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The men are prisoners at Fishkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York; they are also college students.
But for the men gathered on this October afternoon, it was more of a mirror.
Spivey-Jones knew that BPI and the men themselves had a lot riding on what it reflects.
Otherwise, someone else is creating our narrative for us.
And when they create our narrative for us, theyre defining us.
And once they define us, its pretty hard to define yourself after that.
Hes been behind bars ever since.
It was devastating for his younger sister, Elitha Smith.
When my brother went into prison, basically, I lost everything, Smith told me.
Today shes a nurse in a cardiothoracic unit at Duke University.
I feel like I could throw a rock from West Point to Fishkill, she said.
And asCollege Behind Barsshows, the BPI students thrive.
Spivey-Jones excelled scholastically, majoring in social studies.
Thats the happiest section so far, remarked a man in the back row.
But a liberal-arts education can play a crucial role in the experience of accountability as well.
We rarely get a chance to think about how we hurt the victims, he said.
And yet thats something thats required of us when we go to the parole board.
And its hard to escape it.
But it hasnt always been that way.
Research showed that the programs were so successful at cutting recidivism and easing reentry thatthey essentially paid for themselves.
But the 1994 federal crime bill changed all of that by barring incarcerated people from those grants.
Within years, higher education in the nations correctional system essentially disappeared.
(Bipartisan legislationto do so has already been introduced in the U.S.
In discussion following the screening, the audience expressed its appreciation for the way the film handled this issue.
A bearded man with dreadlocks stood to personally thank Spivey-Jones for baring his own story in that way.
I have a violent crime myself, he said.
That stuck with her.
They were part of that journey with us, she said.
I dont want the victim or his family to get lost either.
Their identity shouldnt be lost.
These are real people, in the same way that incarcerated people are real people.
And thats a very tough balance to strike.
But Smith sees his path to redemption as a process of storytelling, too.
As the screening concluded, the men folded the chairs and cleared the gymnasium.
He has served 17 years of his sentence; he will not be eligible for parole until 2022.
