A review by k0rnbr34d
Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison by Chris Hedges
medium-paced
3.0
The first bit of this is a rehashing of what we’ve all learned about the prison system from reading The New Jim Crow or adjacent books. Nothing new there. Personally, I’m tired of reading the same points about this and wonder how much good each new author’s reiteration is doing. Hedges again comes across as very self important, although doing work that is very important. Why does he rub me the wrong way so much?
Maybe some clarity comes from the second half, which is the best part of this. We get to see into the writing of the prisoners he teaches. The work here is heartbreaking and honest. I learned a lot more about prison relationships and familial expectations among the communities plagued by incarceration. You learn about systems of communication and respect. Hierarchies and economies in jail. There is one really interesting chapter about communicating through plunged toilet pipes to carry out romantic relationships with incarcerated women.
I wish Hedges had spent more time talking about how he taught these students to write rather than these stilted passages of call and response “discussions” about oppression, which I’m sure the students in jail were keenly aware of. Not many questions from students transcribed here. Lots of Hedges telling them about how the white man is keeping them down. Something was odd about it to me. It would have been a real gift to get a retelling of the editing process he used when working on a class play. Disagreements between students? Discomfort with subject matter? There is a lot more that could be explored.
Overall this was a good book, but it only achieves something great when Hedges allows someone else to be in the spotlight.
Maybe some clarity comes from the second half, which is the best part of this. We get to see into the writing of the prisoners he teaches. The work here is heartbreaking and honest. I learned a lot more about prison relationships and familial expectations among the communities plagued by incarceration. You learn about systems of communication and respect. Hierarchies and economies in jail. There is one really interesting chapter about communicating through plunged toilet pipes to carry out romantic relationships with incarcerated women.
I wish Hedges had spent more time talking about how he taught these students to write rather than these stilted passages of call and response “discussions” about oppression, which I’m sure the students in jail were keenly aware of. Not many questions from students transcribed here. Lots of Hedges telling them about how the white man is keeping them down. Something was odd about it to me. It would have been a real gift to get a retelling of the editing process he used when working on a class play. Disagreements between students? Discomfort with subject matter? There is a lot more that could be explored.
Overall this was a good book, but it only achieves something great when Hedges allows someone else to be in the spotlight.