Article by JIE Volunteer Roselyn Juma

As an artist with an interest in community impact work, Mikka Kabugo began volunteering at Columbia’s Justice-in-Education Initiative (JIE) in the spring of 2023. Mikka’s passion for art shines through in his personal work, which largely consists of portraits. It also emerges in his studies at the Columbia School of General Studies, where he is double majoring in Art History and Economics. He sees art as a form of communication and creativity as something that everyone he engages with at Rikers inherently has. 

“I think my major goal was the idea that most of the people who end up in these places [like Rikers] are creative. I just thought that it would be possible to channel that creativity into something that would help someone when they leave.”

In art workshops, this creativity also manifests in how resources are used. Rikers has restrictions on materials (like scissors and markers), but the lack of resources leads to innovation and alternative uses for materials. Workshop participants, for example, find ways to create desired paint palettes using very few colors. As a volunteer at Rikers, Mikka focuses on embracing creativity and resourcefulness as essential to education. To him, there is nothing new that he and other volunteers are teaching incarcerated people. Instead, education is a way of honing the gifts that people who are incarcerated already possess.

When asked about the role of education in rehabilitation, Mikka says “I think that it’s the only way. I don’t see any other way. [Access to education] is hard for people who are not incarcerated. It’s much harder for people who are. And so there has to be a concerted effort to put resources there, so that people have a chance. I don’t think the chances are very high, if you don’t have any form of education to rehabilitate people. It’s not a reeducation. It’s just allowing them to focus, allowing them to explore their creative minds. That’s education.” 

The role of education in rehabilitation

Throughout Mikka’s life, education has played a central role. Before becoming a student at the Columbia School of General Studies, he attended medical school in China. He chose not to finish his medical degree, as he was drawn to Art History and Economics instead. He sees education as fundamental to everyone’s lives, whether they are incarcerated or not. For those impacted by the carceral system, Mikka sees education as a necessary step for successful reentry. Still, he acknowledges the systemic barriers that deter people from receiving the education they deserve. Being a JIE volunteer is one way he works to provide access to quality education to people historically excluded from such resources. 

Since becoming a JIE volunteer, Mikka’s knowledge and perspective on the United States carceral system have expanded. Growing up in Uganda, his exposure to this system was largely sensationalized through action movies like Batman, where jails like Rikers are used for uncritical, apathetic entertainment. Mikka has deeply reflected on what it means to be Black in America and how the carceral system factors into that experience. Over time, he has learned more about historical modes of oppression in the United States, as well as abolition. He found that deepening his knowledge on the subject matter was a painful experience, and volunteering at Rikers further intensifies such feelings. 

“I had some level of knowledge [about the carceral system], but the actual experience of actively trying every single day or every single moment that I have to make someone’s life better, knowing that there’s no payment to that, is a very different experience. It’s very different knowing about things versus being involved.”

Navigating freedom, mobility, and confinement

Reflecting on the difficulties of volunteering at Rikers, Mikka highlighted witnessing the difference in mobility. As a volunteer, he can freely enter and exit the facility as he chooses, while the people he engages with cannot. During his time at the workshops, he forms bonds with many of the people who are incarcerated and sees the humanity that this system wishes to deny them. He knows that no one deserves the isolation and treatment these people are subject to, and is frustrated that this is maintained by a larger system that is out of his control. This does not stop him from continuing the educational work that he does. Rather, hearing the stories of those who educational programs like JIE have supported is what excites him most and continues to motivate him. 

Channeling his personal passions for both art and education, Mikka’s commitment to the people he works with at Rikers has not gone unnoticed. From drawing family portraits for women to send home to their children to engaging non-English speakers in workshops by speaking their native languages, Mikka’s compassion cannot be understated. The work that he has done with JIE at Rikers reminds us how individuals can make a huge impact on those around them. 

Advice for Aspiring Volunteers

Mikka’s advice to anyone interested in volunteering: build meaningful relationships with fellow volunteers and research ways to improve your pedagogical methods.

Article written by Roselyn Juma
Rosie Juma is a student at Barnard College who is majoring in Africana Studies and minoring in Education Studies. Along with being an intern at the Justice-in-Education Initiative, she is a Head Writing Fellow at the Barnard Writing Center and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. What propels all of her endeavors is her understanding that education can be an important tool for liberation.