Walls to Bridges: Evolving Our Work Within Carceral Spaces by Rupturing Racism and Oppression Through a Participatory Process

Participatory planning

This article explores the collaborative efforts of the Walls to Bridges (W2B) collective in organizing the Evolving Our Work symposium, commemorating W2B's 10th Anniversary. It reflects on participatory planning, highlighting decolonial frameworks and the integration of Indigenous resurgence, Land Back movements, and Black Lives Matter principles. Through guiding questions, the collective examined the challenges of decentering whiteness and fostering anti-racist, transformative education in carceral and community spaces. The authors, drawing on lived experiences and academic insights, advocate for self-reflection and solidarity among racialized groups to disrupt systemic racism and hierarchies. This work contributes to advancing decolonization and racial justice in education and underscores the importance of empowering marginalized voices as agents of change within and beyond incarceration.

Participants drew on personal and collective experiences to inform their discussions and decisions, emphasizing the transformative power of lived experiences as legitimate and critical knowledge.

The collective centers Indigenous resurgence, Land Back movements, and Black Lives Matter as critical components of solidarity and systemic change.

The authors emphasize that those who have been directly impacted by systems of oppression, such as criminalized and incarcerated individuals, should lead the change process. The voices of those with lived experiences of incarceration as essential and legitimate contributors to knowledge creation and leadership.

Personal and collective experiences of Walls to Bridges (W2B) members
Collaborative Planning and Symposium Outcomes

Evolving Our Work Symposium: The symposium itself served as a central platform for knowledge mobilization, where participants engaged in dialogue and breakout room discussions to share perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

"how do we model Indigenous and Black solidarity beyond the superfi cial? We have tried to do some of tha work ourselves throughout this collaborative process, to push us beyond
re-producing the variety of oppressions that appear in W2B spaces – to the extent that is possible – and towards abolition of those structures, attitudes, and institutions. Transformative justice, then, becomes the cornerstone of evolving our work and moving towards a tangible liberation within and, more importantly, outside of the classroom" (p. 44)

Decolonial studies
Critical race studies
Sociology
Carceral studies