August Reflection: Seminary in Jail Program

Author: Juah Washington

More than anything, my start as SBI Academic Program Manager has called me into a posture of remembrance. When I viewed the presentation, Prison Ministry as Solidarity not Charity, by SIB Director Jia Johnson, I was unaware of how important it would be to “return to my breath”—practicing mindfulness while simultaneously preparing to digest the historical and brutal facts about systemic oppression, and its impact on men and women that look just like me.

I know the devastation that is caused by having a loved one incarcerated. The knowledge comes from standing face-to-face with juveniles unsure of their future in a detention center where I worked years ago, but also by way of witnessing my brother hold his head down in shame in a courtroom before a judge that would determine the fate of his freedom.

As dark as remembering can be, Johnson hopefully motions, “There is also the Spirit of God breathing life into those dead places through people; and, wherever the Spirit of God is moving and stirring and gathering people to create beloved community, there is the Ecclesia, and there is God.” With every course, workshop, dialogue, and circle held in Cook County Jail through the Seminary in Jail Program, I pray God is seen; dignities are redeemed; and, that hearts turned sick from deferred hope are revived, and able to inhale and exhale anew.

Juah Washington is the newest addition to the SBI family and the Academic Program Manager for the Seminary in Jail program.