By Hannah Keppers

They opened with a guided mediation, asking the guests to close their eyes and sit “if it’s comfortable” facing forward, both feet on the floor, eyes closed. After a second or two, in silence they begin guiding us through the intake experience. The smell, the cell doors, the fingerprints, the strip search.

I was there. I have been there. I could smell it.

This project, though it took place within the walls of San Francisco’s jail’s was in a sense a freedom project. Though they had certain hours they were allowed to be in that space and were called out for meals and other various reasons and were not allowed to use certain items or access to the internet as a resource to draw images and information from; they had a taste of freedom.

The inmates, all black women. Were asked to tell their own stories. I can imagine this alone was a somewhat freeing experience. I wonder how often those women had ever been asked about themselves, about their wellbeing. The project centered on HIV awareness and the girls first wrote stories of how they were affected by HIV in their lives, and then created short digital stories:

“Fun Girl” a promiscuous girl finds out a former partner has been infected, though she so far had not been, she speaks directly to young girls, giving a warning that careless sex and drug use is not cool.

“I’m a Survivor” a former IV drug user talks about the number of people she shared needles with and talks about the danger associated with that behavior and thanks god she is well today.

“Love” a girl tells the story of her brother who died of HIV/AIDS and talks about the phobia around the disease and how it affects those who have it. She makes a plea for compassion and acceptance.

Isela Ford, the former director of this project, had been working in public health, as a part of her job she went into jails and prisons and spoke to inmates about health, safety and disease prevention. She talks about how in doing this project she came to realize that we were all experts in our own right, of our own stories, and how much she learned, and everyone could learn if they slowed down and took the time to listen to some “smaller” less visible voices. Listen to the stories of the challenged and the oppressed and you will learn something about the world and about yourself in turn.

This inspired me to work in some kind of artful expression project into the reentry program I work for. I talked to one of the facilitators afterward and got some ideas for how to go about working this into treatment plans. The idea that art can allow for communication and release of things that are damaging is not a new idea, but I do think the idea that these women have something to say that is valuable for the world to hear is new. I hope to take what I learned here and help give power and validation to the “small” voices of the women within my reentry program.