Teachers of Peace

It was graduation night for the Visions of Prisons program at the women's prison, and time for each graduate to receive a certificate identifying her as a "Teacher of Peace."
During the ceremony, we asked a few of the students to give a testimony on their experience in class. One inmate spoke of her feelings. "This is the only positive label I've ever had -- 'Teacher of Peace.' I've been labeled prisoner, criminal, low life, drug addict, unfit mother, thief, and prostitute. All of those labels were true. This class has taught me that, although there was some truth to each of those negative identities, they were never the whole truth. I was always more than that."
Each class of the 7-week program has a theme: Awareness, Acceptance, Meditation, Mind Tools, Loss & Grief, Attitudinal Healing and Self-love. These steps are designed to replace a prisoner's negative labels with a new, positive identity. Maybe "replace" is the wrong word-"eclipse" might be a stronger, more appropriate description.
The stigma of negative labeling diminishes our ability to rise above our situation; we need to empower ourselves by eclipsing every old label with a more positive one, which will be helpful in all areas of our lives. "Teacher of Peace" is a label that works in prisons, or at work, with our kids, on the freeway--everywhere.
Another student in the same class told us, "I had an altercation last week where the other girl tried to get me into a fight. Believe me, before this class, she would have been sorry. Of course, I would have ended up in 'the hole' for 30 or 60 days, if I fought her, so I would have been sorry too. I kept saying to myself, 'What she says is not worth a response. I will not react to her attack.' She kept getting madder and madder, and I got calmer and calmer, as I practiced absorbing her energy and sending it back to her with love. My friends in the dorm, who were witnesses, said they could feel my peace. After a few minutes, the other girl just gave up her attack and walked away.
"Later that night she came to my dorm and apologized for 'fronting me off'. I had been sitting in my meditation, and thinking about her, and how good I felt about the way I handled the situation. When I opened my eyes, there she was in front of me again. Only this time, she had her hand out saying she was sorry."