A few weeks ago, the erstwhile punk-rock-poet John Samson Fellows taught an auditorium full of people how to fold a paper cup. With each fold, he explained that origami is an activity he likes to do with people who are incarcerated. “It can be really empowering to make something with your hands in that environment,” he explained over the rustle of fingers creasing paper.

Samson Fellows is perhaps best known as the former frontman for the indie-rock band the Weakerthans and the author of an anthem beloved in his hometown for its self-deprecating refrain: “I hate Winnipeg.” But for the last number of years, he’s been teaching creative writing and literacy to people in Manitoba jails.

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“Three weeks ago, while I was still preparing for this talk, I got a furious email from a manager from the Winnipeg Remand Centre where I lead classes,” Samson Fellows told his audience as they put the finishing touches on their paper cups. “He informed me that origami paper is contraband and told me to stop sharing it with my students immediately.”

When Samson Fellows called back to apologize and ask why origami paper was considered contraband, he was told that any object that could be modified into something else was forbidden.

“So,” he said, pausing to give weight to his next words: “Anything that can be changed or transformed is not permitted in the Winnipeg Remand Centre. Any change or transformation is not allowed in Manitoba prisons,” he repeated. “In case I am being too subtle, this is an anecdote about how prisons can’t be reformed, and must be abolished.”

To most of the audience, this was likely not a revolutionary statement — though its implications surely are. Samson Fellows was speaking to a roomful of Quakers, a Christian denomination known for its radical commitment to social justice, convening in Winnipeg for their annual gathering.

Quakers — formally known as the Religious Society of Friends — started in the 1600s when a small group of dissidents split from the Church of England. Quakers are democratic and non-hierarchical. A typical Quaker worship service, known as a “meeting,” doesn’t have a leader, hymns or rituals. Instead, participants sit in a circle in expectant silence, waiting for the Spirit to move someone to share. Sometimes no one says anything, and that’s fine too.

Most Sunday mornings Samson Fellows can be found sitting silently in a rented room at the Old Grace Housing Co-op among the small circle of Quakers who make up the Winnipeg meeting.

Quakers are united by shared practice rather than a fixed set of doctrines, so there’s diversity of beliefs among them. Some Quakers hold traditional Protestant beliefs, some are universalist, some are........

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