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09 Jun “Free in the Time of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement” by Roslyn Smith, V-Day Beyond Incarceration Project Manager
“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...04 May “Covid-19: The First Reported Death at The Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women” by Roslyn Smith, V-Day Beyond Incarceration Project Manager
Covid-19 is an unprecedented and unpredictable global crisis, a defining moment in our history. This virus has affected everyone, but not equally. The deep structural inequalities in economics, health care systems, prisons, race, class and gender around the world are being exposed with devastating results to the most vulnerable people, particularly women. The general population at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility was informed about the death of a fellow resident Lulu, on April 29th, 2020. There were 627 women housed there; now one is gone and we mourn for her with her family and friends. This is a sad time...21 Mar “Covid-19 & Incarceration” by Roslyn Smith, V-Day Beyond Incarceration Project Manager
This virus is affecting all of us, those in prison are especially vulnerable. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, nearly 2.3 million people are held in prisons and jails nationwide (Prison Policy Initiative). Prison populations cannot “self-isolate,” “social distance” or “flatten the curve,” nor are they allowed sanitizing gel or disinfectant liquids because it is considered contraband. Most of the time they don’t even have running water in their cells. Prison populations tend to have higher rates of elderly people (due to longer sentences) with serious health issues. In addition, the prison staff come and...
18 Nov Roslyn Smith Joins V-Day Team as Beyond Incarceration, Program Manager
Please join us in welcoming Roslyn Smith to the V-Day team. As Program Manager, Roz will oversee V-Day’s new Beyond Incarceration project which will further expand and deepen V-Day’s ongoing work with formerly incarcerated women and incarcerated women, engaging and educating activists throughout the US and worldwide in a dialogue around restorative justice. Roz brings her personal experience from long-term incarceration as a vehicle for her work as a criminal justice reform advocate. “As I think about both the roots of my involvement in violence and the issue of responsibility, I know that increasingly it is understood that people who...
12 Jan RISE 2023, Celebrate V’s Newest Book Reckoning & V-Day’s 25th Anniversary at 92NY, & Join Roz Smith in Day of Advocacy for Parole Justice
RISE for Freedom, Create the New Culture Our One Billion Rising 2023 call is to Rise for Freedom & Create the New Culture in order to address the devastating consequences of the ongoing vicious systems of patriarchy, imperialism, capitalism and racism in the world today and the destructive battle for power fought over women’s bodies and the body of the earth. This year’s campaign celebrates 10 years of One Billion Rising and urges communities worldwide to utilize art and activism, creative resistance events and gatherings, both online and offline, to demand an end to violence against women, girls, gender nonconforming...26 Jul Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration
Posted at 16:16h
Roslyn Smith, V-Day’s Beyond Incarceration Project Manager, has been writing blog posts as part of V-Day’s 2019 Spotlight on Women in Prison, Detention Centers, and Formerly Incarcerated Women. In her newly expanded blog, Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, Roz writes an ongoing series about her experiences as a formerly incarcerated women, including short and long dispatches on prison reform and prison abolition, often highlighting news articles around the experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, pieces highlighting what she’s thinking about, what she’s worried about, including interviews with formerly incarcerated women, stories from prison, visions of a world without prison, how...
10 Jul A Transformation Engine, A Healing Oasis & A Place of Joy: the 25th City of Joy Class Graduates
Photo: Patrick Lwaboshi On 28 June, the 25th class graduated from the City of Joy, a formidable accomplishment amidst increasing conflict in the Eastern Congo. 89 women have turned their pain to power, becoming young leaders who are environmentalists, journalists and storytellers, public speakers, peace activists, and advocates for freedom and gender equality among so many emerging talents. Photos: Carlos Schuler Following is an excerpt from the report by co-founder and director of City of Joy and V-Day Congo, Christine Schuler Deschryver: June 28 marked the completion of training in women’s leadership and emotional healing for 89 residents of the...
02 Jul My Reflection on an Emotional and Meaningful Film Screening: Beyond Bars
I was honored and excited to be invited to participate in a panel discussion following the New York screening of Chesa Boudin’s powerful documentary film Beyond Bars. This was my first time seeing the movie, and it proved to be an incredibly moving and emotional experience for me. The film chronicles Chesa’s life growing up, visiting his parents in prison – one of whom was my dear friend, mentor, and confidante, Kathy Boudin. Watching the years go by on screen, seeing Chesa make those regular trips to Bedford Hills, hit me viscerally. I was transported back to my own experience...