Nanette Trujillo

Nanette Trujillo was born and raised in Puerto Rico. With a BA from the University of Puerto Rico and an MA from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, she has dedicated her career to teaching English. Before her current boyfriend, Nanette had never met anyone who had been to prison, and she had little exposure to the American criminal justice system. Her basic understanding of the justice system was that “there are police officers and the court system. They are here to keep things under control; if you break the law, you have to pay the price.”

While Nanette is generally correct in this regard, her boyfriend disproved her belief that “bad people go to prison and all prisoners are killers, rapists, drug dealers, and thieves.” Nanette affirms, “I grew up learning that prison is scary and filled with bad people who were incapable of following the law. My perception has since changed because my boyfriend is none of these things. He is a very intelligent man who made a mistake when he was younger.”

When asked about her thoughts on the Douglass Project’s mission, she responded “I believe it’s a great idea to educate and instruct individuals in society about the misconceptions they have about prisons and those who live there. Building relationships between prisoners and people from the community helps. It will help the community better understand the incarcerated, and it will possibly lead to more resources and support being available to the incarcerated upon their eventual release.”