Derik Smith, 'Supplanting the Prison Industrial Complex'

Derik Smith is chair of the Department of Literature at Claremont McKenna College, and is an affiliate faculty in the Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies at the Claremont Colleges.  His work focuses on American literary culture, with a particular interest in poetry. His current scholarship addresses African American poetry and intellectual history, as well as the connection between critical race studies and the Baha’i Faith. His work has appeared in many publications, and he is the author of Robert Hayden In Verse: New Histories of African American Poetry and the Black Arts Era, which was awarded the 2019 book of the year prize by the College Language Association.  Since 2012, in New York and California, Smith has been teaching courses in and about American prisons. He is currently a faculty representative on the working group of the Justice Education Initiative at the Claremont Colleges.  He is the acting director of the Wilmette Institute, a distance education provider with a focus on the discourse of social transformation.

Angel M. Solis is currently an undergraduate student at Columbia University and works at a program that focuses on at-risk youth at Bronx Family Court. Mr. Solis was born and raised in The Bronx and has spent ten years in state prison.

Tyee Griffith is the Manager for Justice Education at the Claremont Colleges. She is a doctoral student in the Political Science and Government department at Claremont Graduate University, and adjunct faculty at Pitzer College in the Political Studies department. She earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Social Policy from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Law and Society from California State University, Los Angeles. Tyee has worked in the justice system for over 20 years and has over 15 years of experience in higher education.  She has taught in 7 California prisons, 2 juvenile facilities, and 4 international prisons. Her work focuses on the criminalization of Black people in the U.S., recidivism and reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals, and the use of education as a tool for rehabilitation and community empowerment. Her goal is to develop programs and legislation that dismantle the prison industrial complex while expanding educational opportunities to underserved and underrepresented communities.