The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word “collaborate,” sitting her in yellows, a resident at this jail surrounded b y visitors, is the illegal side of it. Most of us that are staying in this jail, that didn’t get here alone, is shown that collaborating was a bad idea prior to being brought here. But I think that cannot be farther from the truth. I haven’t stopped collaborating since I got here. How I got here, what I can do about it, what I’m going to do once I leave…collaborating is sharing information with others. At its most primal form, it is hope, inspiration, needing one another. It may have gotten most of us sitting in yellows in here, but it is also helping some of us get out. It is helping us plan for a better future, to trust again, to connect and work together. For the ones in yellow that won’t be quieted by this experience, but instead want to learn from it…I am a collaborator!

– two stars