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The selection of Atlanta as the conference site affords the opportunity to learn about the city's rich history of social movements, and to engage critically with questions about presence and absence, spatial and ideological distances, and the latent transformative potential of occupying contradictory spaces. For conference participants experiencing incarceration, virtual presence constitutes a necessary locus for fostering critical dialogue. However, such dialogue transpires within the paradoxical context of a jarring physical absence in the actual city of Atlanta.
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As of 2021, Georgia was among the participating states, and had the eighth highest number of students attending classes at one institution of higher education.
In 2020, the percentage of people leaving GA state prisons who had a Bachelor’s degree was 1.03%. By comparison, the US Census Bureau estimated that 31.3% of the total population of Georgians over 25 had a Bachelor’s degree. The Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (GACHEP) seeks to address this wild disparity by providing “people in prison and those who have left prison in Georgia with high-quality educational pathways from pre-college coursework to accredited degree completion. To build these pathways, GACHEP advocates for policy that expands access to higher education; supports people through their college journey, from applying to matriculating and graduating; grows networks of formerly incarcerated people, Universities, and other nonprofits who support this mission; and connects people who have left prison to resources in education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and employment. GACHEP is co-led by students and alumni of higher education in prison programs and administrators and faculty of those programs.”
Beyond the Box Georgia formed in 2021 to break down barriers to higher education faced by people with criminal records by advocating for legislative reforms, engaging with schools about such barriers, and bringing them to the awareness of society. One such effort is legislation that would eliminate the background question from state college applications. Other organizations working on expanding access to HEP programming in Georgia include: RestoreHER US.America, Healthy Routines, Urban League of Greater Atlanta, Common Good of Atlanta, Life University, Georgia State University, Spelman, Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, National ALliance for Mental Illness Georgia, and GACHEP. Central Georgia, Atlanta Technical College.
Surrounding the conference hotel, there are plenty restaurant and grocery store options. Check out some suggestions that are close to the hotel.
