A powerful exhibit is on display at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, using video, photography and installations to illustrate the scale and toll of mass incarceration.
Upon entering the exhibit, called “States of Incarceration,” visitors quickly encounter a panel featuring a quote from former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld: “Prisons should be a tour through the circles of hell where inmates should learn only the joys of busting rocks.”
Weld didn’t say this in 1795 or 1895 – he said it in 1995.
“This is the start of a dialogue,” said Benjamin Trager, director of community engagement and experiential learning at UWM. “This is not us necessarily trying to say, ‘This is the issue. Here’s what needs to change.’ I think it’s more about bringing the issue to the surface and getting people to talk about it, because it is really complex.”
Close to home
The Humanities Action Lab created the project, and hosting it at UWM resulted from conversations between Trager, UWM faculty and Shannon Ross, executive director of The Community, a nonprofit that creates newsletters and other multimedia for and about people who have been incarcerated.
A major motivation was to draw attention to the lives of justice-impacted individuals in and around UWM, which includes people who are, or have had loved ones who are, affected by the criminal justice system.
The exhibit itself shows how varied a group this can be.
A series of panels titled “How Close to Incarceration are You” asks people to indicate whether they’ve been incarcerated or arrested, know someone who’s been incarcerated or arrested or whether they’ve been suspected of a crime they didn’t commit.
As many as one-third of Americans, a panel states, have some sort of criminal record.
“Everybody is impacted by this,” said Theodore Lentz, assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology at UWM. “And there’s a lot of rhetoric around what makes our neighborhoods safer, and there’s a lot of stuff that is done in the name of public safety, but there’s not always very much evidence that it’s actually making us safer.”
While clear-cut data for UWM’s population is protected for the sake of privacy, “there’s people here at the university who have gone through this, and there’s not a lot of support for them,” Trager said.
Students who are justice impacted need support tailored to their needs just like any other student population, Ross pointed out.
“I think it should be required for any criminal justice department or degree – to at least hear from one formerly incarcerated person while you’re a student in that program.”
Milwaukee and mass incarceration
When trying to understand mass incarceration on a national scale, it’s hard to overstate Milwaukee’s relevance.
NNS reported in December, for example, about how Milwaukee County has by far the highest number of people in the state who are on some sort of community supervision, like probation or parole.
“Milwaukee is probably the most impacted community in the state, and the state of Wisconsin tends to have a large impact on its communities compared to other states,” Lentz said.
“So when we talk about raising awareness – Milwaukee is an ideal place to show people what’s going on and how the system is impacting, and I think, at the same, there’s also a lot of great stuff happening in Milwaukee responding to that.”
For more information
The exhibit can be seen for free through March 14 at the UWM Student Union – Campus Level East, at 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
It’s open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., but Trager can be contacted to visit the exhibit outside that timeframe.
He can be reached at 414-229-3161 or bwtrager@uwm.edu.
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