set up in this country is demeaning and unproductive. If legislators and people who ran this country genuinely wanted to improve society the system would be different.

Reading this makes me recognize my privilege. I am blessed to never have dealt with the generational trauma that these men go through, but it also means as people who are privileged, it is our responsibility to advocate and care for those who cannot do it for themselves.

Reading Portfolio Keeping was eye-opening for me. It should me all the complexities that can come within a portfolio in matters of presentation, appealing to your audience, having variety, and demonstrating the learning process/growth. But it also made me realize that I have many questions surrounding the expectation of our portfolio. Is this a portfolio to showcase presentation or learning? What does our professor expect of us/hope to see? When are we supposed to begin? Will our whole class have the opportunity to peer review or see our portfolio? How are we supposed to cite sources? And I could go on. I am hoping we will have some class time to work through the process and expectations a little more.

Out of this novel, I think the concept I am going to try the hardest to showcase in my portfolio is reflection, and finding people to peer review with. I am going to work to constantly be going back and looking at my artifacts/portfolio, and always making note of how I am feeling about it, what I want to improve, and doing the same with other peoples work.

With the two articles we read regarding memory, the statistics about what percent of conversations are about telling stories during the day compared to being surrounding by a camp fire a night were very interesting, and definitely significant. I also liked learning about how you can work to improve a child’s memory by reviewing what you did during the day through open ended questions. That this helps them efficiently process their memories.

I also began to read Writing Our Way Out and I am truly loving it, in fact it was difficult for me to put down. Reading the prologue and introduction helped me get a more thorough understanding of the work David Coogan has and is doing in regards to the justice system, working to help improve society, and telling people’s stories. Many people regard prisoners as different, unlabeled people in this society. Coogan called them “blurry shapes with glaring eyes”. As people, we have to separate them from us. because if we don’t, then maybe we would get too close to realizing that in reality we are all people, and we are all connected in some way. Coogan teaches us by sharing their stories, putting names to ex-offenders/prisoners, that everyone has a story, helping us to connect in a deeper way. Helping us realize and understand, that most of these people have been going through trauma since they wore born, opening our eyes to how sheltered we are in comparison.

These men need empathy, education, and rehabilitation. Not punishment that makes it worse, causing them relapse into the same crime they had committed before being punished. Coogan has already helped me see that we are more connected than we think, and everyone must do something no matter who you are, if we want anything to change.