Our Team of Exceptional Educators

Time Out of Joint employs educated former prisoners to teach free workshops to high school and college students. Not only did they become educated but they also became teachers in prison. These are people who have ‘claimed’ their education as a path to freedom, and, in turn, inspire students to be their highest selves. The former prisoners co-teach with other experienced educators - lawyers, professors, artists, theater directors, documentary producers, and more.

  • Amiti Bey, MA, educator & former prisoner

  • Shamah ShaRize, writer & former prisoner

  • Kwame McLean, BA educator, filmmaker & former prisoner

  • Mohendra Singh, writer, educator & former prisoner

  • Ali Kelley, actor, maintenance worker & former prisoner

  • Tariq Beaudouin, MA writer, essayist, & former prisoner

  • Wole Oguntokun, Nigerian playwright, theater director, lawyer

  • Josie Whittlesey, actor & founder, Drama Club NYC - acting for youth at risk

  • Ruth Hunter, English teacher, Cascade High School, Everett, WA

  • Anthony Tidd, bass virtuoso, composer, & essayist

  • Deena Hurwitz, Esq. professor of intl. human rights law, activist

  • Charles Hardy, PhD, professor of American & African-American History, West Chester University

  • Fanon Che Wilkins, PhD, professor of African-American History, Compton Community College, CA

  • Caroline Elizabeth Young, poet, Professor of English, University of Georgia, prison educator

  • Anthony Simpson, MA, educator & former prisoner

  • Gordon Shopp, non-profit professional & Buddhist practitioner

  • Steve Rowland, Peabody Award-winning documentarian and educator