Christina: Coming up on Inside
California Education:
Community Colleges
Actor: Why are you
pulling a gun on me?
Why are you pulling a gun on me?
You don'’t know me, even when I'’m
standing right in front of you.
You don'’t see me.
You see through me, as if I
don'’t exist.
Christina: An experimental
theater group from Los Angeles
Southwest College creates a
powerful, online video
performance about police
relations with the
Black community....written
entirely by the students
JONATHAN EVANS: And I
think that's one reason our
experimental theater lab has
been so successful.
It's student-driven, it's
student-created work.
Darletta Mitchell: We had no
choice.
It had to be told it had to be,
um, addressed.
Christina: Discover how students
who'’ve done time behind bars get
a second chance at higher
education at Solano Community
College in Fairfield...one of
dozens of re-entry programs
across California offering a
path from incarceration
to graduation.
Edwin McCaskie: Education is
very, very important, um, and it
gives us freedom.
Celia Esposito-Noy: The fact is,
is that when folks have done
their time, they've done their
time.
Christina: And discover how
MiraCosta College created the
first social work degree program
that'’s entirely online...
opening up new careers paths to
students in San Diego County
Sean Davis: These are the jobs
and the careers and the
positions that are really
helping our local communities.
Christina: It'’s all next...on
Inside California Education:
Community Colleges
Annc: Inside California
Education:
Community Colleges
is made possible by:
College Futures Foundation
believes nothing is more
transformative for
individuals and our society
than an educational opportunity.
We partner with organizations
and leaders across California to
help students earn college
degrees regardless of zip code,
skin color, or income.
More information at
collegefutures.org.
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
JONATHAN EVANS: I
thought at the time
there was no way for
theater to survive.
I thought that we needed to take
a break and theatrical work
would literally pause.as the
streets sort of cleared and
things became like a ghost town.
JASON: WHEN COVID-19 HIT IN
EARLY 2020... LOS ANGELES
SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHUT
DOWN THE CAMPUS.
LAPTOPS WERE HANDED OUT AND
CLASSES WENT ONLINE.
SO HOW DO YOU HAVE A THEATER
PROGRAM WITH STUDENTS ALL
TAKING CLASSES REMOTELY?
JONATHAN EVANS: ...but then I
realized my group, my ensemble
here at Los Angeles, Southwest
college, they were stronger
than that.
And they saw through that
difficulty.
JASON: FOR THE STUDENTS HERE,
NO STAGE DOES á*NOTá*
MEAN NO PERFORMANCE.
IN THE WAKE OF GEORGE FLOYD'’S
DEATH, AS THE COUNTRY GRAPPLED
WITH RACE RELATIONS, STUDENTS
FOUND A WAY TO MAKE THEIR
VOICES HEARD.
THEY PRODUCED AN ORIGINAL SHOW
CALLED '‘THE THREAT.'’ IT'’S A
POWERFUL, EVOCATIVE ONLINE VIDEO
PRODUCTION -— INSPIRED BY
CURRENT EVENTS -— TACKLING
POLICE RELATIONS WITH
THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
Actor: Those 8 minutes and 46
seconds felt like 8 years, as I
felt myself going.
DARLETTA MITCHELL SHERMAN:
Well, it it's, it's like right
in our backyard,
front yard, you know, um,
up the street on our street.
So we had no choice.
It had to be told it had to be,
addressed.
Actor: The cop in front of
him slapped the soda
out of his hand.
The cop behind him grabs him,
slams him face first in the
concrete and breaks his nose.
CRAIG MITCHELL SHERMAN: I
remember driving on my first day
at work, my grandfather's
Cadillac six in the morning to
go to work.
And I'm pulled over to ask to be
asked, is this my car?
And I'm afraid.
I'm very afraid because you
don't have to just fear
the gangs now.
You fear someone who has a job
that was supposed to protect
you, and that might not happen.
Actors: Too many black people
are dying.
Too many black people are dying.
Too many black people are dying.
DR SEHER AWAN: Our students are
from more disadvantaged
populations.
We are predominantly serving
students of color at Southwest.
Our students are not trained
theater students.
They don't come from a
background of arts and theater.
They're coming from our
community pretty much, uh,
learning those skills with
Professor Evans through this
program and to see them share
their pain and their human
experiences and their trauma in
a way that fuels a beautiful
performance because it's so raw
and so authentic.
(choking)
Actor: You try to kill us.
Jonathan: That'’s what your body
wants to do, is let go. Right?
JONATHAN EVANS: Uh, we have a
theme or we have a topic every
year we start with, we usually
start our projects in July or
August and the first month of
the year.
Of the work is just really
discussing, what are we trying
to say this year?
Or what are we trying to say
this semester?
What do we, as a group in an
ensemble, what do we, as the
Los Angeles, Southwest College
experimental theater lab, you
know, what do we want to say?
CRAIG MITCHELL SHERMAN: It's
simple to do something like
Othello or Romeo and Juliet, but
we're not living in a time at
which Romeo and Juliet a play
like that can just, we can just
put it on and just, and be real
with it.
Not when so much has been going
on in our world.
Those are great plays, but we
wanted to bring reality
to the stage.
We want it to be as real as
possible, and we didn't want to
be, um, just another group of
people putting on another play.
JASON: SHOT ON CELL PHONES AT
HOMES, SIDEWALKS AND PARKS...
PART FICTION, PART HISTORICAL
DOCUMENTARY, PART PERSONAL
MONOLOGUE... THE THREAT IS WOVEN
TOGETHER WITH A MIX OF DEEPLY
PERSONAL PERFORMANCES.
Actor: He got right in my
cousin'’s face and asked
him again: Say boy, where did
you steal that bike from?
My cousins said, man, I told you
that'’s my bike.
I didn'’t steal nothing, that'’s
my bike.
CRAIG MITCHELL SHERMAN: It is a
piece of innovation, but also
we were able to make it organic.
I didn't know what other people
were shooting.
And we were sending in hope that
it will come to get there and
it came together and
I was blown away.
Actor: Had a good job, a good
job with dental benefits, had
all my teeth and everything.
JASON: TYANA HAYWOOD PLAYED THE
ROLE OF A HOMELESS WOMAN.
Actor: That officer knocked
my teeth out and broke my arm,
and I couldn'’t work no more.
He took everything from me.
Everything!
TYANA HAYWOOD: Yeah I spent a
lot of time with that character.
She um, she's from the streets
her name was, Nina Simone.
She has a burden to bear and she
like, most women she's been
doing what she has to do and
sometimes doing things that she
doesn't want to do to survive.
THE THREAT PERFORMANCE:
"“I want to live in a world
where I matter!
I want to live in a world where
Kamala Harris is an everyday
occurrence, the VP of companies
don't make the headlines...
JONATHAN EVANS: Many of my
students could walk onto a set
tomorrow and be professionals.
But they don't necessarily have
to have that goal in mind.
We're looking for the person
that's ready to
say something bold.
We're looking for the person
that's saying, I want to be
a part of a social justice
ensemble.
I've got something to say and
I've got something I feel, and
I'm not going to hold that back.
DARLETTA MITCHELL SHERMAN: I
love the theater.
Um, and if I get the opportunity
to do it, to do it
professionally, I wouldn't pass
that up.
It changed my life.
And I I'm hoping that it will
change other people's lives just
by the work that I put out
there.
Every time my child
walks out of the door, I see a
target on his back.
DARLETTA MITCHELL SHERMAN: I
don't want to just entertain
people only.
I want to put a thought in
someone's head that will provoke
them to action,
Actors: As James Baldwin
once said,
American history is longer,
larger, more various, more
beautiful and more terrible than
anything anyone has ever said
about it.
CRAIG MITCHELL SHERMAN: We don't
hate the police.
We don't, we actually say that
in the piece.
Um, we hate injustice.
We want to be able to, um, cause
you to think after you've seen
our piece, we want you to think.
We don't want you to go out
there and just start rioting,
but we want you to think, how
can I do better?
Actor: If you find out later
that they weren'’t reaching for a
weapon, then I'’d rather be
judged by 12 than carried by 6.
DR. SEHER AWAN: Like our
students and their pain, it's
just, it's, it's so real.
And they put, they leave it,
they leave it all on the stage.
THE THREAT PERFORMANCE: "“Because
today I claim victory
over police brutality.
I claim victory over systematic
racism.
I claim victory over the mental
and physical enslavement
of a people.
The mental and physical
enslavement of a people
of our young black
boys and black men.
JONATHAN EVANS: You know, I've
worked with so many talented
actors in my career, but never a
group that will fight
to be heard.
And I think that's what really,
it really touches me.
I really am. I'm very, um,
I get very emotional because of
what I've seen happen here.
When you see a group of people
that are willing to fight for
their lives, for their voices to
be heard, that's very moving
to me as an artist.
JASON: THE INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION
WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE KENNEDY
CENTER AMERICAN COLLEGE REGION 8
THEATER FESTIVAL.
SINCE IT'’S DEBUT, THE TEAM HAS
RELEASED ANOTHER VERSION,
FOCUSING ON THE STORY OF GEORGE
FLOYD -— KILLED BY MINNEAPOLIS
POLICE IN 2020.
"“GEORGE FLOYD"” PERFORMANCE:
(CHOKING) "“My neck.
They are trying to
kill me, man. Mama."”
CRAIG MITCHELL SHERMAN:
We're all working together.
Every color, every creed, every
human being.
Because that's what we want.
We just want unity.
We want equality.
We want justice, but that comes
when we all come together and
we're all informed.
THE THREAT PERFORMANCE: "“Big
Floyd out.
Christina: Mainstream theater in
America has long presented plays
that have characters acting in
stories that have a beginning,
middle and end. Experimental
theater groups, like the one at
Southwest College, break free
from that tradition.
Also called avant-garde theater,
this style gained traction in
the 1960s as a reaction to the
political movements and
unrest of the time.
Today'’s experimental theater is
likewise inspired by current
events, challenging audiences to
question their attitudes,
beliefs and values.
♪♪♪
Edwin McCaskie: Redemption is
possible for anyone,
uh, no matter what you
have done, uh, no matter
what you've been through in
life, um, there's always hope.
Kassy P: Don't give up, like
always be in the positive
mindset of, I can do this,
because if you're determined
to do something, you will do it.
Jim: Redemption.
Perseverance. Hope.
Often hard to find behind bars,
or among those who'’ve done their
time and returned to society.
But for Edwin McCaskie and Kassy
P...students at Solano Community
College in Fairfield...
redemption, perseverance, and
hope are all qualities embraced,
practiced, and shared with other
formerly incarcerated students.
Edwin: Education is very, very
important, um, and it gives
us freedom.
It really does.
And, and it equips us and
teaches us to be able to live
a more fulfilling life.
Jim: McCaskie'’s own story is one
of redemption.
As a teenager, he was in and
out of juvenile hall.
At age 23, he was shot and lost
his left forearm.
He was involved in a murder and
spent 22 years in prison.
There, McCaskie became a
certified drug and alcohol
counselor... and dedicated
himself to rehabilitation...
and rescuing others.
Edwin: I really want to help
those that are going down that
dark path, specifically youth
that are at risk.
Um, I feel like, uh, I have a
story and I have a skillset
that I can help people.
Jim: Edwin and Kassy are two of
the more than one hundred eighty
students who are part of
Solano'’s SOAR program:
Students Overcoming Adversity
and Recidivism.
All were formerly incarcerated.
All receive a wide variety of
support services to help them
stay on their chosen path
towards graduation, college
degrees, and good careers.
Shanan: Everybody makes mistakes
some worse than others.
I believe in second chances.
Jim: Shanan Danley, Program
Coordinator for SOAR, was
himself once incarcerated.
He says their services include
everything from help with
registering for classes, to
housing assistance, financial
aid, job counseling, career
advice, even food supplies
like the groceries these
students are bagging
to share with classmates.
Connection...peer counseling...
encouragement...
are all part of the package.
Shanan: The people that they
interact with on campus.
The new associates and friends
that they make.
People, people need something
that they can grab,
grab a hold to.
When it comes to the re-entry
population, they want that
sense of belonging.
They want to feel like they're
part of something.
Celia: The fact is, is that when
folks have done their time,
they've done their time and we
have to be prepared to support
them to be productive in our
communities when they
are released.
Jim: Solano Community College
President Celia Esposito-Noy
says their program not only
helps formerly incarcerated
students on campus...
it provides online or
correspondence instruction to
those still serving time.
Unwise use of our tax dollars?
Just the opposite, she says.
Celia: We know that when folks
participate in these programs,
they have a very low rate of
returning to prison to jails.
We know that this works and
that's been proven in a number
of programs that are offered,
not just in this state, but
throughout the country.
Jim: That fact is borne out by
the hundreds of re-entry and
incarcerated student programs
across the U.S.
Some of the most successful were
featured in a 2019 PBS
documentary, College Behind
Bars.
Student: College it helps us
become civic beings.
It helps us understand that
we have an interest in
our community.
That our community is a part of
us, and we are a part of it.
Jim: In California,
the UC system has the
Underground Scholars program.
Cal State universities have
Project Rebound.
Many individual California
community colleges already had
their own re-entry and
incarcerated student programs.
But recently, a statewide
network called Rising Scholars
was established by the
Chancellor'’s office, the
Foundation for Community
Colleges, and other foundations
and organizations.
The network now includes 70
colleges across the state.
Eloy: Every prison in California
has a partnership with one or
more of our colleges.
Ten percent of all the men and
women in prison in California
are enrolled in a community
college. Great news.
We need to continue to grow
that.
Francisco: Because we serve more
veteran students, more students
with disabilities, more
immigrants, more former foster
care youth or formerly
incarcerated, more
first-generation students, and
more low-income students than
any other segments of higher
education in the world and
we're very proud of that.
Jim: The pandemic has for now
curtailed in-person instruction
inside most of California'’s
correctional facilities.
But most instructors say they'’re
anxious to return...
and incarcerated
students are still finding
ways to work towards
their degrees..
like Tabithi Wilson.
He'’s serving time inside Pelican
Bay State Prison in Crescent
City and taking classes through
College of the Redwoods.
His goal: a possible future
master'’s or law degree.
Tabithi: I believe education
has given us reason to dream,
and not just dream,
but believe our dreams
are now attainable.
Jim: Noehalani Casperson ...also
formerly incarcerated ...says
the re-entry program at Orange
County'’s Cypress College
completely transformed her life
and her future.
Noehalani: Community college
gave me hope.
And if I can spend the rest of
my life giving out hope, like
that'’s what I want to do.
What it shows up as, where it
looks like, I do know one thing:
education is a door opener, it'’s
a special key for me to get to
the places I need to be to help
the people that need the help.
Jim: Students like Edwin and
Kassy say it'’s about more than
just getting their own degrees.
Both have become "“ambassadors."”
They, along with these interns
and others, help formerly
incarcerated students maintain
the resilience they developed
while "“inside"”...encouraging
them to keep a firm grasp on
their second chance.
Alicia: If they pass the test or
if they, you know, get a new job
or they, you know, meet one of
their goals, they call me or
they text me and they're so
excited.
So I often get gratitude and a
lot of thank you'’s.
Celia: And so my hope is
that we become a more
compassionate society.
When we think about how to serve
those who are incarcerated, and
maybe begin to look more broadly
about what a true justice system
could and should look like in
this state.
Edwin: I believe that, yeah, the
system, the way that society is
starting to see things, people,
people are starting to see
things differently now.
So to work on ourselves, to get
out, um, to have this
second opportunity.
We want to make the best of it.
We want to give back to society.
We want to be productive and
helping other people.
Kassy P: There is always hope
and it doesn't matter how many
times you mess up.
You can always restart.
♪♪♪
Christina: Community
college courses are offered
to more than 45-hundred
men and women in
California'’s 35 prisons.
Those students are held to the
same standards as if they were
on campus.
The courses are
transferable, and lead to
academic degrees.
A Stanford study found
that incarcerated students earn
higher grades than students on
campus, with 80 percent earning
a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The study notes that earning a
higher education degree reduces
the chance of re-offending,
helps develop critical thinking
skills, and opens up career
pathways that can
transform lives.
♪♪♪
KRISTEN: BEFORE THE PANDEMIC
FORCED CAMPUSES TO MOVE
ONLINE, MIRACOSTA COLLEGE IN SAN
DIEGO COUNTY WAS ALREADY SETTING
UP AN ONLINE PROGRAM OFFERED BY
NO OTHER CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY
COLLEGE ... AN ASSOCIATE DEGREE
PROGRAM IN SOCIAL WORK
AND HUMAN SERVICES, PROVIDED
ENTIRELY ONLINE.
Taylor: This gives an
opportunity to our students, our
local community, to start that
at least the exploration and
start getting into the field and
get some experience at the
community college level.
KRISTEN: IT'’S A CAREER FIELD
THAT'’S EXPECTED TO GROW
EXPONENTIALLY IN THE COMING
YEARS ... AS THE NEED FOR SUCH
SERVICES ALSO INCREASES.
THE CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT SHOWS
JOBS IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK
ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE
12.9-PERCENT OR ABOUT 4,000 JOBS
BY 2026.
Sean: These are the jobs and the
careers and the positions that
are really helping our local
communities.
KRISTEN: SEAN DAVIS IS A FACULTY
MEMBER IN THE SOCIOLOGY
DEPARTMENT AT MIRACOSTA.
HE SAW A NEED IN THE COMMUNITY,
AND AN INTEREST AMONG HIS
STUDENTS FOR TRAINING IN THE
FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK.
Sean: So I wanted to tell you
that this is historic.
North County, and MiraCosta
specifically, has never had
social work classes.
You are the first students to
experience that.
KRISTEN: A GRANT PROVIDED BY THE
CALIFORNIA VIRTUAL CAMPUS ONLINE
EDUCATION INITIATIVE ALLOWED HIM
TO DEVELOP THIS ENTIRELY NEW
PROGRAM, ALONG WITH TAYLOR
TIRONA A CAMPUS COUNSELOR AND
SOCIAL WORKER, WHO IS NOW THE
INSTRUCTOR.
Taylor: This class hopefully
will introduce you to the field
of social work to the extent to
where you can make
an informed decision.
We were able to get an
instructional designer to help
us create this like really
innovative and engaging course
and so I came in with the
content piece of it
having my background
in social work.
♪♪♪
Carlos: As a police officer
you'’re kind of, I'’d say
you'’re kind of like a social
worker.
Every call that you'’re going to
go to is different.
And then working on a college
environment we deal with,
I'’d say a fair amount of mental
crisis calls for service.
KRISTEN: POLICE OFFICER CARLOS
CARRIZOSA HAS A BACHELOR'’S
DEGREE AND A CAREER IN A FIELD
WHERE SOCIAL WORK IS PART OF
HIS DAY-TO-DAY JOB.
HE ENROLLED IN THIS NEW PROGRAM
THE FIRST SEMESTER IT WAS
OFFERED ... FALL OF 2020.
CARRIZOSA FOUND THE ALL-VIRTUAL
OFFERING MADE IT EASIER TO
ATTEND CLASS DESPITE HIS BUSY
SCHEDULE.
IT ALSO MADE IT EASIER TO
CONNECT WITH, AND LEARN FROM,
HIS CLASSMATES.
Carlos: I think students were
able to open up more because
they'’re behind a screen.
You'’re not looking at them face
to face and you can kind of get
more of a discussion and really
learn about what'’s happening in
other people'’s lives.
♪♪♪
Alexa: Once I got into the class
I understood that there'’s so
many avenues I could go with
social work and that'’s what
excited me about it.
KRISTEN: STUDENT ALEXA LEE WAS
PLACED WITH THE MENTAL
HEALTH PEER EDUCATOR PROGRAM ON
CAMPUS, WHERE SHE VOLUNTEERS
AT A FARMERS MARKET,
DISTRIBUTING FOOD AND
INFORMATION TO STUDENTS.
Alexa: So, basically we are the
middle person for students and
resources so we try to link both
of them together.
KRISTEN: STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE
THE PROGRAM EARN AN ASSOCIATES
DEGREE FOR TRANSFER, SO THEY CAN
CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION AT A
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS, OR BE QUALIFIED TO WORK
FOR THE COUNTY AS A SOCIAL
WORKER.
INSTRUCTORS SAY REGARDLESS OF
WHAT THEY DO NEXT, THIS PROGRAM
GIVES ALL STUDENTS A TASTE OF
THE MANY PATHWAYS AVAILABLE FROM
A CAREER IN SOCIAL WORK.
Taylor: That'’s what we'’re hoping
to do for students is
we'’re at the tip of the iceberg
but let'’s see a little bit about
what'’s below the surface and
what those opportunities are
that we as the general public
may not have exposure to.
Sean: Social work is involved in
a lot of different sectors
of our society.
They'’re basically there to help
and make sure people have the
resources they need and connect
them to any kind of services
that can better their situation.
KRISTEN: ADMINISTRATORS SAY THE
RESPONSE TO THIS NEW ALL-ONLINE
PROGRAM HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING.
BOTH SEMESTERS HAVE FILLED UP,
WITH A WAIT LIST.
Sean: There'’s a buzz around it
and I think that people
recognize that this is something
that we have needed for a while
and maybe we just
didn'’t know it.
KRISTEN: STUDENTS WHO HAVE
PARTICIPATED SAY IT'’S NOT JUST
AN INSIDE PATH TO A GROWING
FIELD, BUT A WAY OF CONNECTING
WITH THE WORLD AROUND THEM,
REGARDLESS OF THE WORK THEY DO.
Alexa: It'’s providing us the
tools and the knowledge of how
to change what we feel that is
wrong and what is unjust.
Carlos: It'’s understanding that
everyone'’s an individual and we
have to treat them as an
individual no matter what kind
of problem they'’re going through
and see what we can do to guide
them in the right direction.
Christina: That'’s it for this
edition of
Inside California Education:
Community Colleges.
If you'’d like more information
about the program, log on to our
website insidecaled.org.
We have videos from all of our
shows, and you can connect
with us on social media.
Thanks for joining us.
We'’ll see you next time on
Inside California Education
♪♪♪
Annc : Inside California
Education: Community Colleges
is made possible by:
College Futures Foundation
believes nothing is more
transformative for individuals
and our society than an
educational opportunity.
We partner with organizations
and leaders across California
to help students earn college
degrees regardless of zip code,
skin color, or income.
More information at
collegefutures.org.
♪♪♪