Prisoner Writings & Activism

Catalog description

This course will explore the relationship between the writings (books, biographies, letters, songs, poetry, plays, court statements, prisoner manifestos, articles, essays) of pint@s (prisoners and former prisoners) and human rights movements in the U.S. since the 1950s (e.g., African American, Asian, Native American, Anti-Colonial, Latin@, Women’s, LGBT rights). It will examine how pint@s labeled “common criminals” (e.g., Malcolm X, George Jackson, Piri Thomas, Raul Salinas) as well as those labeled “political prisoners” (e.g., Assata Shakur, Angela Davis, Martin Luther King, Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Fannie Lou Hamer, Lolita Lebron, Cheal) have: (a) been influenced by human rights movements and other pint@s inside and outside the U.S. (e.g., Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Albizu Campos), and, (b) how they have, in turn, inspired and energized the activism of such movements and contributed to the development of their ideologies and praxis. Required videos (documentaries, films, news programs, and other visual sources) will complement required readings and class discussions.TOPICS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. Offered: semester offered varies.