Chris Hedges on trauma & teaching writing in prison

 

Since 2013, Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and host of The Chris Hedges Report, has taught college courses in drama, literature, philosophy, and history at East Jersey State Prison (aka “Rahway”) and other New Jersey prisons. In one such course, after reading plays by Amiri Baraka and August Wilson, among others, Hedges’ students wrote a play of their own. The play, “Caged,” would eventually be published and performed at The Passage Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey, for a month-long run in 2018 to sold-out audiences. In his latest book, “Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison,” Hedges chronicles the journey he and his class embarked on together. Joining Mansa Musa on Rattling the Bars, Hedges speaks about his book and the transformations he witnessed among the men he taught behind prison walls.

 

Chris Hedges is the former Middle East bureau chief of The New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a columnist at ScheerPost. He formerly hosted the program Days of Revolt, produced by TRNN, and currently hosts The Chris Hedges Report. Hedges is the author of several books, including “America: The Farewell Tour”; “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America,” and “Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison.” Read the transcript of this video: https://therealnews.com/chris-hedges-… Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

 

 

Extremely important Chris is to get students to write about trauma, real experiences. It is for most of us therapy , a breakthrough of communication of trauma. Again, thank you for being the example for all of is, a man with a moral compass. PLEASE RUN FOR PRESIDENT. (CHUCKLES) It is a dream for many of us. THANK YOU.
I read that play “Caged” a couple of years ago. It was very good. Much better than I was expecting. Such a sad story, but a very important story and play. I highly recommend everyone read it.
Mr. Hedges goes directly to the defining features of the U.S. It’s really nice that he can account for the humanity in one of the most systematically inhumane systems.
Of course they need to silence Chris Hedges. He’s legitimate.
Excellent interview. Not easy to see the subject matters through the context of the prison system unless one has been in it.
<– found a copy of “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” I should read it sooner than later!