Prisoners are often voiceless in public discourse, cut off from any opportunities for civic engagement or knowledge. Jennifer Lackey speaks about “The Prison Education Paradox”, how to interrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty and incarceration through education, and the undeniable power of the classroom - the only space in a prison where one is a person rather than a prisoner. Jennifer Lackey is the Director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program, the editor of academic journals Episteme and Philosophical Studies, and a philosophy professor at Northwestern University. Her research is in the area of social epistemology, asking questions about the rationality of punishment, credibility, and false confessions. Every week, Jennifer teaches college-level courses to incarcerated students at Stateville Correctional Center and in Division 10 of the Cook County Department of Corrections, enlightening her students to the social and institutional structures present in our correctional system. She has had the work of her incarcerated students published in The New Yorker, bringing mass attention to the need for prison reform and education. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx