Looking to the Future: Building Projects from a Strong Foundation

By: Dr. Lara Smith-Sitton and Brody Smithwick

An excerpt from Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Volume 19, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2019 - 2020

Our goal is not simply to move college students to jail settings to engage in writing and literacy activities but to also raise awareness about the powerful need for and impact of education while revealing the depth of writing talent and rich stories incarcerated individuals can share. We want those involved to see the commonalities of being human regardless of where we sleep at night. We aspire to what Wendy Hinshaw and Kathie Klarreich (2014) observed through their program: “Outside students became advocates for inside partners” and for the nonprofits doing this important work (150). By moving slowly into project identification and development with the English department, Lion Life has been able to continue growing their programs and thoughtfully consider how Kennesaw State University might best engage while developing a sustainable, manageable, impactful program.

When those who are struggling the most in our communities are lifted up, empowered, and given a voice, everyone benefits. Perhaps the most essential need for a program like Lion Life’s is for the community at large to catch the vision. If inmates are released only to be forever stigmatized as “the other,” then Lion Life’s impact stays confined to the jail. Collaboration with a university allows for further reach into the community and can give those outside students-turned-advocates a platform to proclaim their message to the world. And developing the relationships thoughtfully and slowly with reciprocity and flexibility can allow for a strong and effective infrastructure.

The flexibility and insightful experience brought by a nonprofit to a faculty member responsible for developing community-engaged programs and internships resulted in building a framework for a jail writing program. Starting small offers the time and space for universities and community partners, particularly a nonprofit, to get to know each other, better understand goals and needs, and scale programs that have valuable, impactful, and sustainable structures. It also gave us the chance to manage our project carefully and deliberately, revising projects, re-envisioning needs, and making needed modifications. This was essential. We had never worked together before, and while we both had a vision for our collaboration, Brody’s expertise shaped the project and helped Lara to better understand the many facets of jail and prison writing initiatives.