ABSTRACT
In 2019, we began offering the class “Transcommunal Peacemaking and Cooperation,” which consists of two sections: one for UCSC students and the other for Soledad CTF students. The classes are held in the prison chapel with UCSC and CTF students working side by side. This unique opportunity and unlikely partnership has allowed for transformational learning and growth for everyone involved. Through the efforts of Professor Flora Lu and Sarah Woodside Bury, along with University Extension, we now offer the same University course credit to the CTF students that their University counterparts receive. The combined class draws on Child's concept of “Transcommunality,” which offers ways of maintaining respect for diversity, while encouraging cooperation among an array of vantage points. Transcommunality is rooted in the philosophy of the brilliant Indigenous Peacemaker, Deganawidah, who brought an end to wars between five nations, the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas, during the late 14th century. The CTF transcommunality class is made possible by the Prison Project of Barrios Unidos, and its Founder/Executive Director, Daniel Nane Alejandrez. Importantly, men who were formerly CTF students in the transcommunality classes, are now themselves the teachers, effectively coordinating with the University, through their own organization, “the Cemanahuac*/One World Cultural Group.” Many of those students, who have been released from prison, are now engaging in constructive community outreach work.
