I.

To remind you where we've been, here are the notes from last class: /oneworld/arts-resistance/course-notes-monday-october-26. I think we really went deep into many of these questions and I hope we can build on our discussions of the specifics of SNCC as well as more general discussions of freedom, resisting the prison industrial complex, and inequality.

Like many of the people who have already posted, I felt a noticeable improvement in how the class ran on Friday. On a basic level, our conversations about guidelines seemed to help people feel more comfortable calling on one another to speak, and calling each other out when people spoke out of turn or spoke up too frequently. The small group format seemed to work well again, offering new members the opportunity to become more comfortable speaking to a couple people before speaking to the larger group. Though we had many activities and they were all very involved, the atmosphere felt even more laid back and informal than the last few have--we were able to laugh with each other from the very beginning, and this mood seemed to carry through until we ended class. 

Hey everyone, this is what I posted everywhere about the Mia Mingus open lunch:

LGBTQIA+ History Month starts tomorrow! We look forward to seeing you at Mia Mingus' keynote tomorrow night!

Happy November, everyone!

Despite last week being a nightmare as far as everything I needed to get done and lots of rehearsals I needed to get to, I felt much better about class than I have in several weeks. I felt like our conversation really helped give us the determination to be more straightforward with each other in class. It seemed like there was a much more open atmosphere, which really helped to alleviate the stress I have often felt in class. 

From my persective, Friday's session at the prison was an empowering, high-energy space, where people felt safe enough to express themselves. It is incredible how well breaking up into small groups has been working these last couple of sessions; it allows people who would have never spoken in a large group to speak out. We split up into three groups, two of which were discussing a scene that they would like to add into The Burial at Thebes that would change the story more in an intense way, and the third group acting out a scene that they would like to add. Everyone had a choice on whether or not they wanted to act, which gave everyone a sense of autonomy in the process. Because of this, each group truly thrived in their small section.