Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

is developing strategies and options to ensure that everyone can be safe and live free of violence without having to call in the police or prison system.

When I sent the manuscript of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women to PM Press, I knew that, if I didn't have some other big project to keep me occupied, I would drive myself up the wall waiting for edits and responses. Having been warned that publishing takes a long long time, I decided to dust off a dormant writing project.

In 2005, Daniel Burton-Rose approached me about writing an article for an anthology on 1960s and 1970s radical social justice movements. The article would be partly about women imprisoned for self-defense and partly about the women's self-defense groups and organizations that sprung up around that same time (think Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years 1960-1975 and Cell 16).

I began researching and writing. I realized that I couldn't really tell this story without also including the stories of women imprisoned for killing their batterers. Daniel agreed and so we narrowed the focus to women imprisoned for self-defense (both those who were famous and had huge support movements and those who were not). The notes I had gathered on women's grassroots self-defense got shoved into a corner and collected dust while the article became part of The Hidden 1970s: Histories of Radicalism.

Last year, I finally put those notes to use, turning it into an article on women's grassroots organizing against gender violence for Contemporary Justice Review.

Earlier this year, I did an interview with Angola 3 News. The first part of the interview has been published on Truthout as part of the 16 days of action to End Violence Against Women campaign. You can see the video (now that I've corrected the link) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlozk7G-JYo