To find purpose in life is a challenge for everyone, but it is easier for us because we have millions of things to participate in that can give our lives meaning. We have sports, families, relationships, classes, jobs, movies, cars, and well almost anything we could possibly want. M. is right though, it is not the responsibility of the prison to give inmates' lives meaning just like it is not the world's job to give our lives meaning. It is always interesting for me to read these letters, because the lifers speak about so many things we as those on the "outside" take for granted. We discover who we are each day by making mistakes, some bigger than others. And we grow because we are not only forgiven but given the chance to try again. This chance was forfeited by the lifers when they made perhaps life's biggest mistake. So now, they must not only spend the rest of their mortal lives behind bars, they must find a new way to grow and find purpose.

I never thought about what my purpose in life is, but the difference between M. and me is that I have my entire life to figure it out; he has his entire life to wonder what his could have been. That its not to say that a lifer's life has not purpose, it is to point out that it will just be a very different journey to find out what it is. I believe what Ecclesiastes says about purpose. "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun." There is hope in that, because whatever purpose M. finds in life, that is the time for it. If he finds that his purpose is to help new lifers stay out of trouble, than it is time for that. And for each of us, there is a time and a reason for everything we find ourselves doing whether it be to learn, to teach, to entertain, to be entertained, or to change in some way. We each have a purpose, and I think M.'s letter makes us all think about what that purpose might be and when we will figure it out.

Having not really followed or been interested in the war before recently, talking to Bossum was really enlightening for me. There were a couple of things that he said that I didn't expect to hear. I got the opportunity to listen to Bossum speak in the SOC 001 class as well, and he was just as open and honest with us then as he was in 119. He talked about how may Iraqi's felt that the United States was at fault for the war and that the U.S. brought the terrorists to Iraq. For the longest time, I thought we were at war with Iraq, not Al Queda. For such a long time, they seemed to be one and the same. Bossum clarified that for me. I was surprised to hear him say that there were not terrorists in Iraq before the war, but at the same time the Iraqi people were thankful for it in the beginning because at first it was worth having Americans there because they got rid of Saddam. The difference between what Bossum said about the war and what American media has fed us for the past 10 years is quite shocking.

Another thing that he said that was surprising was that many Iraqi's don't have electricity, and that there has been almost no progress for the Iraqi people since the war started. The Iraqi people recognize that they should be getting billions of dollars for all of the oil that is being mined from their land but instead that money is going to pay government salaries. It was shocking to hear that between 2003 and 2011 $291 billion dollars worth of oil was mined from Iraqi soil yet the Iraqi people had not seen a cent of that money. Bossum said that no roads, dams, bridges, or hospitals have been built. The promise of progress that the Iraqi people were given has not been met or even addressed since oil drilling began over 50 years ago. To me, that is shocking.

As far as appearance, Bossum's surprised me a little bit. I suppose I expected him to be wearing some sort of traditional Muslim clothing, but I suppose that's because that is the image of Iraqis we are presented with in the United States. But when Bossum started speaking, I realized that he isn't really any different from an average American. He worries about his children getting home safe at night, he wants peace and freedom for his country and his family, and he went to school to get a degree and a job that would support his family. Bossum is your uncle, your father, your brother, and your friend. Bossum is all of us, because he represents an average person anywhere in the world. I think that is the most important lesson I learned from listening to Bossum to speak; we are all people who want the same things no matter where we're from or what religion we practice.

This reminds me of the idea that just because someone has committed a crime doesnt mean you should treat them like a criminal. As we move through life, we pick up all sorts of labels. When you go to college, you obtain the label of partier whether you drink or not. When you play a sport you are an athlete in addition to all of the negative stereotypes that come with that such as not being intelligent or only being in school to play a sport. If you are an artist or a musician, people see you as part of some eccentric subculture. If you skateboard to class, people may automatically assume that you listen to punk rock music, wear tight jeans and shoes that are too big, and talk in some kind of unique language that your parents will never understand. I guess the lesson about criminals should apply to all of us. Just because you do something doesnt mean that that is who you are. I work at a dining hall, but my friends dont treat me like Im the kid serving them food at fourth meal on thirsty Thursday.

This reminds me of the idea that just because someone has committed a crime doesn’t mean you should treat them like a criminal. As we move through life, we pick up all sorts of labels. When you go to college, you obtain the label of “partier” whether you drink or not. When you play a sport you are an “athlete” in addition to all of the negative stereotypes that come with that such as not being intelligent or only being in school to play a sport. If you are an “artist” or a “musician”, people see you as part of some eccentric subculture. If you skateboard to class, people may automatically assume that you listen to punk rock music, wear tight jeans and shoes that are too big, and talk in some kind of unique language that your parents will never understand. I guess the lesson about criminals should apply to all of us. Just because you do something doesn’t mean that that is who you are. I work at a dining hall, but my friends don’t treat me like I’m the kid serving them food at fourth meal on thirsty Thursday.

When I started working at Redifer, one of the most shocking things for me was the reactions I got when I started telling other people. Some would say that it was great and others wouldn’t. The most striking response I got was from a freshman that had just joined a leadership organization I was a part of. He was talking about how he needed a job but couldn’t find one. I happily told him that the dining halls were hiring and conveniently located on campus. He looked at me and said, “I don’t want to work in a dining hall,” When I asked why, his response was something along the lines of, “I don’t know I wouldn’t want my friends to see me serving food.” I was completely shocked. Here was a kid who wanted a job, but decided that he was above serving food. As a newly employed food server, I was not only shocked but very offended. By alluding to the fact that he was too good to work at a dining hall, he implied without even realizing it that he thought he was better than me. Perhaps that is a stretch, but you get the point. This kid was the picture perfect example of someone who immediately thought about how others would see him if he worked at a dining hall. He was a willing victim of the looking glass self. I think J.V.G’s lesson here is that we are all people trying to move through life in one way or another and instead of labeling each other and ourselves; we should simply be and let others be as well.

The Denzel Washington film Terrell was referring to was “Remember the Titans.” On the surface, a movie about a football team; but underneath not only a true story but a commentary on race relations in the United States, “Remember the Titans” taught more than one valuable lesson to moviegoers. To say that schools are more segregated now than they were in the early 1970s doesn’t really surprise me when I stop and think about it. Schools were segregated then, because it was the law. They’re segregated now, because society changed to make it so. I didn’t want to believe that when Terrell said it, but when I realized that I grew up in an area and in a school system where most of the kids were white, I realized he was right. I don’t really know what to do with this knowledge though. Should we be trying harder to integrate schools, or should we simply let things exist as they are? Is there even a way to fix it? Do people want to fix it? Are schools segregated because of where they are located; are there no schools in places where there is an equal number of black and white students? I don’t know.

What I do know is that by integrating schools in the 70s black students learned about white culture and white students learned about black culture. If there is any truth to the story of the Titans, there must be some reason why integration succeeds at certain times in history but fails at others. Now, the concern of the United States is not really on integration, equality of opportunity, and race. At this moment in history, our leaders are focused on the war in Iraq, sustainable energy, and how to renew resources that are simply not renewable. We are concerned with religious differences instead of race differences. Perhaps that is an explanation for why integration in schools seems to have fallen off of the list of things that need to be done in our country. We’re simply preoccupied with more pressing matters. We’re worried about the housing market and the failing economy instead of our citizens and their day to day lives.

A football team changed a city, what is it going to take now to change the present? Integration was the most important political social and political issue in the early 70s, of course levels of integration would be higher. Right now, one of the most important political and social issues is how we are going to get oil from the Middle East, so of course we’re going to be invading other countries more now than we were in the 70s. I think it works kind of like that. The time in history is an important factor in what society thinks our leaders should be doing. I don’t think forgetting about integration is a good thing or a bad thing; it’s just not what society is concerned with right now. I suppose the question here is: should it be?

This reminds me of the idea that just because someone has committed a crime doesn’t mean you should treat them like a criminal. As we move through life, we pick up all sorts of labels. When you go to college, you obtain the label of “partier” whether you drink or not. When you play a sport you are an “athlete” in addition to all of the negative stereotypes that come with that such as not being intelligent or only being in school to play a sport. If you are an “artist” or a “musician”, people see you as part of some eccentric subculture. If you skateboard to class, people may automatically assume that you listen to punk rock music, wear tight jeans and shoes that are too big, and talk in some kind of unique language that your parents will never understand. I guess the lesson about criminals should apply to all of us. Just because you do something doesn’t mean that that is who you are. I work at a dining hall, but my friends don’t treat me like I’m the kid serving them food at fourth meal on thirsty Thursday.

When I started working at Redifer, one of the most shocking things for me was the reactions I got when I started telling other people. Some would say that it was great and others wouldn’t. The most striking response I got was from a freshman that had just joined a leadership organization I was a part of. He was talking about how he needed a job but couldn’t find one. I happily told him that the dining halls were hiring and conveniently located on campus. He looked at me and said, “I don’t want to work in a dining hall,” When I asked why, his response was something along the lines of, “I don’t know I wouldn’t want my friends to see me serving food.” I was completely shocked. Here was a kid who wanted a job, but decided that he was above serving food. As a newly employed food server, I was not only shocked but very offended. By alluding to the fact that he was too good to work at a dining hall, he implied without even realizing it that he thought he was better than me. Perhaps that is a stretch, but you get the point. This kid was the picture perfect example of someone who immediately thought about how others would see him if he worked at a dining hall. He was a willing victim of the looking glass self. I think J.V.G’s lesson here is that we are all people trying to move through life in one way or another and instead of labeling each other and ourselves; we should simply be and let others be as well.

This reminds me of the idea that just because someone has committed a crime doesn’t mean you should treat them like a criminal. As we move through life, we pick up all sorts of labels. When you go to college, you obtain the label of “partier” whether you drink or not. When you play a sport you are an “athlete” in addition to all of the negative stereotypes that come with that such as not being intelligent or only being in school to play a sport. If you are an “artist” or a “musician”, people see you as part of some eccentric subculture. If you skateboard to class, people may automatically assume that you listen to punk rock music, wear tight jeans and shoes that are too big, and talk in some kind of unique language that your parents will never understand. I guess the lesson about criminals should apply to all of us. Just because you do something doesn’t mean that that is who you are. I work at a dining hall, but my friends don’t treat me like I’m the kid serving them food at fourth meal on thirsty Thursday.

When I started working at Redifer, one of the most shocking things for me was the reactions I got when I started telling other people. Some would say that it was great and others wouldn’t. The most striking response I got was from a freshman that had just joined a leadership organization I was a part of. He was talking about how he needed a job but couldn’t find one. I happily told him that the dining halls were hiring and conveniently located on campus. He looked at me and said, “I don’t want to work in a dining hall,” When I asked why, his response was something along the lines of, “I don’t know I wouldn’t want my friends to see me serving food.” I was completely shocked. Here was a kid who wanted a job, but decided that he was above serving food. As a newly employed food server, I was not only shocked but very offended. By alluding to the fact that he was too good to work at a dining hall, he implied without even realizing it that he thought he was better than me. Perhaps that is a stretch, but you get the point. This kid was the picture perfect example of someone who immediately thought about how others would see him if he worked at a dining hall. He was a willing victim of the looking glass self. I think J.V.G’s lesson here is that we are all people trying to move through life in one way or another and instead of labeling each other and ourselves; we should simply be and let others be as well.

This reminds me of the idea that just because someone has committed a crime doesn’t mean you should treat them like a criminal. As we move through life, we pick up all sorts of labels. When you go to college, you obtain the label of “partier” whether you drink or not. When you play a sport you are an “athlete” in addition to all of the negative stereotypes that come with that such as not being intelligent or only being in school to play a sport. If you are an “artist” or a “musician”, people see you as part of some eccentric subculture. If you skateboard to class, people may automatically assume that you listen to punk rock music, wear tight jeans and shoes that are too big, and talk in some kind of unique language that your parents will never understand. I guess the lesson about criminals should apply to all of us. Just because you do something doesn’t mean that that is who you are. I work at a dining hall, but my friends don’t treat me like I’m the kid serving them food at fourth meal on thirsty Thursday.

When I started working at Redifer, one of the most shocking things for me was the reactions I got when I started telling other people. Some would say that it was great and others wouldn’t. The most striking response I got was from a freshman that had just joined a leadership organization I was a part of. He was talking about how he needed a job but couldn’t find one. I happily told him that the dining halls were hiring and conveniently located on campus. He looked at me and said, “I don’t want to work in a dining hall,” When I asked why, his response was something along the lines of, “I don’t know I wouldn’t want my friends to see me serving food.” I was completely shocked. Here was a kid who wanted a job, but decided that he was above serving food. As a newly employed food server, I was not only shocked but very offended. By alluding to the fact that he was too good to work at a dining hall, he implied without even realizing it that he thought he was better than me. Perhaps that is a stretch, but you get the point. This kid was the picture perfect example of someone who immediately thought about how others would see him if he worked at a dining hall. He was a willing victim of the looking glass self. I think J.V.G’s lesson here is that we are all people trying to move through life in one way or another and instead of labeling each other and ourselves; we should simply be and let others be as well.

This is a fascinating letter. C. takes the time to not only hold himself accountable for his own actions but also take the time to speak on behalf of other men. A man just like the one C. described sounds like the perfect man, one that any woman would dream of being with. But the part of this that bothers me is when he says he didn’t realize all of these things until it was too late for him to become this man, until he was already sentenced to spend his life in prison. I wonder who’s fault it is that this type of man isn’t more prominent in our society. As a woman, I cannot even count the number of friends I have who say they just wish they could meet a nice guy or a guy who isn’t an asshole. Okay, but who’s fault is it that men don’t treat women like C. described?

We can certainly blame poignant media messages about women and their bodies; we can blame a man’s inherent aggressiveness and sexuality. We can blame music videos made by men. As a woman, I have always been just fine blaming men for the plights of the majority of women, because in a very large way, our society is run by white men. It seems as though women appear to want sex and money, because that’s what many men seem to want and women are fighting for equality in a man’s world and therefore must want the same things men want in order to be seen as equals. But, I never thought about whether women actually had anything to do with the misunderstanding between what men want and what women want. Can we blame women for how messed up our men seem to be? Feminists and many women in general would say no. They would say that we as women do things to please men, because we want a good man. But we don’t take conscious steps to make what we want clear. We wear provocative clothing to attract men, but I have found by befriending many good guys that they don’t want a girl whose ass sticks out of the bottom of her “dress.” When women dress a certain way and spend money on expensive things that they “need” what are men supposed to think of us? Are they supposed to be able to see past superficiality and into our hearts? I know that’s what a lot of women wish for, but it’s not going to happen.

I think a joint effort that needs to occur to open lines of communication between men and women so that women begin acting in a way that reflects what they really want and men can then respond to that by behaving the way C. described. I would be interested to hear a female inmate offer her thoughts of what a woman is and ought to be.

To me, “terrorism” has almost become a pop culture term in the United States over the past ten years. We’re in a war against “terrorism,” looking for Al Queda “terrorists” in Iraq, and fighting to preserve the freedom that we as Americans are all so lucky to have. But what is terrorism, really? To me, terrorism is senseless spreading of fear among a group of people. A terrorist as Michael Cane said in the most recent Batman movie said is, “Someone who just wants to watch the world burn.” These people are you killers who will kill anyone for any reason or no reason at all, who enjoy killing simply because it makes people afraid. To me, this isn’t ever person in Iraq, or every Muslim man I see. Forgive me if I am being “um-American,” but one could argue that the men who attacked the United States were not intending to spread terror without motivation. In Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans are probably seen as terrorists with their machine guns, marching patterns, and Humvees, but we would all cringe at the thought be being called terrorists ourselves.

This question about terrorism brings to mind a lecture I heard last semester about suicide bombing. I talked about this in my discussion group, but I think it’s worth mentioning here too. We look at the conflict in Iraq, the September 11th attacks from the perspective of Americans. But what does that mean? That means we look at war from the perspective of a country with the largest organized military in the world. We look at war from our television sets and listen to it on our radios. We gladly pay taxes so that our military can have a budget that allows them to find more “humane” ways of killing that don’t include suicide bombing. We look at 9/11 with shock, anger, fear, and confusion. We look at the men who fly planes into buildings as terrorists. We look at young men strapping bombs to their backs and immediately think terrorist, but we look at young American strapping machine guns to their bodies and call them heroes.

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the Iraqis have no way to protect their homeland other than by producing IED’s and encouraging suicide bombers? Other countries can’t afford the luxury of a military unit because their economies have fallen and their people are destitute and impoverished. We condemn the military tactics of a nation who has no other way to fight for their cause when we are simply doing the same thing. If we look at it from an unbiased perspective, blaming the war on “terrorism” really isn’t a convincing explanation. So when we point a finger and shout terrorist at a woman in a hijab or an Arab in the airport, perhaps we should look in the mirror and wonder if we are terrorists too.

One could argue that the United States has a noble cause for invading Iraq, after all people who associate with the Middle Eastern region attacked us first. But no matter what the reasoning is, being around people with lethal weapons is not a pleasant experience no matter what the circumstance. I was in London at Heathrow Airport two weeks before the bombings there. When I went to Paris, we had to pass armed men to get to the Eiffel Tower because they feared “terrorists” attacking the symbol of their nation. But what they didn’t know is that they were spreading terror among all visitors simply with their intimidating presence. Perhaps we should consider that the next time we hear of an American military unit invading a new city.