All Day

All Day takes your breath even as it makes your heart beat faster with tension, fear, desperation and outrage. Liza Jessie Peterson’s writing is magical, poetic and haunting. Her words force us to live as she lived - as teacher/artist/warrior fighting with all of her talent and power to help incarcerated youth escape the cycle of poverty, pain and oppression to stay “alive and free.” Her lessons of liberation to her students become personal revelations that can help us move toward personal liberation.–Jamal Joseph, professor at Columbia University, author of Tupak Shakur Legacy, Academy Award nominee, activist and former Rikers Island Inmate and Rikers High School Student“ALL DAY is a gem, a honest look at our all too often forgotten youth. Liza Jessie Peterson takes us on this journey in a way that only she can, holding up a mirror and forcing us see what we are allowing our fellow citizens to go through. Her journey is as remarkable as the way in which this book was crafted. It’s truly a must read.” –D. Watkins, author of The Cook Up“It’s a really bad idea to send children to prison. It only breeds a criminal class. Liza Peterson has spent most of her adult life working to undo the harm done by the prison system, working one-on-one from the bowels of the notorious Rikers Island. She has poured her heart and soul into guiding and loving these young people who, if directed, can make miraculous contributions to society. Read her journey and know that we as a society have to do better for these at risk children.”–p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 24.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Russell Simmons, entrepreneur, author, activist, philanthropist“Liza Jessie Peterson’s ALL DAY is a must read for anyone who has ever cared about young people - and all people. Peterson brings amazing warmth, love and laughter to the devastating state of our juvenile justice system. In her able and gifted hands, we meet young people we will not soon forget. So glad this book is in the world.”–Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner for Brown Girl Dreaming and New York Times bestselling author of Another Brooklyn“When in 2008 the opportunity arises for poet and actor Peterson to teach a pre-GED class to male teenage inmates at Riker’s Island, where she’d previously worked as a teaching artist, she jumps for the shot at job stability. Beyond trying to maintain general order in her classroom-no small task-she must knock down hurdles that these boys, (her “rug rats,” “rascals,” and “bad-news bears”) have been dealing with for ages: unwarranted special-ed designations, social promotion that left them at sea, and an education thus far that did not include the history and gifts of their black and brown ancestors. Occasionally, the boys lure “thug mama genie” from her lamp, and Ms. P goes off; other times, her sweet, cool-headed alter ego, “Miss Crabtree,” is in charge. Unwaveringly, Peterson tries to reach and teach her young men, honor their stories, and counteract the traumas that have led them to her classroom. She has teacher’s pets and perpetual thorns in her side, but there’s love all around. Peterson’s unique experience, care for her students, and quick-flowing poet’s prose do justice to these young people who’ve been let down, while addressing the system that let it happen, and the only possible way out: love plus compassion and education.“–Annie Bostro, BooklistIn a very real voice Liza Jessie Peterson recounts her days teaching young men imprisoned on Rikers Island awaiting trial. She switches between her street wise motherly voice to the voices and inner thoughts of young men struggling to maintain identity, dignity, credibility and sanity. Her interactions with them and them with each other are both heart wrenching and chilling at the same time. She peels back layer upon layer of these kid’s reality and exposes the humanity and vulnerability of young men who are scared, beautiful and dangerous. As an educator and quite often a mother fiqure she steps inside their comfort zone and often brings out the very best these kids have to offer. The book is in many ways a teacher’s quide of how to gain the trust and respect of kids who often see themselves as societies throwaways. Liza educates with a stern and loving hand and often brings about a meaningful change in these kids but also finds insights into herself about how to truly make a difference in the lives of children lost in the matrix.

LIZA JESSIE PETERSON has worked with incarcerated youth in various capacities for twenty years as a teaching artist, poet-in-residence, NYC Board of Education full-time GED teacher, re-entry specialist, outreach coordinator, and program counselor with the NYC Department of Corrections. She appeared on two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry and was featured in Ava Duvernay’s critically acclaimed film The 13th. Her one-woman stage play, The Peculiar Patriot, toured in more than thirty-five penitentiaries across the country, and the full production premiered in New York at the National Black Theater in 2017 and received an Agnes Gund Art for Justice Fund grant. Liza is a writer, actress, and speaker who lives in Brooklyn.

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