by Maritez Apigo, English Professor & Co-Chair and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Coordinator at Contra Costa College and OFAR Course Co-Facilitator, Lead Advisory Coach, and Advisory Coach
Faculty participants in the Open for Antiracism (OFAR) program, led by the Community College Consortium for OER (CCCOER), from California community colleges are transforming their curriculum and pedagogy to apply antiracist and culturally responsive pedagogy, while leveraging Open Educational Resources (OER) and open pedagogy. How are students impacted by this work? I amplify student voices through the following interviews to spotlight five Hartnell College students in two different classes taught by OFAR participants, Criminal Justice Professor John Nyunt and Biology Professor Adrea Gonzalez-Karlsson. Both of these professors teach incarcerated students in the Rising Scholars program at Salinas Valley State Prison, which offers Associate of Arts degrees in the prison and a concomitant six-month reduction in participants’ sentences.
Professor John Nyunt’s Class
John, will you please tell us about the class you teach and your students?
I teach Criminology at Salinas Valley State Prison, a high-security correctional facility in Soledad, California. This semester, I am instructing three classes with a combined enrollment of 75 students, most of whom identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). In alignment with open pedagogy principles, I changed my curriculum using OFAR and OER materials. I integrated a student-centered approach that encouraged learners to draw upon their lived experiences to critically analyze and interpret criminological theories. This framework enabled a meaningful juxtaposition between traditional, Eurocentric, or colonized theoretical frameworks and the students’ narratives, fostering a deeper and more culturally responsive engagement with the discipline.
To ensure accessible and relevant instruction, I incorporated OER from LibreTexts, utilizing sections of the Introduction to Criminology module. This resource provides a comprehensive overview of criminological theories, justice systems, and contemporary issues, including mass incarceration and systemic inequality. The flexibility of LibreTexts allowed me to tailor the content to the lived experiences of my incarcerated, predominantly BIPOC students, aligning with my broader objective of decolonizing the curriculum and fostering critical, justice-centered teaching.
To provide background, I spent over 20 years in law enforcement and was incarcerated in state and federal prisons. My life experiences have given me a broad perspective on the criminal justice system and its impact on people of color.
Three of my students, Miguel Ayala, Lavon Carraway, and Bobby Washington, voluntarily collaborated to explore police corruption and its impact on communities of color. They consented to participate in a guided discussion and respond to a series of reflective and analytical questions.
Professor John Nyunt’s Students
What is your primary educational goal?
Miguel Ayala: To transfer to a state college, get a degree, and help the justice-impacted.
Lavon Carraway: I want to continue with college, obtain a graduate degree, and work in civil rights protections.
Bobby Washington: I want to continue my college education and ultimately teach.
In your class, you watched the documentary “Policing the Police: PBS Frontline”. How does this reveal the relationship between policing and systemic racism in BIPOC communities?
Miguel: Structural power is shown in the establishment of law enforcement agencies like the DOJ (Department of Justice), and police agencies are the enforcers who target specific people of color in particular neighborhoods.
Bobby: Policing the police goes hand in hand with being held accountable for your actions, especially when you are in a position of power. Demonstrating professionalism as an officer shows solidarity with the community and trust.
What did you learn about your assumptions or biases while watching the documentary?
Miguel: In addition to my expected biases, I observe with the police. I learned that certain behaviors had an agenda that influenced biases.
Bobby: Assumptions are often the result of deeply-rooted biases surrounding interactions between police and the communities they serve. Even when no crime is committed, everyday citizens are frequently treated with suspicion or disrespect. Such treatment would not occur in a just society, but we do not live in a perfect world. Bias and assumptions persist regardless of innocence. Historically, law enforcement has been associated with violence, and it is often only after a tragedy, such as a fatality or a severe beating, that these issues are publicly acknowledged. Yet, fear remains a driving force behind many police actions. When law enforcement officers are not held to the same legal standards as the public, it exposes a fundamental bias within the system.
How did the documentary, combined with anti-racist course teachings, deepen your understanding of the criminal justice system?
Miguel: I now have a deeper awareness and understanding that there is an established system with a hidden agenda that is not so hidden, whose purpose is to police and oppress a specific group of people.
Lavon: The system is made up of rules that were set up to enforce racial injustice against people of color, and the people controlling the narrative are the system.
Bobby: Combining anti-racist course materials and installing them in the criminal justice system highlights that enforcement is predominantly done in black and brown communities. Statistics come into play, and they highlight the pros and cons. Yet race makes it biased, as race becomes the smoke screen of the hidden agendas.
Access to free educational resources on criminology and statistics is critically essential. Education alone can be life-saving, especially in encounters with law enforcement. A deeper understanding of the law can empower individuals to make informed decisions during such interactions, potentially preventing harm and promoting safer outcomes.
Bobby Washington
Why is having access to free, open educational resources necessary for studying issues like police corruption as they relate to criminological theories?
Miguel: It has been my experience to realize early in life that there is a specific agenda within the education system: We teach young minds what to think, not how to think. Having open access to materials allows us to understand clearly, especially about policing.
Lavon: It helps one better understand one’s rights, what to look for when encountering a police officer, and how to avoid breaking the law.
Bobby: Access to free educational resources on criminology and statistics is critically essential. Education alone can be life-saving, especially in encounters with law enforcement. A deeper understanding of the law can empower individuals to make informed decisions during such interactions, potentially preventing harm and promoting safer outcomes.
If you were teaching this course, what anti-racist materials or BIPOC perspectives would you add to expand on the documentary’s themes?
Miguel: I would add more dialogue on racism and how it affects all people of color.
Lavon: I would add an element of cause and effect on people of color who encounter these “bad apple police officers”.
Bobby: In teaching a course on perceptions and perspectives, incorporating anti-racist material with people of color gives them a broader perspective on handling each situation carefully, because every situation is different.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Miguel: Racism today is an old agenda that includes the difference between the rich and the poor.
Lavon: I just want to thank you for sharing your journey of incarceration and your knowledge to help us understand the greater problem of systemic racism. Thank you for paying forward what you have learned.
Bobby: Criminology is one of those courses you experience on a day-to-day basis. The course gives you the reasons why criminals do what they do. Yet statistics don’t lie; only people who write the statistics may be the ones to question.
Professor Adrea Gonzalez-Karlsson’s Class
Adrea, will you please tell us about the class you teach and your students?
I teach Biology, Environmental Science Lab and Lecture at Salinas Valley State Prison. Each semester, I have a class in a different yard of the prison in addition to my teaching duties on campus. This lab course was the first to be taught at Soledad and allowed accreditation of Hartnell College’s Rising Scholars program. To include a diversity of expert voices, my students and I read Native authors, in addition to the textbook and other readings and writing assignments, we draw upon our own experiences in our communities to understand the challenges and solutions available to us with regard to environmental issues. My OFAR project was creating an Environmental Justice chapter to help students think critically about the systemic issues involved in environmental injustice and community efforts to combat it. My students were important in reviewing and giving feedback to improve the chapter. Two of my students, Edwin Stevenson and Sergio Osejo, participated in the following interview.
Having free and easy access to educational materials is a game-changer.
Sergio Osejo
Professor Adrea Gonzalez-Karlsson’s Students
What did you learn from our water testing lab and discussion of water pollution? Think of an example of environmental injustice in your community, in person, or in your hometown. How did what we learned about individuals based on policy-based solutions change how you thought about it?
Edwin Stevenson: From our water testing lab and discussion of water pollution, we learned the impact of air pollution over time and other environmental hazards. I was able to see the importance of understanding the different methods of cleaning up pollution. What specifically comes to mind is a creek that runs through my reservation. Once upon a time, we had Chinook salmon running through there and spawning beds. Due to contaminants over a long period of time, the amount of salmon became less and less. Thinking about the water testing lab makes you think about how I can utilize these same tests on the water that runs through my homeland. As I have come to learn about individual-based and policy-based solutions, I think about both aspects of finding potential solutions. Understanding and knowing that this water leads to a bigger body of water, it makes me think of the bigger picture and how the efforts that I make can and will have an impact.
Sergio Osejo: The water labs and discussion only stated the obvious that having clean water sources is vital to our health and environment. And it actually hit home because of something that happened to me recently in my time, Incarcerated in CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) custody. The water sources range from not very well to downright fatal. I was in CHCF (California Health Care Facility) in Stockton in 2024 when a few people died and many got sick from the water source. The whole water quality was so bad that they immediately started to issue crystal geyser water gallons to everyone and warned us not to use the water from the sink, not even to brush our teeth. The showers in CHCF instantly received upgraded filters, so it would be safe to shower in. This was the same water that the whole population, including myself, consumed and used every day. Being in CDCR custody subjects you to a lot of basic needs violations, but it took a few people to die of Legionnaires’ disease and others getting hospitalized for anything to change. I only think of not just the short-term but long-term effects this will have on my health and the whole population. For all this to change, we need the population to individually advocate for themselves in 602 grievances and lawsuits in the court, this will have a ripple effect and eventually lead to new policies and regulations. No community members in prison or any low-income communities outside need to be subjected to these environmental injustices. No one should have to die before actions are taken.
What did you learn about environmental science from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s essay “Speaking of Nature: Finding Language that Affirms Our Kinship with the Natural World”? Do you feel like voices like yours are heard by environmental scientists? How would environmental science be different if more voices were heard?
Edwin: I am a huge advocate for indigenous, traditional ecological knowledge. Being a descendant of eight tribes located in California, I have come to learn the importance of exercising my people’s practices for my ancestral homeland. I have read Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass, and her ability to convey the connection to the land and all its living species is something that sings to my being as an indigenous person today. Today, I feel our voices are acknowledged but not completely heard. Efforts to bring forth land fellowship practices of indigenous people are on their way to being recognized as real solutions to the detrimental impact of colonial practices. Environmental science would be more advanced if our voices were heard. Thousands of years of hands-on experience across the lands will be added to what has been “discovered” and only enhance the knowledge. For example, understanding the importance of keystone species has been a long study of indigenous people for thousands of years. Connecting with all living things is vital to survival and a balanced ecosystem. To turn your cheek to thousands of years of knowledge is suicide.
Sergio: Reading the essay “Speaking of Nature,” I was reminded that we humans need to grow much closer to nature, we should be like the Native tribes and treat the land and all the inhabitants as equals. There are clearly scientists who do listen to the population, but politics, greed, corruption, and misunderstanding overall are what cause division within the science community. If more voices were heard about nature, environmental science would show the Land prospering and growing everywhere, even with extinct species and other sources. A perfect example would be the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin was able to legally have its land protected because it was granted a legal standing as an equal, person/ kin. If more voices were heard like the Ho-Chunk Nation, we would live in a more sustainable land, have more food security, poverty would fall, and the climate would be better. It’s pretty simple: be good to the land and treat it as an equal, and the Land will be good to you. This is the “language” and code we have forgotten. We need to get off our smartphones and listen, and get back to the basics.
Education is paramount to success, survival, advancement, self-development, and so much more. Having free access to a higher level of education truly advances a civilization in taking care of the generations ahead.
Edwin Stevenson
The environmental justice chapter is an example of OER, where the chapter will be available for anyone to read online, like the OpenStax textbook you will have access to on your tablet. What do you think about access to free materials? Will education change going forward? How has your access to education, materials, current, and based, impacted your education?
Edwin: Education is paramount to success, survival, advancement, self-development, and so much more. Having free access to a higher level of education truly advances a civilization in taking care of the generations ahead. I’ve been doing college courses for eight years, and alive when limited to my own level of advancement strictly by my limited access. There are so many people who have had a similar experience, and that has become the social norm to which the majority of people have stopped seeking access. Moving forward in life, personally, and feeling fully confident in myself to truly be successful in life. This is due to education through having free access.
Sergio: Having free and easy access to educational materials is a game-changer. This will equal the playing field, as we know, when a community is better educated and has access to more resources, good things usually follow, like more opportunities and better policies. I have been negatively impacted by the lack of educational materials and resources in my life in CDCR and as a youth. I would have had a bachelor’s, AA, and possibly a master’s already, and most importantly, my freedom. 99% of the time, when I had access, it came from my pockets. It has opened new doors and opportunities I would have never had if I did not have these educational materials and resources. Custody over the years has purposely stolen, destroyed, and thrown away a lot of my educational books and materials, yet I still graduated from Blackstone Paralegal School, and currently, I am in the Hartnell Rising Scholars program in Salinas Valley State Prison. I am very proud of this, and it has only grown my interest in learning new things and continuing my education. I know that with education comes knowledge, and with knowledge, it can open new doors of opportunity and change people’s lives for the better.
What have you learned from environmental science that relates to your life as an incarcerated person?
Edwin: Locations specifically targeted for degradation of the environment is [sic] linked to poverty.
Sergio: To survive and thrive, we have to be mindful of our environment, and as a human in and out of prison, I have learned to live sustainably. First, by choice and experiences growing up, and second, due to a lack of resources, I have to be creative and recycle to adapt to the poor conditions in prison. I try to reduce waste by saving extra food and donating to the “community,” especially to the indigent. I’m clean in and out of the cell because I’m aware of my footprint. Choosing this lifestyle, I can sustainably be healthy and improve my way of living, I can live long, and can improve my chances of being successful and improve my community. I live as a leader wherever I go, whether it’s San Francisco or Salinas Valley. I use what I learned from Environmental science, and people take notice, and it yields positive results. People see the results of the cultivated seed of Environmental science, and people try to emulate this and it raises the overall morale and respect toward one another and the environment. In prison and in life, there is an unwritten rule: be good and courteous to your neighbor. This same rule is how we should treat the earth and all its neighbors.
OFAR will begin its sixth year this fall. To get involved, see the call for participation and submit an application by September 2, 2025.
For more on OFAR from Maritez:
- “Spotlighting OFAR Coach Ana Garcia-Garcia”
- “Meet Laura Dunn, OFAR Program Director”
- “OFAR: A Faculty Perspective”
- “The Implementation of OFAR Antiracism Action Plans”
- “OFAR Year Three Kicks Off”
Open for Antiracism acknowledges the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in helping to make this program possible.
About Maritez Apigo
For over two and a half decades, Maritez Apigo has had the honor of teaching English and ESL in community colleges, high schools, and middle schools in the Bay Area, California, and in Hawaii. She has been teaching online since earning her M.A. in English and TESOL from SFSU in 2012, and she holds an Online Network of Educators (@ONE) Certificate in Online Teaching and Design and an @ONE Advanced Certificate in Online Teaching Principles. She is an online and hybrid English Professor at Contra Costa College who has served as Distance Education Coordinator, Instructional Designer, and Open Educational Resources (OER) Coordinator. Currently, she is the Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Coordinator.
As a leader in online education, OER, and ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost), she trains and mentors faculty at the college, district, and state levels. She is an @ONE Online Course Facilitator of professional development courses in online teaching pedagogy. On the leadership team of Open for Antiracism (OFAR), she serves as a Course Facilitator, an Advisory Coach, and the Lead Advisory Coach. For the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office ZTC Technical Assistance Program, she serves as a Curriculum Developer, Training Coordinator, and Course Facilitator. Her passions for social justice, equity, innovation, and student success are illuminated in her work.
When she’s not teaching, you might discover her behind the turntables DJing, in the dance studio working on her dance technique, or at a soccer field cheering on her two children.
Featured Photo: four microphones by Rob Sarmiento on Unsplash