“There is power in proximity,” says Bryan Stevenson. While we are waiting out the quarantine, we are fostering a different kind of proximity with our incarcerated students: weekly packet drop-off and pick-ups at Phillips State Prison, Whitworth Women’s Facility, Burruss Correctional, and Metro Reentry Facility. The Downtown class has thrived on Zoom with Morehouse’s Dr. Kipton Jensen, although we miss the communal dinners and the thousand other benefits of meeting in person. And we have mailed over 600 letters, poems, and articles to our students since the quarantine began to help them know we stay committed to them, even in isolation.

Here is an example of our careful deliveries, wiping each packet with alcohol, directly before entering the prison (delivery assistance from Kathryn Higinbotham)

This summer we also welcome Emory PhD student Catherine Fullarton, who is a Mellon Public Writing Fellow helping Common Good Atlanta, and Avery Hill, Oxford College graduate and summer intern.