Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

In September, I'll be joining the Community and Resistance tour with Jordan Flaherty, Jesse Muhammad and others! (click here for bios)

With these amazing writers and speakers, I'll be hitting:

Thursday, September 9, 7:00pm
Wooden Shoe Bookstore
704 South St, Philadelphia, PA
with Manju Rajendran and Jordan Flaherty

Friday, September 10, 7:00pm
Encuentro 5
33 Harrison Ave, Floor 5, Boston, MA
with Gabrilla Ballard, and Jordan Flaherty

Saturday, September 11, 7:00pm
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street, New York, NY
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

Monday, September 13, 7:00pm
Mount Holyoke College
The New York Room, Mary Woolley Hall, South Hadley, MA
with Jesse Muhammad, Lois Ahrens and Jordan Flaherty

Tuesday, September 14
Amherst College, Amherst, MA
details TBA
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

and then at the end of September at:

Wednesday – Friday, September 22 – 24
Details TBA
Chicago, IL
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

Saturday, September 25
Details TBA
Louisville, KY
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

Monday, September 27, 7:30 p.m
Firestorm Cafe and Books
48 Commerce St, Asheville, NC
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

Tuesday September 28, 7:00pm
AFSC Regional Office
60 Walton Street, NE, Atlanta, GA
with Jesse Muhammad and Jordan Flaherty

Wednesday September 29
Details TBA
Durham, NC
with Jordan Flaherty

Thursday September 30
Details TBA
Greensboro, NC
with Jordan Flaherty

Issue #20 (the Mother's Day issue) of Tenacious: Art and Writings by Women in Prison has been out for some time now. But it's only recently come to my attention that I forgot to mention it here. (No wonder everyone keeps asking for issue 19!)

So here it is folks!

When I sat down to read Tenacious: Art & Writings by Women in Prison, Issue #20, I couldn’t have predicted the spirit, the soul, that I found in these simple, subtle, understated, black & white pages.

A letter from a mother to her dead six year old, whose death she was responsible for and imprisoned for; a story of one mother adopting the young women in her prison as a replacement for the relationship she’s lost with her son, who’s also incarcerated; tales of years in isolation cells turning women into swaying, growling shells of their former selves...

...And in each

Last year, I made my first (and only) tv appearance on GritTV after a federal court ordered that the California prison population be reduced.

In May, I wrote a short blog post about the influence Marilyn Buck had on my early days as a prison abolitionist, esp as a young girl struggling to find my way in what seemed to be a male-dominated movement. I had been looking forward to getting to know Marilyn after her release from prison.

Marilyn was released from prison on July 15, 2010. I had been looking forward to getting to know her on the outside.

and, once you get past the birth process, there's still the fact that mothers in prison risk losing their children. Because parenting still falls primarily on women, legislation such as ASFA (the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act) impacts incarcerated mothers five times more than it does incarcerated fathers (who usually have a female relative willing to take care of his children while he is in prison):

In June, Gov.

NPR recently ran a story about this horrific practice. Although this is not new news to many of us, I am glad that this is getting more public attention and public outcry.

I wrote about Shawanna Lumsey's lawsuit against the Arkansas Department of Corrections in Resistance Behind Bars. I am, of course, glad that the state lost its appeal, but am saddened (but sadly not surprised) that the publicity had such an averse effect on Shawanna.

From Legal Services for Prisoners With Children:

Shawanna Lumsey lives in Arkansas and was pregnant while in prison there. She gave birth in shackles and sued the state and won.

Great news!!!

On July 15, 2010, Marilyn Buck was released from the federal prison medical center in Carswell, Texas. She is paroled to New York.

More news will be posted on http://marilynbuck.com/ as it becomes available.

P r e s s R e l e a s e

Contacts:
B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua
1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2
ghwitnesses at gmail.com
http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/

Gray-Haired Witnesses and Supporters Bring Shocking Case of the Scott Sisters to Washington!

WASHINGTON, June 25/Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News --