Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration - V-Day - Page 2
-1
archive,paged,category,category-dispatches-from-beyond-incarceration,category-56,paged-2,category-paged-2,bridge-core-3.0.2,qode-page-transition-enabled,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,footer_responsive_adv,qode-theme-ver-28.8,qode-theme-bridge,disabled_footer_bottom,qode_header_in_grid,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.9.0,vc_responsive,elementor-default,elementor-kit-20244
 

Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration

03 Dec

Posted at 16:05h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

New $10 Million Women’s Re-entry Center Opens in Maine» After three years of parole supervision, New York State finally discharged me. As a free woman, my excitement brewed for my first visit to  Maine. Cheryl Wilkins and Yolanda-Peterkin Johnson accompanied me. We wanted to connect with the women in our group, Right/Write to Heal, for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in New York and Maine and see them in person. Cheryl and Yolanda were also crucial speakers in the Abolition Night at the Strand Theater. I couldn’t have had better companions.  I admire these women for their strength and dedication to...

03 Dec

Posted at 16:01h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

On October 13, 2021, several organizations came together to protest closing the death camp; closing this death chamber has been a long-standing issue for advocates of criminal justice reform and abolitionists throughout New York State for decades. The crumbling infrastructure, the infestation of rodents,  inhumane living conditions, the onset of COVID-19, and the ongoing deplorable abuse from staff and persons in custody have resulted in far too many deaths. I remember back in 1979 being shipped off to Rikers Island at 17 years of age. I was petrified because of the stories I heard about the rapes, the rat infestation, the...

25 Aug

Posted at 18:11h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, One Billion Rising, V-Day

  With the pandemic’s devastating effects on the prison communities and the world, this year has been tough on all of us. August 12th, 2021, was a day criminal justice advocates set aside to remember the life of Valerie Gaiter, my co-defendant. Val never received the proper medical evaluation and attention that could have saved her life. She also was never granted clemency. A group of formerly incarcerated women, men, and several assembly members came together for Val Gaiter: Chris Burdick, Carmen De La Rosa, Julian Salazar, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Harvey Epstein, Taylor Darling Latrice Walker, David Weprin, and Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Solages....

24 Jun

Posted at 17:16h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, One Billion Rising, V-Day

As an advisory board member of Donna Hylton’s A Little Piece of Light, I was invited to attend the organization’s trip to touch base with their California partners. A Little Piece of Light is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower and facilitate healing for women, girls, and gender-fluid individuals who are directly impacted by trauma and involvement in the criminal justice system. Our flight was on time and we all settled in for the 6-hour trip. We were fully vaccinated and excited to be traveling again. We arrived, and LaVell Baylor, Deputy Director for Freedom4Youth, was there to greet...

03 Jun

Posted at 15:16h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, One Billion Rising, V-Day

Donna Hylton is a Jamaican-American author and criminal justice activist. She founded, A Little Piece of Light, the non-profit, which bears the same name as her book, both created out of her lived experience of 27 years of incarceration. Ms. Hylton pulled off a fantastic event in the community of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Since her release, she has been a staunch advocate for the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, cis, trans, and those who hold fluid identities. Her work and dedication to this cause have led her to speak at the Women’s March in 2017, the Democratic National...

02 Apr

Posted at 08:42h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, One Billion Rising, V-Day

According to the Sentencing Project, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 222,455 in 2019.1 Though many more men are in prison than women, the rate of growth for female imprisonment has been twice as high as that of men since 1980. Nationally, about 1 in 8 (13%) of all individuals released from state prisons and more than 1 in 6 (18%) jail releases are women.2 We rarely hear the stories of women after they have been home and what their lives look like now. I want to highlight three...

02 Apr

Posted at 08:20h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, One Billion Rising, V-Day

The pandemic hit hard and restricted our travels, so I have not had the opportunity to travel and report on criminal justice reform issues since early 2020. This was my first time visiting Washington D.C. and I was proud to be doing it in a capacity to advocate for incarcerated women’s release from prison. There are over 200,00 women incarcerated in prisons across the United States. The United States incarcerates1 more people than any other country in the world. On March 12th, I traveled to DC to participate in a campaign with The National Council for Women and Girls to...

27 Sep

Posted at 16:00h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

A Meaningful Journey: Discussing Re-entry with New Hours’ Emerge Program: In today's world, where second chances are often hard to come by, some organizations stand as beacons of Hope for those who have faced the challenges of reentry into society after incarceration. New Hour, a remarkable non-profit organization, is one such Beacon. New Hour is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting justice-impacted women and providing successful support for mothers and children seeking a fresh start. It is located in Brentwood, Long Island, a far cry from my roots in the bustling city of Brooklyn, New York. They offer a range of...

15 Sep

Posted at 15:59h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

Most women don’t think twice about where they are going to acquire menstrual products, yet that is not the case for incarcerated women in prison, jails, detention centers and women’s shelters across the United States. Incarcerated individuals and other people in the criminal justice system often have to resort to begging or bargaining with staff[1]for basic hygiene needs. Thirty-eight states do not require prisons to provide menstrual products[2] to incarcerated people. The voices of incarcerated women are not broadcast as loudly as their male counterparts. Now that the influx of women coming to prison has vastly increased,  women’s unique issues need attention with...

09 Jun

Posted at 15:58h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

"We are a society that has been structured from top to bottom by race. You don’t get beyond that by deciding not to talk about it anymore. It will always come back; it will always reassert itself over and over again." – Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw I was released from prison in October of 2018 and have been home now for a year and eight months. I remember counting the years and days of my confinement with a heavy heart, now I count my days of freedom with pleasure and gratitude. We measure time in many different ways but for me these...