“You Know Too Much, So No.”
Mike is a young man in prison who uses his as time studying so that when he leaves he’ll have something to contribute to his family and his community. He studied cooking when he was in high school and went on to being certified in this culinary art. He since studied business electronics and other areas to lift his levels of skill.
He applied for a Pell Prant at the state prison in Mahanoy to take a college course in business, but guess what? Prison officials denied his application. Why? Because, they said, he knew enough, therefore he didn’t need it. Unbelievable.
When prisoners come to prison, one thing and one thing only stops them from returning to prison. Education. The more you know, the less you’ll find yourself returning to the dead end of prison. And it isn’t like the classrooms here are bursting at the seams, for out of 20 men who initially applied for Pell Grants and college courses, about five have continued in their studies. The rest? They’ve dropped out.
Education really works against recidivism. Maybe that’s why they really don’t want Mike to go to college.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
