College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of the nation’s largest jails

CHICAGO -- For assemblage elder Nana Ampofo, an unconventional publication nine wrong 1 of the nation’s largest jails has transformed her vocation ambitions.

Each week, the 22-year-old drives a van of her DePaul University peers to Cook County Jail to sermon books with inmates and recently, the well-known activistic Sister Helen Prejean. Ampofo comes prepared with thought-provoking questions to motorboat the conversations astatine the Chicago jailhouse astir the astir caller books they've been speechmaking together.

One nine regularisation is clear: Discussions astir idiosyncratic lives are encouraged, but nary questions are permitted astir wherefore different members are successful jail.

“That’s portion of dehumanizing people. You privation radical to archer you their ain communicative and person their ain autonomy,” Ampofo said. “When you spell successful with an unfastened mind, you spot however akin radical are to you.”

The student-led unpaid effort started years agone arsenic an offshoot of a DePaul programme offering assemblage recognition classes astatine the jailhouse connected the city's southwest broadside for students and detainees. The publication club, with a caller cohort each world quarter, tackles books that resonate personally with radical members who are astir each Black oregon Latino.

Associated Press journalists were allowed into the jailhouse Monday to observe the existent club’s last gathering to sermon Prejean’s publication “Dead Man Walking,” wherever the Louisiana anti-death punishment activistic made a peculiar appearance. The book, which was besides adapted into a movie and an opera, is astir her experiences arsenic a spiritual advisor to a brace of men connected decease enactment successful the 1980s.

Sitting successful a ellipse wrong a window-filled jailhouse chapel, 10 inmates successful tan jail-issued uniforms sat among 4 assemblage students and Prejean, who visits the Catholic assemblage successful Chicago each year.

Ampofo, who advocated for Prejean's visit, cried erstwhile she talked astir however important the radical members and their discussions are to her. Laughter erupted erstwhile Prejean told a vulgar gag involving Louisiana bayou people characters. And determination were fierce nods erstwhile Steven Hayer, a detainee, discussed wherefore galore inmates instrumentality to jail.

“Our nine doesn’t put successful solutions,” helium said. “And erstwhile they get out, they volition spell backmost to what they know.”

Book nine members seized the accidental to inquire Prejean questions, including differences betwixt the publication and movie and what it's similar to ticker radical die.

The 85-year-old nun has been contiguous for 7 executions. Her archival papers are housed astatine DePaul, including publication notes for the 1995 movie starring Susan Sarandon.

After witnessing her archetypal execution, Prejean said she threw up, but decided that being with radical successful their last moments was a privilege.

“When you’ve been a witnesser to thing past that occurrence begins to pain successful your bosom for justness that we’ve got to alteration this,” she said.

As a achromatic pistillate who grew up successful the South, Prejean said her situation enactment opened her eyes astir racism.

Most of the detained members of the publication nine are Black, mirroring demographics of the jail, which houses astir 5,000 detainees. Roughly 70% of inmates are progressive successful immoderate benignant of acquisition programming similar the publication club, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

But having assemblage pupil information sets the publication nine isolated from different activities.

“When you each of a abrupt person students from the outside, sitting adjacent to you, you commencement reasoning of yourself different,” said Dart. “It changes mentalities.”

Detainees are invited to enactment based connected their interests, helium said. Their behaviour connected the wrong determines their quality to join, not what they are serving clip for, helium added. Health issues are besides taken into consideration.

The jail's hold database to get into the nine has been up to 40 people.

Jarvis Wright, who has been detained astatine Cook County for 2 years, said he’s a scholar but had ne'er been successful a publication nine before. The 30-year-old reads astatine nighttime erstwhile it’s quiescent astatine the jail. The different publication nine picks included “The Color of Law,” which delves into lodging segregation.

“Even though we’re sitting successful present incarcerated doing time, awaiting proceedings for our cases, this gives america thing affirmative to look guardant to,” Wright said. “We’re not successful present conscionable wasting time.”

DePaul has offered assemblage classes done a nationalist programme called the Inside-Out Prison Exchange since 2012. Classes are held astatine some the Cook County Jail and the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum information men’s situation astir 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago.

During publication club, information guards are present, but nary 1 is shackled.

Helen Damon-Moore, who oversees the jailhouse acquisition programs astatine DePaul, says determination has ne'er been a information issue.

“They are each adjacent erstwhile they’re inside,” Damon-Moore said.

Stanley Allen, a 36-year-old detainee, said helium was drawn to the nine due to the fact that it was linked to a college. He hopes to instrumentality classes for recognition successful the future. For him, the astir astonishing portion of the nine was gathering the assemblage students and Prejean.

“There’s truly bully radical retired there,” helium said.

Other publication nine members accidental the acquisition has brought them close.

“I consciousness similar I’m talking to a clump of my brothers,” Seven Clark, a DePaul sophomore from Chicago, told the group. “They mode you speech is truthful familiar. It feels similar home.”

Ampofo volition instrumentality to the jailhouse by week's extremity erstwhile a caller nine focusing connected the Black women's penning begins. It’s a taxable that resonates with her arsenic the American-born girl of a Ghanian migrant mom.

The archetypal to postgraduate precocious schoolhouse successful her family, Ampofo is readying connected postgraduate schoolhouse to further prosecute depository studies. She dreams of improving entree to museums for incarcerated radical and their families.

“I privation to instrumentality attraction of people,” she said. “And I recovered the radical I privation to instrumentality attraction of.”