Colorado has taken a pioneering step as one of the first states to employ an incarcerated professor in a prison education program. It is a move that could have big impacts on incarcerated people and society more broadly.
Chalkbeat Colorado’s Jason Gonzales spent time at a state prison in Canon City to learn more. He spoke David Carillo, an incarcerated professor who now goes by the prison name “Professor.”
Carillo told Gonzales he has been in and out of the criminal justice system since he was a kid. “My worldview was very narrow for a very, very long time, as you could imagine. I believed that life was a certain way. And this is all that there was to offer to, to people like me."
As Carillo advanced in his studies, “the world opened up to me. So my perceptions and my view of everything has, shifted.”
He said that with this program he is helping other incarcerated people to change what they believe is possible and broaden their worldviews.
Gonzales joined In The NoCo’s to talk about what he learned during the time he spent with Carillo and others in Canon City.
