Debbie’s Debate Day March 22
Our head of campus security is delicate with his posted list of restrictions, as the international School welcomes the Prison Debate Team—no parking near the kiln area, no access to the theater anterooms or bathrooms, all for the “convenience of our visitors.“ Safety is implied. Kindness is inferred.
Eight officers escort the nine members of the all-stars, representing four of the eight prisons in T&T, all of them maximum security: Carrera, Eastern Rehabilitation and Correctional Institute, Golden Grove Remand and Maximum Security Prison. Ten debaters were chosen for this team. Nine are here today. Dominic, our intrepid student-performer, not only fills the tenth spot but plays the aggressive prosecutor during the third-round question-and-answer, in the Lincoln-Douglas forensic format: “You haven’t answered the question!“
“They call themselves Team Intellect,“ says their proud coach and advocate, Debbie Jacob, who also runs our school library—that is, when she is not a TT Guardian culture journalist. The American expat is such a player that big-name calypso and soca artists agree to perform at charity events only if she is involved. One of her many acts of charity is a prison literacy program which teaches inmates how to read to their children during visits. If a society should be judged by how we treat our prisoners, then Debbie qualifies as a public good.
The kids are surprised not to see hardened convicts in orange jumpsuits. The team is sharply dressed, with polished shoes, except for casual Dom. Five are in blue, five in red. The men’s ages are 28 to 52. Some may come from the streets, but one comes from the Finance Ministry, another from the police department. Fortunately, no one asks how the debaters ended up in jail, but the thought is irresistible. Behind bars, all of them are described as writers, two men have earned correspondence degrees from the Royal College of Music, one has become a Christian minister, and another serves as team researcher. Only the prison in Port of Spain has internet, so Debbie, who secured the new computer, teaches the apprentice how to conduct literature searches for all the teams.
Today the topic of debate: “Should Trinidad and Tobago open its borders to refugees from Venezuela?“ “No“ wins the day, at least as judged by the applause of the students, almost all of whom live in gated communities. A presiding officer repeats the “mantra“ for his charges that it is better “to raise yuh words, not yuh voice.“ The debaters are pleased just to have an attentive audience, something they neither expected nor experienced before. One explains how he has learned how to slow his breathing, while another expresses relief that the topic was not the same one faced in the qualifying tournament: “Should Trinidad and Tobago punish its prisoners?“ Redemption wins the day.