Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration - V-Day - Page 3
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Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration

04 May

Posted at 15:57h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

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 for all...

21 Mar

Posted at 15:57h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

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 go each...

18 Nov

Posted at 15:56h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

Gabriel Sanchez' article "Here's What It's Like For A Woman To Serve Life In Prison" (Buzzfeed, September 12, 2019, by Gabriel H. Sanchez) highlights the work of Sara Bennet's "PhotovilleNYC", who represented me in the early 90's when I was applying for clemency. My first petition was sent when Governor Pataki was in office and then another one when Patterson took over, both denied my petitions. The women in this article, (many of whom I know) from my 39 years spent at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, the only maximum security prison for women in New York, are only sharing...

18 Nov

Posted at 15:55h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

"Women's prison opens nursery for mothers, babies behind bars" (The Blade, September 16, 2019, Kaitlin Durbin) The women's prison in Marysville, Ohio has just opened up a new $2 million dollar addition to their nursery for women to promote family bonding. It is refreshing to know that some states in the US are seeing the importance of having a child bond with their mother despite the fact they they are incarcerated. Statistics have proven that the more social experience a child has with a person, the more likely the child will become attached to that person. This initial social tie between mother...

18 Nov

Posted at 15:54h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

I am having the most incredible experience of trying to find housing after being incarcerated for 39 years. The graces have been with me and I have a dream job thanks to the connections I acquired while incarcerated, yet the picture is still not complete. I need a place to call my own. It's been 10 months that I'm free and I have been faced with so many harsh realities of just what freedom looks like, feels like and actually is, especially for women such as myself, whose past includes having served a lengthy sentence. There have been many amazing experiences...

18 Nov

Posted at 15:53h in Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, V-Day

Opioid addiction is just one component of mass incarceration. In the past several years it has bombarded our daily news feed. We hear about the opioid crisis throughout the United States and different approaches to ending it, creating safe measures to eliminate overdoses or finding ways to help people who have been diagnosed with this condition. This is a major breakthrough because years ago while black and brown people and war veterans were addicted no one really cared. They were sent to prison and jails or just left to die in the streets. I think the conversation is important...