Friday I'm (Daydreaming)

Instead of yammering on about what's really going on (let's just say that after paying $722 in parking tickets last night, today I have to go to San Francisco Superior Court to pay $383 for a "tinted windows" ticket . . . and yes, I bought my car with the windows as they are from the Honda dealership), I'm going to talk a little about what I would be in love with if I could do as I pleased this weekend:

1. Reading

on my nightstand

2. Lying on the beach

Baker Beach in San Francisco, taken with my iPhone

3. Working on my apartment

outside of my apartment building/my back deck

Being as busy as I am, I rarely have time for things like framing prints, decorating, rearranging, etc.  Lately I've been longing to fix up my apartment a little bit . . . cause after all, I may be spending a bit more time there after I lose funding for my job!  

But tonight I'm going to see this, which I'm pretty excited about:

A Way Out consists of three short plays that offer a glimpse into the lives of women struggling to break away from cycles of abuse, incarceration and codependency, written by the women of Rising Voices.

What's going on with y'all this weekend?  Happy Friday!

Summer B.

Back in Love

It's Friday and I'm happy again!  So glad to report that I don't have to share a "not in love" list today.  It's been gorgeous this week in San Francisco, it's the end of the week, and I'm a joyful girl.

play along with Summer B

1. Etsy seller justbedesigns

I carry your heart with me small necklace

Hope is the thing with feathers necklace

Anne Sexton Poetic Charm Bracelet

Anais Nin Poetic Ring

There are many ways to my heart; two of them are poetry and jewelry.  How 'bout this stellar combination of the two?  I found the e.e. cummings necklace first (swoon!) and then came upon these other gorgeous pieces.  And it doesn't stop there--this seller has jewelry depicting Jane Austen, Alice in Wonderland, Edith Piaf, etc.  So pretty.

2. BBQ season in California

My girl Anna has a new boo and we get to meet him and give our seal of approval on Sunday!  Can't wait to peep this guy (he lives in Baltimore and flew into town last night).  

from

Bring on the soy dogs & veggies.  You gotta admit, vegetables on the grill are a pretty sight.  Even if you prefer medium rare hamburgers (barf).  You know, the last time I had a hamburger was in the 7th grade. I remember sitting at my parents' dining room table, eating a hamburger, and throwing up after.  And that was the end of a (meat-eating) era.  In any case, since I can't be with my mama on Mother's Day, I can't wait to spend Sunday the second best way: grilling, sipping, and laughing with friends.  Cheers to new love!

3. The Prison University Project at San Quentin

Here's the link.  They are amazing.  I want them to hire me. That is all.

(and if you were wondering, I am still head over heels for this dress). 

Happy weekend everyone!  Hope it's as sunny wherever you are as it is here.

So I have this student.

Teaching is supposed to be about recognizing and appreciating other viewpoints, yeah yeah yeah.  To some extent, I'm all about that.  I like to encourage my little monsters to think critically and analytically, and to propose alternatives to systems in our country that aren't working.  It's the crux of teaching social justice, I think.

But then what do you do when their opinion is just  WACK?


JJ is a shock-and-awe type of kid.  So it should not have surprised me when I was teaching alternatives to incarceration/restorative justice today and the following dialogue occurred.  


I was explaining how investing money and resources into rehabilitation would benefit taxpayers financially.  


JJ:  I don't wanna spend money on them.  They committed a crime.  They should be treated like dogs. (Important to note that I teach children of incarcerated parents--JJ's dad has been in jail and her mother is an addict).


me:  I understand your point of view.  But if we don't do anything to help, or rehabilitate these people after they've committed their crimes, then statistics show that when they are released, they will just commit the same crimes again.  And then we're spending even more money on them.


JJ:  That's why I believe we should euthanize them.


me:  Come again?


JJ:  We should just euthanize them.


me:  Huh.  So you believe we should just kill all people who commit crimes?


JJ:  Yep.  Why should they get free services when people who haven't committed crimes don't?


me:  People who haven't committed crimes do get free services.  Public health clinics, government assistance, disability, etc.  See, most people who commit crimes are empty (I draw a twinkie-like shape on the board that is empty/uncolored).  Most of them have been damaged due to abuse, neglect, overexposure to crime.  I believe it is our job as a society to help fix them.  They deserve to be whole.  So if instead of throwing them in jail or prison, where they will be brutalized and come out even more likely to commit crimes, we treat them with rehabilitation, therapy, counseling, training, etc.?   Then, upon release, they are far more likely to become contributing members of society (I draw a twinkie-like shape on the board that has been colored in: full).  


JJ:  That doesn't work.

me:  Actually, empirical data shows that recidivism rates plummet when an inmate has completed a rehabilitative/therapeutic program while incarcerated.  If we give them the tools to address the harm that they have caused, learn to speak an emotional language, and give them the training necessary to be hirable members of society, then a vast number of them, according to statistics, succeed without returning to prison.  As of now, over 60% of people who are released from prison come right back after their release.  Which means we're spending 30K per year on these people indefinitely.  If we'd just invest in rehabilitative programs for two years, we could eliminate that cost.

JJ:  Why is it 30K?

me:  Housing, food, guards--

JJ:  See they don't deserve all that.  They are in prison!

me:  They don't deserve food?

JJ:  Nope.

me:  Well, JJ, that's unrealistic.  Do you believe we should starve people to death who have committed crimes?  What about Three Strikes inmates who are in for theft/robbery/assualt?

JJ:  All it would take is one bullet.

Ay yay yay.  I don't know what to do with this one!  I'm used to fostering different viewpoints but daaaaaamn.  This girl's talkin' some wacked out dystopian novel shit.  Not really sure how to handle her. Gonna have to ponder this one for a while.  Or maybe figure out how to inject her with a dose of empathy. ;)

Compelling is an Understatement

Some of my good traits:  warm, friendly, passionate, brave, empathetic, loyal, giving.

Some of my bad traits:  prideful, vain, overly sensitive, dramatic, anxious, judgmental, and preachy.

Try to forgive me for being preachy cause I'm about to talk about another incredible documentary I just saw that has to do with prison injustice.

Yoav Potash's Crime after Crime is one of those films that will make you feel like you've done something important and powerful with your day.  My students and I were lucky enough to see an advance screening today, as well as have a Q&A session afterwards with Yoav and some of the major players in the film.

Crime after Crime

from

Debbie Peagler flanked by her two pro bono attorneys

In a nutshell: Deborah Peagler was abused by her boyfriend, Oliver, from the time she was 15.  He was extremely violent toward her, forced her into prostitution, and sexually abused her daughter.  When she finally escaped with their daughters, he and his cronies came to her door with guns blazing (and issuing death threats).  Feeling like there was no way to escape, Deborah asked two of her friends to rough him up a bit.  Unbeknownst to her, they killed Oliver.  Deborah was charged with first degree murder and given a sentence of 25 to life.  

About 26 years into her incarceration, Deborah was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.  Her two attorneys, Joshua Safran and Nadia Costa, had been working (for free!) for years toward her release.  Watch the film to see what happens--it's a gut-wrenching, inspiring, unbelievable story that leaves you astounded, among other feelings, that the fate of people's lives lies in the hands of folks like, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  

This story hit a serious chord with me, as it reminded me so much of a story I heard first-hand last summer.  

Did you know that over 80% of women in prison are there for a crime directly related to their abuse?  It is astounding.  As is the lack of empathy among so many court officials.  What exactly would they do if their lives, and those of their children, were being abused and threatened daily?  

from

Check out this woman's story.  The filmmakers need all the support they can get so that this documentary gets into the hands of lawyers, judges, and the general public (and not just the advocates for prison reform and social justice who seek out films like this).  If you're in the Bay Area, you can catch it at the SF International Film Festival now, the website is here, it's on facebook and twitter, and the film will be out this summer (in theaters, on Netflix, at festivals, etc.).

What inspiring stories have you heard lately?

High School Claire

Had a teacher asked High School Claire to write a story about the most difficult thing that had ever happened to her and read it in front of 250+ people, she would have scoffed! (and then possibly scampered off to write a very melodramatic story, but damned if she would have read it aloud in front of anyone).

1999: two of my senior portraits, heehee

But miraculously, my high school students are very different than High School Claire, cause man did they blow me (and everyone else) away when they took on that very task.  

Over the course of the semester, my ROOTS students have been writing stories and poems about their incarcerated family members.  Some were present for their parent's arrest, others spent much of their childhood visiting their fathers or mothers in state prison, some have been incarcerated themselves.

The auditorium was overflowing, and there were at least 40 people standing.  I can hardly conceive of the bravery it must have taken for these teenagers to share their words.  I wish you all could have been there, but here are some short clips to give you an idea of what it was like:

Can you see why I'm such a proud mama hen?

Hoping to return to normalcy soon . . .

Right now, all my time & energies are wrapped up in this:

My students will be sharing their stories and poems about their experiences with arrest and incarceration at this event on Thursday night.  It will be incredible (we do it every year--it always is), but let me tell you it is so much work.  Between preparing them, arranging transportation, calling parents/guardians, rehearsing their stories, and promoting the event (if you live in the Bay Area, come!), there isn't much time for anything else.

Except that 6 week grades are due today and I am working every night this week.

Wish me grace and luck and a few extra hours each day. :)

Me Facing Life

Would you believe that it was only in 2005 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled out the death penalty for juveniles?  Until then, kids could be sentenced to death for crimes they committed.

However, no such law has been established when it comes to life sentences.  There are thousands of kids in the U.S. who have been given the infamous LWOP sentence: life without parole.  Kids as young as 14 have been sentenced to prison until their natural deaths, without any chance for parole.

This evening, I went to the San Francisco Main Public Library to see a screening of a new documentary called Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story.

from

It was an incredibly compelling account of Cyntoia Brown, a Tennessee girl who, frankly, was never dealt a fair hand.  Her mother gave birth to her at age 16, and confesses that she drank heavily every day while she was pregnant.  After Cyntoia was born, her mother began using crack cocaine and prostituting, resulting in danger & instability for Cyntoia.  According to psychologists, ages 0-3 are crucial when it comes to forming attachment, trust, decision-making, etc.  

Cyntoia was eventually adopted by a friend of the family, but was sexually abused, repeatedly, starting at age 7.  It comes as no surprise that by her early teens, she was doing drugs and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

One night, having escaped her violent pimp, Cyntoia walked to a local gas station, where she was picked up by a 43 year old man looking for sex.  He took her back to his place and showed her several of his guns, and after he grabbed her forcefully, she shot and killed him.

Cyntoia, at the hearing to determine whether she would be tried as an adult

In the end, she was tried in adult court, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison.  Producer/Director Daniel Birman explores issues of biology, abuse, and social factors as they pertain to crime and sentencing.  

I urge you to watch the trailer here, and try to catch the documentary when it airs on PBS!

Monday nights at the prison

I taught my first creative writing class in a jail when I was 20.  The class offerings at the jail consisted of: Alcoholics Anonymous, a Baptist preacher's weekly visit, and my poetry class.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution came and did a news story on my class because it was such a crazy concept that any sort of arts education would be in a jail in Georgia!

From then on, I was hooked.  I got a year-long fellowship after graduating college to travel around the country teaching creative writing in prisons.  I drove across the country (my mama came with me on the drive!) to San Francisco in August of 2003 to start my first class at San Quentin State Prison--I'd turned 22 just days before I started.  So funny when I think about it.  After four months at San Quentin, I went to Miami to teach at the Federal Correctional Institution there (international druglord Manuel Noriega was there at the time!), and then drove all the way up to Vermont, where I taught classes at Chittenden County Correctional Facility, Dale Women's Facility, and Northwest State Correctional Facility, a prison with a radical sex-offender treatment program, an organic garden, and an entomology lab.  Crazy.

After the year was done, I moved to San Francisco for graduate school, got a full-time job, and taught creative writing one night at week at San Quentin as a volunteer.  I loved those classes so much.  Eventually, I was too crazy-busy to do it anymore; I was working 40+ hours a week at a group home and finishing my masters thesis, and I had to take a break from teaching at the prison.

But this past Monday night, I started up again, and it was wonderful.

I sat at a table in a classroom right off the H-Unit yard, surrounded by inmates wearing "PROPERTY OF CDC" denim shirts & pants.  One of them had written quite a bit in his life, but the rest were inexperienced with poetry.  I was teaching imagery, and shared Ezra Pound's famous poem:

                                        In a Station of the Metro
                                    
                                        The apparition of these faces in a crowd;
                                        Petals on a wet, black bough.

I yammered on and on about imagery until I was pretty sure they got it.  When I started explaining metaphor, and the metaphor that IS this poem, I said:

"There are two words that are implied in this poem.  Right between the two lines.  Pound didn't write them into the poem, but they are there--we infer them.  What are they?"

There was a long pause.  Finally, one of the guys, still looking down at the poem, said:

"are like."

And seriously, y'all--it made my whole week.

Shivers & Goosebumps

I know videos can be tedious to watch.  I often start watching a video someone's posted on facebook or a blog, and then skip to the next thing after about 30 seconds (my attention span is that of a flea's).

But as a person who teaches kids of incarcerated parents, I find this video so moving.  It made me get teary toward the end and my legs got goosebumps!  Most of my students are all too familiar with what this guy is saying in his brilliant & haunting poem.

Not to be preachy, but there are 2.4 million children in this country with a parent who is incarcerated.  If we don't intervene/step up/embrace them, it's all too clear that they're gonna slip through the cracks.

Monster Pride

Soooooo since the other day I talked about how crazy they are, I figured I better also give credit where credit is due.  I have talked about the absolutely mind-boggling (and infuriating) West Memphis Three case before, and I just gotta brag on my lil monsters that they've seriously rocked the project I assigned around the case.

They've written letters to the Arkansas Supreme Court voicing their opinions about the case . . .

expressed themselves through poetry . . .

created posters to educate others about the West Memphis Three . . .

proven that the mixtape is far from dead . . . 

as well as created pamphlets and "business cards" to hand out to folks, written newspaper articles about the WM3's new hearing, made phone calls to the state Supreme Court, and written letters to each of the three wrongfully incarcerated young men (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley).  I'm a proud mama hen!

Also:  My student Eddy has a blog for the independent study he's doing with me around capital punishment.  He only posts once a week, and he's excited to be learning (and teaching!) about the death penalty.  But when I nudge him to post more often and put more effort into his blog, he says "But Ms. Kiefer, you're my only follower!"  What do you say we fix that?  Care to follow a teenager's journey to learn about capital punishment in the U.S.?  He'd appreciate it. :)

here's his blog:  Death Row in America

Thanks, y'all!

Serious nostalgia.

My last 24 hours in New Orleans were incredible: the event went swimmingly (click here for a picture and a brief review!)--I forget that although I sometimes get nervous before talking in front of people, all the anxiety goes away as soon as I begin talking about something about which I feel passionately.  It was a great crowd, lively questions, and ultimately, I think, a great success.  Here's a pic from right before the panel discussion of me with my two college creative writing professors (so dear to me!), Peter Cooley and Dale Edmonds:

After the event, I hopped back on the street car and headed to an old haunt, the Maple Leaf, to see

There's something really liberating about wandering around a city on your own . . . so many things to do and people to meet . . . but I guess it helps being in a city you already know well.  Rebirth was, as always, incredible!  I didn't get to take any pics inside cause it was SO DARK I just knew the camera wouldn't do them justice.  I (barely) made it back to my hotel Tuesday night, and then Wednesday I experienced what may have been the highlight of my trip: lunch with old English professors.  Oh man--I was totally overcome with sweet nostalgia, and found myself wishing I was back in the Tulane English Department having conversations about Ernest Hemingway with these folks.

On the way to the airport, we stopped by my old house!

Ohhhh 7820 Birch St., how I miss you!

College is such an incredible time in your life, and you have no idea how to appreciate it while you're there.  It's the tragedy of growing up: you don't know anything else, and so you don't know to savor every single moment.  Seeing students walking around my old college campus made me almost impossibly sad, for just a minute, just knowing that I'll never be back there again.

But then it was back to the Bay Area where I got to celebrate the Giants' incredible victory over the Rangers--WHAT A GAME!--and then again last night??  I have to admit, I kind of felt sorry for the Rangers (and for Micaela and Marianne, the prettiest Rangers fans around!)--once they started walking people, it was just . . . embarrassing.

Happy Friday, and happy (soon-to-be) Halloween!

Braggin' on my Hooligans

Check out what my lil monsters have been working on in class:

After learning about the disparities among different groups of people when it comes to arrest and incarceration, they created satirical "how to" booklets based on facts about likelihood of imprisonment based on race, gender, poverty, level of education, etc.

pre-project

some of my 5th period students

post-project: they created masks based on how concepts of self-identity change upon imprisonment

I just gotta show them off once in a while.  Since they make me laugh every day and all. ;)

p.s.  go here to learn about what we're reading/studying in class.  The most egregious miscarriage of "justice" I've ever known.  

All-work-no-play

Y'all are gonna witness a very disciplined Claire this weekend.

♥

(Or rather, not witness, since I will hopefully be absent from the blog world).  As much as I'd love to spend the weekend playing around with my cronies, drinking outside in the sunshine, and taking a little beach trip, 'tis not gonna happen.  I'm gonna have my weary head in the books all weekend working on these two things:

1. Voice of Witness writing

You may remember the interviews I did in the South this summer.  I met with four amazing women who had recently been released from prison (and who were brave enough to share their stories with me).  Well, as you can imagine, those recorded interviews had to be transcribed into documents, and now they have to be whipped up into first person narratives.  Tonight is slated for continuing to immerse myself the writing styles of past Voice of Witness books, and tomorrow is all about putting pen to paper (i.e. fingertips to keyboard).  Suffice to say that Sunday I'll be taking a break for football!

2. Campaigning against this.

I don't talk about politics very often on my blog, because frankly, I hate arguing.  But fighting against the death penalty is in my blood--it's in my heart--and it's a big part of who I am.  (If the state doesn't stop the planned execution of Albert Brown, I will do a longer post on this next Tuesday, before heading to San Quentin for an evening vigil).

That said, it's Friday!  And today, my Friday loves are New Orleans themed:

Summergirl

1. Abita Purple Haze

my Whole Foods shopping cart

New Orleans-brewed Abita beer is hard to come by in San Francisco . . . which was why I was overjoyed when Summer told me I could find it at Whole Foods!  Needless to say, I picked up two 6-packs this week, and will be happily sipping away while watching the Saints/Falcons game on Sunday morning (big game for me: I grew up in Georgia, then moved to New Orleans at 18).  Have you had Purple Haze raspberry wheat beer??  If not, get yourself to a Whole Foods, stat.

2. Drew Brees

hi, I'm Drew Brees, and I'm sweet and precious and an amazing quarterback who's gonna lead the Saints in beating the Falcons this week

3.  This Louisiana girl 

is well on her way to makin' a baby!  Fingers & toes crossed, prayers sent up, chants repeated!

Happy Friday everyone--hope your weekends involve more fun than mine will!

p.s. Enter my adorable etsy giveaway!

p.p.s. Make the black bean chili I posted yesterday!

Friday I'm in Love!

Whew! Today marks the end of the infamous first week of school, so needless to say . . .

1. I'm in love with the Happy Hour that awaits me at Cha Cha Cha in the Mission in just a few short hours!

I'll be here

drinking this

2. I'm in love with all the beautiful birthday mail y'all have sent me. More on that later. Just know it's made my week so much more fun. The happy birthday gifts I've received in the mail this week include but aren't limited to: the prettiest and Claire-est postcard collage I've ever seen, a weighted hula hoop, a sweet, sentimental necklace, Sprinkles cupcake mix from the famous Southern California shop, a tiny colander, flowers, and a gift card to my favorite store (the two weirdest things on that list were from my mama). I'll share pics soon!

3. BOOKS. Now that I've finished Friday Night Lights, I've picked up an old habit again . . . reading! I'm revisiting Surviving Justice right now, as I'm preparing to shape my interviews into personal narratives. Surviving Justice is the first book in the Voice of Witness series, and is a collection of narratives from people who were wrongfully convicted, served time in prison, and were exonerated. You can order it by clicking the link above . . . it's a pretty unforgettable book.

After I'm done with this (again), I'm going straight to Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series. (I'm all about teen lit these days, ha!). I tell you what: Hunger Games was so good. All the adrenaline and excitement of *other* popular YA book series, but without the horrid, cliche-ridden, angsty, somewhat misogynistic writing (I'm talkin' to YOU, Twilight!).

4. This:

love letters sheet set from Anthropologie

It's pretty much everything I love in one: text, love, gorgeous sheets, romance, ohmygoodness. Do you think my interest in everything bed-related has something to do with school starting back up? Ha. Just a wild guess.

Check out my girl Summer B. to play along and tell us what you're in love with!

Found.

This weekend was jam-packed, as usual--full of birthdays and celebrations and farmer's market food and cocktails and friends. Friday night we partied it up for my dear friend Doro's 30th birthday at a little speakeasy called The Hideout in San Francisco, where I had Abita beer!! (Abita is a New Orleans beer, which makes me instantly nostalgic). This time, it was a happy nostalgia, because I'll get to drink all the Abita beer I want when I visit New Orleans in October, yay!!!

Yesterday was a typical Bay Area Saturday for me: a trip to the farmer's market (where I got some of the best tomatoes I've ever had), some exercise, and a play written & put on by formerly incarcerated women.

I am lucky to be part of an amazing nonprofit organization that has programming all over the Bay Area for folks who are incarcerated and/or affected by incarceration. One of Community Works' programs is called Rising Voices, which is a reentry program for 18-25 year old women who have just gotten released from jail. Rising Voices provides these women with basic needs, ongoing case management, and a creative arts internship that involves writing and performing their stories of crime, arrest, incarceration, and rehabilitation.

Last night, I saw the final performance of this dynamic show, which was comprised of all the women's original writing and the incredible direction of talented Michelle Maxson. Most of the women in the show had family members in the audience, which made it even more awe-inspiring that they told/performed their stories of drug abuse, prostitution, crime, and incarceration.

I really hope that people who've never had a loved one incarcerated seek out stories such as these. I think that if everyone was exposed to this particular type of art, the world would be full of so much more compassion. It's so easy to judge people without hearing their stories . . . but the love and the truth and the steadfastness that poured forth from these women on Saturday night was pretty incredible.

And today it was back to the East Bay to help my dearest friend Diana (one of the Cobras) move (fortunately for me, she's moving even closer to my neighborhood!), and then over to Helen & Matt's for a pizza cook off! They have a huge garden and an outdoor wood fire oven, so it was a bring-your-own-toppings-we'll-supply-the-dough type of shindig. Here are some pre-oven pics of the ones I made:

(heirloom tomato, fresh mozz, basil)

(pear, ricotta, brie, rosemary, brown butter sauce)

Delish, right? Everyone pounced on them pretty quickly. And sweet Helen even got me a red velvet cupcake--my very favorite--from Berkeley's Love at First Bite, complete with a birthday tiara in early celebration of my 29th birthday tomorrow:

(delicious AND cute)

Hope y'all had equally fun weekends! I wanna hear all about them. And wish me luck tomorrow, cause more importantly than my birthday, it's the first day of school . . . big day!

The Last Weekend Ever

Okay, it wasn't really the last weekend ever, but the last weekend before teachers have to report back to school. So it kinda feels like it.

Saturday:

My friend Missy, her friend Sogol, and I went to dinner at one of my favorite Thai places in San Francisco: Citrus Club. It's sandwiched between the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park and the intersection of Haight and Ashbury, and if you haven't had their garlic edamame, you haven't really lived.

After dinner, we walked a couple blocks up to RVCA, where there was a photo exhibit going on. Missy's friend's cousin was showing some pieces in the exhibit, so we checked it out before heading to a party later that evening. We all gave the experience mixed reviews: the photography was really interesting (though it was a small exhibit), the music was pretty terrible (hello, screamo!), and the place was crawling with the hippest hipsters in the world. Speaking of hipsters, isn't this funny?

from

And maybe even funnier?

(For Christmas that year--Freeman was 6 months old--I got him a hipster outfit. His mama dressed him up in it and sent me this amazing pic. BTW, that's a miniature plush bike lock in his pocket, courtesy of my talented friend Helen. It's for his fixie.)

We made a quick pit stop at my friend Truong's house (which is an art gallery in and of itself)--who by the way literally lives at the corner of Haight and Ashbury--and then trekked to the outer Sunset to bid farewell to one of my grad school friends, Susanna. The party involved persecco, some poetry, old friends, and good convos, so it was all in all a grand ol' time.

Sunday:

This morning I woke up feeling terribly about having spent something like 50 of the past 75 hours watching Friday Night Lights, so I decided to be productive. I dealt with some landlord stuff, mopped the floors, cleaned up a little around the house, and then sat down and transcribed one of my Voice of Witness interviews (the last woman I interviewed in Alabama). Though transcribing audio recorded interviews is incredibly tedious, it was kind of amazing to relive that experience. I remembered this woman telling me about being abandoned, molested, arrested, and incarcerated, and once again reveled in the feeling that I am so lucky.

But then it was all fun and games as I headed out to The Melting Pot for dinner with some girlfriends. When was the last time you had fondue? I hadn't been to a fondue restaurant since I was a kid, and let me tell you . . . it is an intense experience. So incredibly delicious, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to run a marathon to burn off the calories I consumed tonight. Swiss cheese fondue, spinach and artichoke fondue, vegetable fondue, chocolate peanut butter fondue . . . goodness gracious alive. Next time, I'm gonna skip the main course and stick to the cheese and chocolate. ;)

How was your weekend?

A very very good day.

Yesterday was a pretty magical day. This is how it went down:

*It started with my second acupuncture appointment with Thuy, which was even more amazing than my first. Pretty sure this is going to be an incredible addition to my routine.

*I came home relaxed from acupuncture, picked some tomatoes from the garden, and sat down with my computer and started filling out unemployment forms. I was in the midst of trying to figure them out, when . . . I got word that my job was saved! We got fully funded and I get to go back to Balboa next week!!

*I jetted across the street to get some celebratory champagne, and toasted with my roommate (and dear friend whom I LOVE) as soon as she got home.

*California lawmakers declared Prop 8, the highly controversial proposition declaring gay marriage illegal in California, unconstitutional! YAY FOR LOVE! This is such an amazing victory. I'm proud of my state.

In general good news . . .

1. I got an email from a former friend/boss at Tulane, inviting me to come to New Orleans in late October for a 5 Year Katrina Remembrance event! Dave Eggers is a keynote speaker, and there's going to be a panel about the Voice of Witness books on wrongful incarceration/exonerated people and women who've suffered abuse and neglect while in prison. I was invited to participate in the panel discussion, which includes flight/hotel/meals in New Orleans. I'm pretttttttty excited. Anyone wanna meet me here?

The Columns Hotel, aka my favorite place in New Orleans

Trying to convince Summer B to take a lil trip home and hang out with me in NOLA!

And speaking of Summer, go congratulate her on her daddy's cancer being in remission!

Lastly, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I made a damn good dinner last night to go with my celebratory champagne. You see, my mama's kinda famous for her squash casserole. Those of you who've had it know what I'm talking about it. I replicated it quite nicely, gotta say, and made a caprese salad with tomatoes from the garden. (But no, I can't take credit for growing them). Check it:

deeeeelish

nothin' like mama's squash casserole!

And lastly, I've developed an addiction, y'all. To Friday Night Lights. It's only been a few days, and I've already finished the first season, thanks to my friend Doro's Netflix Instant Watch, or whatever it's called. In particular, I've developed an addiction to the hunkiest man alive:

Tim Riggins, ladies and gentleman. Tim f'ing Riggins.

Inspired.

Yesterday I met some people I will never forget.

Some of you know about Voice of Witness, the book series spearheaded by Dave Eggers, which confronts contemporary human rights crises through oral history. There are currently four books in the series: one about people who were wrongfully convicted and exonerated from prison, one about those displaced during and after Hurricane Katrina, one about undocumented workers in the U.S., and one about Sudanese refugees. All of which are full of extremely powerful narratives from those most directly affected.

A few months ago, my friend Mimi (who is Executive Director of Voice of Witness) contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in helping work on their fifth book, which will hopefully come out next year, focusing on the abuse and neglect that many women suffer when they are incarcerated. Of course, I agreed.

Yesterday I got up at 5 am and drove to Montgomery, Alabama to meet with two women at the AIM (Aid for Inmate Mothers) center downtown. I prepared my (incredibly futuristic) audio recorder and sat down with the first woman I was to interview. To say that she silenced me with her strength, resilience, and grace would be a drastic understatement.

The same thing happened with the next woman I interviewed. And then I drove to Birmingham, and was once again stunned by the story that came forth from this woman. All three of them had spirits & bodies that had been crushed, and all three of them were humble, gracious, and so unbelievably brave.

After I left the last woman's hot, humid living room in Birmingham, where we sat together swatting flies and in the loud hum of her fan, I drove to a Cracker Barrel and had dinner by myself in rural Alabama (sweet tea, fried okra, macaroni & cheese, and red skin potatoes). How's that for country? I figured I could use the time to sit alone and think about my new heroes.

Man, are most of us so, so lucky.

If you feel so inclined . . .

As most of you know, the funding for my job has been cut entirely for next year. San Francisco's Department of Children, Youth, and Families--our primary funders--are currently revising their budget proposal, which means that they're literally in the process of deciding which programs to reconsider funding. So crucial!

The chairman of the Board of Supervisors is John Avalos, SF City Supervisor for District 11 (the district my high school's in!). Imagine my surprise when I walked into our graduation ceremony today and the program said:

Keynote Speaker: John Avalos

Avalos speaking at our graduation today

I immediately texted one of my 5th period rascals and asked if he was still in the neighborhood. When he confirmed that he was, I snuck him in the back door of graduation and we planned a sneak attack. When Avalos was done speaking, MP and I bombarded him on the way out the side door paparazzi-style. MP said "Can I please have five minutes of your time?" Avalos nodded and we gathered in the hall, where Matt and I serenaded him with all the reasons he needs to rally for funding for ROOTS! Avalos gave me a business card with two email addresses on it, and suggested I send another "mini proposal" to each of them.

My boss (who is working tirelessly to save ROOTS) says that what we need to be doing right now is overwhelming the Board of Supervisors and Maria Su--the head of DCYF (our funders!)--pleading that they add back our program. This means that we need to get in as many calls and emails as possible! Those of you know me or my students, and/or who have any personal connection with the effects of incarceration . . . if you have just two minutes to leave a message with Supervisor Avalos or Maria Su (the head honcho at DCYF), I'd be eternally grateful:

John Avalos

San Francisco City Supervisor, District 11

(415) 554-6975

john.avalos@sfgov.org

Maria Su

Director, Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF)

(415) 554-3547

maria@dcyf.org

Here is the email I just sent off to John Avalos:

Hi Supervisor Avalos,

Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to my student, MP, and me this afternoon at Balboa's graduation. I know that it's a frenzied time of year, and everyone's pressed for time (and money!), but it meant so much to us to have your ear for a few minutes to chat about Community Works' ROOTS program.

I've taught ROOTS, a program at Balboa High School for children of incarcerated parents, for the past four years. Honestly, there are far more students at Balboa who've been impacted by incarceration than I can serve. I've been so fortunate to teach as many of them as possible for the past four years, and I beg you to rally for Community Works to get the necessary funding to keep us going for another year.

Most of my students are classified Special Education, many have severe emotional disturbances, and all have been wrecked by the prison system (their family members have been incarcerated, and many of them have been incarcerated in juvenile hall themselves). I wish you could have seen them pile into the auditorium at CIIS last month, and read their brave, eloquent stories about witnessing their parents' arrest and incarceration in front of 200 people. It was moving, to say the least. They have such a capacity to shine; they just need individualized attention and special accommodations to access their feelings about incarceration. I believe with all my heart that programs like ROOTS are the most successful tools in interrupting the cycle of incarceration that plagues our society (and specifically, our young people in District 11).

Please encourage DCYF to fund Community Works' ROOTS program at Balboa High School. The amount of money we are requesting is marginal, comparatively, and it would earn four times its value in success and heart--I promise.

I will send a "mini proposal" to Peter Masiak and Raquel Redondiez, as you requested. Thank you again!

Claire Kiefer

Community Works ROOTS Teacher

Balboa High School

Please keep your fingers crossed that we get good news. I just can't bear the thought of not being here next year, teaching my little monsters. It's unimaginable. :(

Thank you!