Here’s How I Use My Story to Teach Incarcerated Kids That Writing Matters [themarshallproject.org]

Porter Jennings-McGarity 10/25/2312:30 PM

By Bobby Bostic, Illustration: Douglas Lopes/The Marshall Project, The Marshall Project, October 20, 2023

Recently, at one of the writing workshops that I teach at three juvenile lockups in and around my hometown of St. Louis, one of my students posed a provocative question:

“Why should I write about changing the world when the world doesn’t care about me?”

The tall, lanky 16-year-old asked his question in a slow, rebellious twang that reminded me of how I spoke as a child.

“You should write about changing the world so that the world can start caring about you,” I quickly responded.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said.

[Please click here to read more.]

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