Transformation : v.18:no.1(2003:Winter)
- Title
- Transformation : v.18:no.1(2003:Winter)
- Description
- Transformation is published by the Women's Project. This issue focuses on issues of incarceration and race. There are articles that outline statistics of prisons in Arkansas, racism, prison abolition, and more. There is also a section with testimonials from prisoners and criticism on prisons as "The New Slavery."
- Date Issued
- 2003
- Relation
- Transformation
- Rights
- Contact UCO Chambers Library's Digital Initiatives Working Group at diwg@uco.edu for the permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of this material.
- Is Part Of
-
Transformation: Women's Watchcare Network Log
- Transformation: Women's Watchcare Network Log
- Creator
- Echeverría, Angeline
- Contributor
- Women's Project
- Date
- 2025-04-18T15:23:14Z
- Date Available
- 2025-04-18T15:23:14Z
- Subject
- LGBTQ+ newsletters
- Race
- Type
- Periodical
- extracted text
-
Property of the Center
■
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ran
Vol. 18 Issue 1
Winter 2003
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Deborah Cooper - Little Rock
Yvonne Croston - NLR
Amy Edgington - Little Rock
Sarah Facen - Little Rock
Linda Kamara - Little Rock
Barb L'Eplattenier - NLR
Laura Miller - Little Rock
Freddie Nixon - Little Rock
Brenda Olive - NLR
Tammy Roberson - Little Rock
Annette Sanders - Little Rock
Annette Shead - Little Rock
Sybil Ward - Little Rock
Celia Wildroot - Hot Springs
Precious Williams - Ogden
STAFF
Felicia Davidson-Richardson
Angeline Echeverria
Lynn Frost
Dee Dee Green
Judy Matsuoka
Pat Schuyler
Tufara Waller Muhammad
Suzanne Pharr, Staff Emeritus
INSIDE
Abolition
-Page3
Facts about AR Prisons
-Page6
Prisoner Testimonies
-Page7
The New Slavery
-Page9
Women's Project Attends
Critical Resistance South
By Angeline Echeverria
0
n April 4 th -6th, the
Women's Project attended Critical Resistance
South: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex, a conference held in New Orleans, LA.
In addition to staff people,
four formerly incarcerated WP
members attended the conference. Critical Resistance is
a national grassroots group
that fights to end the Prison
Industrial Complex (PIC).
The PIC is a complicated system that uses prisons as a
solution to social, political,
and economic problems. The
PIC depends upon oppressive
systems that the Women's
Project works against, like
racism, classism, sexism, and
homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the
death penalty, industry and
labor issues, policing, courts,
media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.
showed a film on May 18th ,
entitled "Voices from the Inside," that focused on the experiences of women in a California federal prison.
Since 1989, the Women's Project has been working with
women and men inside of Arkansas prisons and jails. WP
Staff Member Felicia Davidson-Richardson currently facilitates groups in Pulaski
County Jail (Little Rock), Department of Community Correction (Pine Bluff), McPherson and Grimes Unit
(Newport), Tucker Unit
(England) and Wrightsville
Unit (Wrightsville).
She deals
with issues of domestic violence, substance abuse,
HIV/AIDS prevention, healthy
relationship-building, and
other topics relevant to prisoners' experiences.
Arkansas is participating in a
national trend of increasing
incarceration. There are
At the conference, we learned more than 2 million people
what other groups throughout locked up in US prisons and
the South are doing to resist
jails, more than at any other
prison industries and to emtime in history. Between
power currently and formerly
1980 and 2001, the Arkansas
incarcerated individuals and
prison population increased
their communities. As a folby 249%. The majority of
low-up to the conference, we these prisoners are nonviolent
offenders and 80% of the
women incarcerated in Arkansas are in for substance
abuse-related convictions.
Eventually, 95% of all prisoners nationwide w·ill be
released
back into our
communities.
abuse, lack of education (the
average female prisoner has
an 11th grade education),
violence against women, and
poverty (women are released
merly incarcerated women in
Arkansas, but we know we
need to do more. Through
our MIWATCH program, we
transport children to visit
their mothers in
prison and we
collect toiletry
items for incarcerated women.
Through Felicia's
groups, we're
Arkansas is
able to educate
the #1 state
male and female
in the nation
prisoners to betfor methamter deal with the
phetamine
challenges they
production,
face in a system
and the mathat's stacked
jority of drug
against them.
abusers in
We are currently
prison will
forming a group
receive little
of formerly incaror no subcerated women
stance abuse
to work together
treatment
to develop solufor their adWP Board Member, Brenda Olive, and Director Judy Matsuoka listen to tions to the probdictions bespeakers at the Critical Resistance South opening session.
lems that they
fore they are
released.
and other memNot only do prisoners lack
bers of their communities
from Arkansas prisons with
access to substance abuse
face.
$25; the average female
treatment, but they also lack prisoner earned less than
access to education and
$10,000 the year before her As a community, we need to
counseling that will help
stand up against the idea
incarceration). 80% of
them to deal with the issues women in Arkansas prisons
that more prisons makes us
that led to their incarceraare mothers and the average safer. Few people believe
tion. 80% of women incarmother in prison in Arkansas anymore that prisons in any
cerated in Arkansas have ex- has 3 minor children. In ad- way rehabilitate people who
perienced domestic violence, dition to the challenges they commit crimes. We need
sexual assault, and/or physi- had before their incarceramore alternatives to incarceration
and more opportunical abuse. Arkansas is the
tion, if a woman has a drug#3 state for domestic vioties for people who suffer
related felony, she will be
lence homicides and #1 for
unable to access many of the from the obstacles of poverty, lack of education, radomestic violence homicides
services available to help
of African-American women.
cism, substance abuse, and
people facing such chalviolence. Please call our oflenges, such as subsidized
fice to get involved in our
When women are released
housing, TEA (welfare) and
from Arkansas prisons, they
efforts to challenge the
food stamps.
face all the challenges they
Prison Industrial Complex in
had before their incarceration The Women's Project is work- Arkansas! ■
and then some. There are
ing to address some of the
the challenges of substance
needs of currently and forwww.womens-project.org *Page 2* Transformation * Winter 2003
What is Abolition?
Reprinted with Permission from Critical Resistance
www .criticalresistance.org
WHAT-IS
ABOLITION?
* Abolition is a political vision
that seeks to eliminate the
need for prisons, policing,
and surveillance by creating
sustainable alternatives to
punishment and imprisonment.
* Abolition means acknowledging the devastating effects prison, policing, and
surveillance have on poor
communities, communities of
color and other targeted
communities, and saying,
"No, we won't live like this.
We deserve more."
* Abolitionists recognize that
the kinds of wrongdoing we
call "crime" do not exist in
the same way everywhere
and are not "human nature",
but rather determined by the
societies we live in. Similarly,
abolitionists do not assume
that people will never hurt
each other or that people
won't cross the boundaries
set up by their communities.
We do imagine, however,
that boundary crossings will
happen much less often if we
live in a society that combines flexibility with care to
provide for, and acknowledge, people's needs. To do
that, we must create alternatives for dealing with the injuries people inflict upon
each other in ways that sustain communities and families. Keeping a community
whole is impossible by rou-
provide us with one set of
strategies to build our communities. We can create a
* An abolitionist vision
means for providing meanmeans that we must build
ingful work-and training for
models today that can repre- that work-to all. This work
sent how we want to live in
and training can provide for
the future. It means develop- our housing, food, and clothing practical strategies for
ing, and should contribute to
taking small steps that move the well being of the commuus toward making our
nity.
dreams real and that lead the
average person to believe
* Community-based educathat things really could be
tion models: We have examdifferent. It means living this ples of small, charter and alvision in our daily lives.
ternative schools that have
been successful in showing
IF NOT PRISONS AND PO- us alternative means of eduLICE, THEN WHAT?
cating our community. Community-based schools can
If our vision is to eliminate
offer education to anyone
the need for prisons, policing, who wants it (youth and
and surveillance, we must
adults). Education can be
have a clear idea of what we free, participatory, and
need to make our communiaimed toward sustaining the
ties safe and secure. We
kinds of social environments
must make those alternatives we want to create. They can
realistic and we must be able also model the community
to begin building them today. forms we want in their teachWe need community alterna- ing practices. Our schools
tives that keep people out of can tailor the learning procthe hands of police and out
ess to the needs of the stuof prisons and jails, while ad- dents and can involve the
dressing the fears that peoadult community in learning
ple live with on a daily basis. and teaching so schools are
We can do that by building
not isolated from the rest of
our communities and ending the community.
a reliance on, and belief in,
law enforcement as the only * Community forums: Some
solution. Here are just a few current restorative justice
examples of what those almodels from around the
ternatives might include:
world provide us with examples of how community me* Community-based ecodiation and problem solving
nomic resources: Current co- is used to resolve conflicts
operative economic models
and keep our communities
tinely removing people from
it.
www.womens-project.org *Page 3* Transformation
* Winter 2003
safe. We must create a
means of dealing with people who hurt each other
(physically, mentally, emotionally, materially). We can
establish community forums
to address grievances people have regarding each
other and as a means of resolving those conflicts. Such
formations could include
community councils that
mediate between individuals/groups, community elders to whom community
members could go to for
advice and counsel, age-,
issue-, and interest-specific
groups for building community ties (youth groups, artists' circles, support groups,
study groups, etc.), to community-based strategies for
keeping individuals community members from harming
themselves or others and to
provide disincentives for repeating such actions. Above
all, these groups can grow
from the community and
their direction and scope
should come from the people involved in them and
whom they affect.
nity intact. These models
can also include working
with people who currently
provide such services to design workshops, trainings,
and ongoing support and
resources that go beyond
providing individual advocacy and services, and emphasize gaining independence from those systems.
* Me •
neig
free
good
rent
and
s with
tegies
care
er-
' hec
etc.
or m
encies, terminal
dental and visu
, and mental he
routine counseli
erapy as well as
nd care for the
isabled, etc).
of the s ategies
bove r:e.-akea
place. They are not fantasies, but real life examples
of community building and
* Community Services: Cur- growth.
rent community-based organizations provide us with
WHAT DOES ABOLITIONgood examples of how serISM MEAN FOR ME AND
vices may be provided. We WHY SHOULD I CARE?
must provide services to
Taking an abolitionist apthose who have difficulty
providing for themselves.
proach means radically
Such strategies can empha- shifting the way we think
about providing for oursize not only taking care of
those who need the most
selves and living with each
help, but finding ways to
other. It means imagining
social environments that
help people get through
these systems and come out provide all of us with basic
with both what they need
necessities: a safe place to
and their humanity and dig- live, enough food, access to
medical care for minds and
bodies, access to information and the tools with •
which to understand and
use that information, the
resources to participate in
whatever kind of economy
we have, a means of expressing opinions/interests/concerns, and
living free of bodily, psychological and emotional harm
(both from individuals and
from the state).
Can you say that you have
access to all these things?
Does every one in your
community have that same
access?
We need to start building
the kinds of social environments that will provide
these resources for all before we can abolish anything. We need strategies
that will keep our communities whole and keep us safe,
not ones that rely on punishment, caging, and bodily
harm. The environments
most of us live in offer us
"public safety" that does not
serve the entire community,
but protects the interests of
the state and the rich and
powerful. We cannot abolish
prisons if we don't have sustainable communities for
people to come home to.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Abolition means that every
time we oppose or try to
tear something down, we
need to build something
sustainable in its place. We
can do this by being strategic, by researching not only
www.womens-project.org *Page 4* Transformation * Winter 2003
what the problems are,
but also what resources
are available. We must
look not only at what the
state is doing wrong, but
what is already available
in our communities that
could provide economic
and social sustainability
for all, or what needs to
be created and how we
will create it. Each step
in our organizing must
be able to do this.
Being an abolitionist
means taking action and
putting energy into
building our families,
neighborhoods-all
of
our communities. It
means creating a firm
community foundation
for people to come to
when we finally tear
down all the walls. Together
we can do this, but we must
believe that it is possible. ■
WP Board Member Brenda Olive discusses prison issues with activist and
prison abolitionist Angela Davis and other conference participants.
Report from CR South
By Sabrina Hood, WP Member and CR South Participant
Critical Resistance is a very important part of our life and our culture. It teaches you
about how to work with the system. It teaches you what you can accomplish if you put
your mind to it, and that one person can make a difference.
Why CR is important to me: because I'm a Black woman who has been through the prison
system and was judged unjustly. I was strung out on cocaine and guilty of being an addict, locked up for many years. Now I've learned about the Critical Resistance movement,
and it is very important that I do not drop the torch. It was a great pleasure and adventure to be taken to a conference of that magnitude. I learned that nothing's impossible if
I put my mind to it. I learned that there's nothing I cannot accomplish. I am very proud
to have been a part of the Critical Resistance movement, and it will forever be a part of
my life. I do not plan on setting the torch down ever again.
I hope that through the Women's Project we become a strong force to help anyone who's
been sentenced unjustly. I pray that we, as women, become a stronger force to help
other women to be released from prison and to give them a chance to enter life again and
be stronger. I do not want to see any more women sent back to prison or kept in prison
because they don't have a place to go. I truly pray that we are allowed to help them transition out. This is my dream: to be of service to someone else before myself.
www.womens-project.org *Page 5* Transformation
* Winter 2003
Facts about Arkansas Prisons
•
In 2001, the estimated prison population in Arkansas was 16,400. The total
population was 2. 7 million.
•
Between 1980 and 2001, the Arkansas prison population increased by 249%.
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas are in for substance abuse-related felony convictions.
•
Arkansas is the #1 state for methamphetamine
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas have experienced domestic violence,
sexual assault, and/or physical abuse.
•
Arkansas is the #3 state for domestic violence homicides and #1 for domestic
violence homicides of African-American women.
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas are mothers; the average mother in
Arkansas prison has 3 minor children.
•
The average female prisoner has an 11th grade education.
•
The cost to educate someone for 2 semesters (15 hours/semester) at the University of Arkansas: $3,556. The cost to incarcerate one prisoner for a year:
$13,747.25.
•
The average female prisoner earned less than $10,000 the year before incarceration.
•
In one year, approximately
•
In 2001, 1,163 youth aged 10-12 were arrested in Arkansas.
•
In 2001, 17,255 youth under 18 were arrested in Arkansas.
production.
2100 women are incarcerated at Newport.
Correctional Facilities in Arkansas
(not including county jails and transitional housing)
Benton Unit, Boot Camp Program, Central Office, Cummins Unit, Delta Regional
Unit, Diagnostic Unit, Jefferson County Jail & Correctional Facility, Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi County Work Release Center, North Central Unit, Northwest Arkansas Work Release Center, Pine Bluff Unit, Texarkana Regional Corrections Center, Tucker Unit, Varner Unit, Wrightsville Unit, Grimes Unit,
McPherson Unit.
www.womens-project.org *Page 6* Transformation
* Winter 2003
Property of the Center
Prisoners Speak Out
The following testimonials were written by participants in Felicia's
Domestic Violence classes.
On or about Feb. 4, 2003 I
walked into Domestic Violence
Class, not knowing some of the
things I know now. With the
help of Mrs. Felicia I learned a
lot about domestic violence.
I learned a lot about the concept
to building and making a strong
and healthy relationship. I also
learned what leads to a negative
and unhealthy relationship, domestic violence.
There are all types of domestic
violence. In the most harmful
case it would be physical abuse,
which involves hitting, kicking,
slapping, etc. There are all
types of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, economic, and
also verbal. I learned that
abuse is abuse no matter how
you se it. It only brings your
mate down. It causes low selfesteem for both parties involved.
Low self-esteem causes a person
to be bitter and angry inside and
out. It then leads to build-up,
which causes domestic violence.
Learning About Violence
Step One
I had a fight with one of my classmates.
Mad nervous. Fear. No.
Step Two
Fear mad no
Step Three
I was in control
Yes. I got upset
Blame
Step Four
I need to learn control
Talk without anger
Why we violent
Violent Incident
She was talking about the baby that I feel isn't mine
Had a male friend over all night
I got mad, punch her on side of face
I became upset.
I wanted her to stop saying that was my baby
Short & Long-term Impact
Made my wife really start cheating
Put me back in jail and the thought of it being over.
In order to avoid domestic violence in a relationship, you must - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - learn to trust your mate. You must learn to communicate. I learned that communication is the key to solving problems.
Testimonials continue on next page ...
www.womens-project.org *Page 7* Transformation * Winter 2003
This class has helped me
mainly in preparing myself
for a healthy relationship, but
it goes deeper and beyond
that; it also has helped me
identify some coping skills
with my temper. The class
has certainly given me a better look at me, for better,
and for worse. But I am not
discouraged, because, as I
found out in this class, there
is effective treatment for this
behavior flaw, if one is willing
to be honest and open, to
accept new suggestions and
ideas from Felicia and the
program that she so willingly
gives her precious time to
teach.
Movement
Building
From "Critical Resistance South Conference
Report" by Melissa Burch, CR South
To
A Radicalized Movement
Finally, we have the sense
that the movement was radicalized by the conference and
its focus on PIC abolition.
From the introduction to abolition on Friday night, to the
well-attended workshops on
abolitionist organizing strategies, and other workshops
that approached the ideas
less directly, finding ways to
create community safety
without relying on prisons,
policing and surveillance was
central to the agenda
throughout most of the
People were inspired and mo- weekend.
tivated to work more closely
together and left feeling they Several conference goers
who work in traditional rewere part of a larger moveform organizations have spoment that they could conMs. Felicia has earned the
ken up since the conference
tinue to access and collabotitle "Ms." which is the form
about how they now better
of respect all women deserve rate with. We succeeded in
and which she has respectcreating a space where infor- understand what CR means
by PIC abolition and agree
fully earned. I pray that her mation and resources were
thoughts and teachings will
shared effectively, and most with the need to pursue abolitionist strategies and reimportantly, relationships
be forever engraved in the
forms that do not undermine
contents of my heart, and
built that have the potential
the ultimate goal of abolition.
that I can take the skills she to form the fabric for a rehas given me, and pass them newed movement against the In the space we all shared
and created over the course
PIC in the South.
to someone who perhaps it
of the
can help free from the slavconferery of abuse.
ence, it
1really
Abuse is a terrible thing and
: felt like
it is not an individual prob,. a world
lem, it's a community probwithout
lem, and education is the
walls
first indication of fighting
was
back. Again I say thank you
possiand I pray with all my heart
and soul that this program
ble. ■
will forever be blessed. ■
those of us who worked
CR
South and from reports from
those who attended, the conference was a tremendous
success. An incredibly diverse group of people came
from all over the region,
many from communities directly impacted by the PIC.
Over the course of the weekend, 1200 people registered
for the conference, while
hundreds more participated
in some part of the conference.
I~o hard to organize
www.womens-project.org *Page 8* Transformation
*
Winter 2003
The New Slavery
By Henri Smothers, WP Member and CR South Participant
I
'm convinced that a person's life experiences
determine how they feel
about what happens around
them. Just the other day I
was told of an event that recently happened that reminded me so much of what
the Negro slave must have
felt like in the 1600's. I was
told of 9 or so dark skinned
Black men chained together
in prison clothes being led
into a courtroom. Those who
were in charge were the
White people. Those who
were accused of having violated the law were all dark
skinned Black men. That description reminded me of the
many pictures I have seen in
so many books that I have
read. That description reminded me of the New Slavery. The court system as it is
now is the new Middle Passage to the prison system.
Someone has to run this big
business we call the Criminal
Justice System. Why not use
the New Slaves as free labor
just as was done years ago?
Back in the old slavery days,
.-------------_------~
no one really knew what happened to their loved ones as
they were carted away from
their relatives. Many of the
slaves didn't even have relatives that were close by their
sides. Even if the relatives
were there, when their loved
ones were sold there was
nothing they could do about
it. Today in the Criminal Injustice System, much is done
the same way. Black men,
women and children are being carted away by the thousands every year while many
of us stand idly by and do
nothing or we do very little.
There are many reasons
given as to why many of us
do nothing or very little. One
of those reasons is, it doesn't
concern me. Well, it does
concern me. My life's experience has taught me that
every man, women, boy and
girl that is being sold into the
New Slavery is someone's
child. There is a very good
chance that for every woman
that is locked up she has at
least one child that is being
left behind as a result of her
being sold
into slav:,~,-c;;a::~..,
ery. Not
every man
that is being sold
has children neither does
he necessarily have
a significant other
that he is
leaving behind. Yet there is a
very good chance that his
being sold into the New Slavery is costing some loved one
somewhere some pain and
some money. Those persons
caught up in the Criminal
Justice system usually bring
the whole family with them.
When a young black person
is locked up, chances are he
or she will never be known
by any name but Ex-Con, if
and when he/she is released.
Therefore, that person moves
further down the road into
deeper slavery. Once that
person has donated their
time to the Criminal Justice
System, the System doesn't
do any favors for the Ex-Con.
Take for instance, the many
low to no paying jobs that
the prisoner does while in
prison for some of America's
companies and corporation.
Those same companies would
not consider hiring an Ex-Con
upon their release from
prison. Yet that company has
reaped the benefits of cheap
labor while that person was
in prison. What is 12 cents
an hour to a prisoner who is
working in the prison system? That is his hourly wage
for each 8 hours of work.
That's about $20.00 a month
per working prisoner. If
shopping in the Prison store
is the equivalent of $100.00
per month, something is
wrong with this picture. The
prisoner works all month and
doesn't make enough money
to afford to shop for some of
the luxuries at the prison
www.womens-project.org *Page 9* Transformation * Winter 2003
store, such as shampoo, deodorant, feminine products.
Isn't this similar to what the
indentured slave went
through before slavery was
declared unconstitutional by
the 13th Amendment in
1865?
The Empowerment
By Shirley
Burgess,
of CR 2003
WP Member and CR South
Participant
I
sit at the Women's Proto continue my vision and to
ject in Little Rock, Arkan- help other women.
sas in a house on the
corner of 23 rd and Main
I know that when I was
The New Slavery is a way of Streets that is filled with
locked up I lost my selfcontrolling massive numbers love, care and concern for
of people who have no say in women of all nationalities.
Continued on page 11...
what happens to them, a way I'm beginning to focus on the
of controlling many, many
empowerment of the conferlives by getting them to work ence. I am able to find so
for free and paying them litmuch peace within, because
tle to nothing for their labor. of the compassion, informaWhat a concept. It is a fact
tion, and inward drive that I
that much of America has
received.
Published four times a year
by the Women's Project,
been built on the backs of
2224 Main Street, Little Rock,
the African American, and it
As I think on the many times
Arkansas 72206
that I have been locked and
will continue to be until
Phone: 501-372-5113
enough folks' life experiences behind cold, cold bars, not
wproject@aol.com
get them to think. It's time
knowing when nor how I was
www.womens-project.org
for something to be done
going to be able to get out, I
about this Middle Passage.
focus on the conference to
Where is the new Harriet
end the prison industrial
Tubman now? We are the
complex. I truly agree with
Letters to the editor are welcome.
Harriet Tubmans of the 21 st
the mission. I know from
century. If we are to survive
experience when we get out
as a people, it's time we get of jail/prison, we know not
Editor
Amy Edgington
this train rolling. ■
what the future has in store
for us. At times we feel as if
Layout
Angeline Echeverria
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
society has forgotten that we
are humans locked in a cage.
After the struggles of being
Women's Project Staff:
behind bars time and time
~r,e l\T0111eu·1P•oJe~t again, the Women's Project
Felicia Davidson-Richardson
has allowed me the opportuits lil'llt
is Pll
Angeline Echeverria
nity to attend a conference I
Lynn Frost
eirel.'
BD1.,ct1itltroobshall never forget.
Dee Dee Green
Transformatio
Jng
. ~&e.
boo W>Jl1Mils oirel.'
10 •-~·"'•
..
•,k~.- II.'0111
l\T
POjed
mem I'll. Piends.
fomily. Olld lllppol.'1el'll. ~o-to ol.'del.'
YOlll.' ~opy todoy!!!
-·······················-
During this conference I
found the drive to do all that
I can to make it better for
the next woman, man, or
child who comes along and
has been in the same situation. I gain hope, enthusiasm and a drive from within
Judy Matsuoka
Pat Schuyler
Tufara Wall er Muhammad
Staff Emeritus:
Suzanne Pharr
2003 The Women's Project
www.womens-project.org *Page 10* Transformation * Winter 2003
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esteem, my pride, and the
reason to even live. The
conference gave me so
much. I was unable to store
it all, but I know that I want
to .be the person who is part
of rebuilding and reconstructing individual lives so
We all must remember that
no matter what others say,
there is still hope as long as
we have the air that we
breathe. We must all know
that love and peace come
from within. I always
looked outside of my self for
Transformation ...
is published four times
every year. In each issue,
members receive analysis
of contemporary issues,
information about Women's
Project upcoming events
and activities, book
reviews, and more. If you
are not a Women's Project
member and would like to
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Shirley Burgess poses with Angela Davis at Critical Resistance South.
Ms. Davis was a featured speaker at the conference.
that they too may find a
new freedom. I feel the
conference will empower
and sustain solutions to social, political, and economical problems. It will continue to build the people of
faith, activists, former and
current prisoners, as well as
families. Critical Resistance
focuses on fighting to rebuild the lives and to redirect our people. So let us
all join in and keep our desires strong and never let
the freedom light go out.
I Phone/evening
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that peace. Today we must
guide our people to find that
love within, and this world
will be a better world. See
you next year if GOD be
willing. ■
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Women's Project
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Little Rock, Arkansas
Permit No. 448
2224 MainStreet
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Property of the Center
■
10n
ran
Vol. 18 Issue 1
Winter 2003
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Deborah Cooper - Little Rock
Yvonne Croston - NLR
Amy Edgington - Little Rock
Sarah Facen - Little Rock
Linda Kamara - Little Rock
Barb L'Eplattenier - NLR
Laura Miller - Little Rock
Freddie Nixon - Little Rock
Brenda Olive - NLR
Tammy Roberson - Little Rock
Annette Sanders - Little Rock
Annette Shead - Little Rock
Sybil Ward - Little Rock
Celia Wildroot - Hot Springs
Precious Williams - Ogden
STAFF
Felicia Davidson-Richardson
Angeline Echeverria
Lynn Frost
Dee Dee Green
Judy Matsuoka
Pat Schuyler
Tufara Waller Muhammad
Suzanne Pharr, Staff Emeritus
INSIDE
Abolition
-Page3
Facts about AR Prisons
-Page6
Prisoner Testimonies
-Page7
The New Slavery
-Page9
Women's Project Attends
Critical Resistance South
By Angeline Echeverria
0
n April 4 th -6th, the
Women's Project attended Critical Resistance
South: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex, a conference held in New Orleans, LA.
In addition to staff people,
four formerly incarcerated WP
members attended the conference. Critical Resistance is
a national grassroots group
that fights to end the Prison
Industrial Complex (PIC).
The PIC is a complicated system that uses prisons as a
solution to social, political,
and economic problems. The
PIC depends upon oppressive
systems that the Women's
Project works against, like
racism, classism, sexism, and
homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the
death penalty, industry and
labor issues, policing, courts,
media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.
showed a film on May 18th ,
entitled "Voices from the Inside," that focused on the experiences of women in a California federal prison.
Since 1989, the Women's Project has been working with
women and men inside of Arkansas prisons and jails. WP
Staff Member Felicia Davidson-Richardson currently facilitates groups in Pulaski
County Jail (Little Rock), Department of Community Correction (Pine Bluff), McPherson and Grimes Unit
(Newport), Tucker Unit
(England) and Wrightsville
Unit (Wrightsville).
She deals
with issues of domestic violence, substance abuse,
HIV/AIDS prevention, healthy
relationship-building, and
other topics relevant to prisoners' experiences.
Arkansas is participating in a
national trend of increasing
incarceration. There are
At the conference, we learned more than 2 million people
what other groups throughout locked up in US prisons and
the South are doing to resist
jails, more than at any other
prison industries and to emtime in history. Between
power currently and formerly
1980 and 2001, the Arkansas
incarcerated individuals and
prison population increased
their communities. As a folby 249%. The majority of
low-up to the conference, we these prisoners are nonviolent
offenders and 80% of the
women incarcerated in Arkansas are in for substance
abuse-related convictions.
Eventually, 95% of all prisoners nationwide w·ill be
released
back into our
communities.
abuse, lack of education (the
average female prisoner has
an 11th grade education),
violence against women, and
poverty (women are released
merly incarcerated women in
Arkansas, but we know we
need to do more. Through
our MIWATCH program, we
transport children to visit
their mothers in
prison and we
collect toiletry
items for incarcerated women.
Through Felicia's
groups, we're
Arkansas is
able to educate
the #1 state
male and female
in the nation
prisoners to betfor methamter deal with the
phetamine
challenges they
production,
face in a system
and the mathat's stacked
jority of drug
against them.
abusers in
We are currently
prison will
forming a group
receive little
of formerly incaror no subcerated women
stance abuse
to work together
treatment
to develop solufor their adWP Board Member, Brenda Olive, and Director Judy Matsuoka listen to tions to the probdictions bespeakers at the Critical Resistance South opening session.
lems that they
fore they are
released.
and other memNot only do prisoners lack
bers of their communities
from Arkansas prisons with
access to substance abuse
face.
$25; the average female
treatment, but they also lack prisoner earned less than
access to education and
$10,000 the year before her As a community, we need to
counseling that will help
stand up against the idea
incarceration). 80% of
them to deal with the issues women in Arkansas prisons
that more prisons makes us
that led to their incarceraare mothers and the average safer. Few people believe
tion. 80% of women incarmother in prison in Arkansas anymore that prisons in any
cerated in Arkansas have ex- has 3 minor children. In ad- way rehabilitate people who
perienced domestic violence, dition to the challenges they commit crimes. We need
sexual assault, and/or physi- had before their incarceramore alternatives to incarceration
and more opportunical abuse. Arkansas is the
tion, if a woman has a drug#3 state for domestic vioties for people who suffer
related felony, she will be
lence homicides and #1 for
unable to access many of the from the obstacles of poverty, lack of education, radomestic violence homicides
services available to help
of African-American women.
cism, substance abuse, and
people facing such chalviolence. Please call our oflenges, such as subsidized
fice to get involved in our
When women are released
housing, TEA (welfare) and
from Arkansas prisons, they
efforts to challenge the
food stamps.
face all the challenges they
Prison Industrial Complex in
had before their incarceration The Women's Project is work- Arkansas! ■
and then some. There are
ing to address some of the
the challenges of substance
needs of currently and forwww.womens-project.org *Page 2* Transformation * Winter 2003
What is Abolition?
Reprinted with Permission from Critical Resistance
www .criticalresistance.org
WHAT-IS
ABOLITION?
* Abolition is a political vision
that seeks to eliminate the
need for prisons, policing,
and surveillance by creating
sustainable alternatives to
punishment and imprisonment.
* Abolition means acknowledging the devastating effects prison, policing, and
surveillance have on poor
communities, communities of
color and other targeted
communities, and saying,
"No, we won't live like this.
We deserve more."
* Abolitionists recognize that
the kinds of wrongdoing we
call "crime" do not exist in
the same way everywhere
and are not "human nature",
but rather determined by the
societies we live in. Similarly,
abolitionists do not assume
that people will never hurt
each other or that people
won't cross the boundaries
set up by their communities.
We do imagine, however,
that boundary crossings will
happen much less often if we
live in a society that combines flexibility with care to
provide for, and acknowledge, people's needs. To do
that, we must create alternatives for dealing with the injuries people inflict upon
each other in ways that sustain communities and families. Keeping a community
whole is impossible by rou-
provide us with one set of
strategies to build our communities. We can create a
* An abolitionist vision
means for providing meanmeans that we must build
ingful work-and training for
models today that can repre- that work-to all. This work
sent how we want to live in
and training can provide for
the future. It means develop- our housing, food, and clothing practical strategies for
ing, and should contribute to
taking small steps that move the well being of the commuus toward making our
nity.
dreams real and that lead the
average person to believe
* Community-based educathat things really could be
tion models: We have examdifferent. It means living this ples of small, charter and alvision in our daily lives.
ternative schools that have
been successful in showing
IF NOT PRISONS AND PO- us alternative means of eduLICE, THEN WHAT?
cating our community. Community-based schools can
If our vision is to eliminate
offer education to anyone
the need for prisons, policing, who wants it (youth and
and surveillance, we must
adults). Education can be
have a clear idea of what we free, participatory, and
need to make our communiaimed toward sustaining the
ties safe and secure. We
kinds of social environments
must make those alternatives we want to create. They can
realistic and we must be able also model the community
to begin building them today. forms we want in their teachWe need community alterna- ing practices. Our schools
tives that keep people out of can tailor the learning procthe hands of police and out
ess to the needs of the stuof prisons and jails, while ad- dents and can involve the
dressing the fears that peoadult community in learning
ple live with on a daily basis. and teaching so schools are
We can do that by building
not isolated from the rest of
our communities and ending the community.
a reliance on, and belief in,
law enforcement as the only * Community forums: Some
solution. Here are just a few current restorative justice
examples of what those almodels from around the
ternatives might include:
world provide us with examples of how community me* Community-based ecodiation and problem solving
nomic resources: Current co- is used to resolve conflicts
operative economic models
and keep our communities
tinely removing people from
it.
www.womens-project.org *Page 3* Transformation
* Winter 2003
safe. We must create a
means of dealing with people who hurt each other
(physically, mentally, emotionally, materially). We can
establish community forums
to address grievances people have regarding each
other and as a means of resolving those conflicts. Such
formations could include
community councils that
mediate between individuals/groups, community elders to whom community
members could go to for
advice and counsel, age-,
issue-, and interest-specific
groups for building community ties (youth groups, artists' circles, support groups,
study groups, etc.), to community-based strategies for
keeping individuals community members from harming
themselves or others and to
provide disincentives for repeating such actions. Above
all, these groups can grow
from the community and
their direction and scope
should come from the people involved in them and
whom they affect.
nity intact. These models
can also include working
with people who currently
provide such services to design workshops, trainings,
and ongoing support and
resources that go beyond
providing individual advocacy and services, and emphasize gaining independence from those systems.
* Me •
neig
free
good
rent
and
s with
tegies
care
er-
' hec
etc.
or m
encies, terminal
dental and visu
, and mental he
routine counseli
erapy as well as
nd care for the
isabled, etc).
of the s ategies
bove r:e.-akea
place. They are not fantasies, but real life examples
of community building and
* Community Services: Cur- growth.
rent community-based organizations provide us with
WHAT DOES ABOLITIONgood examples of how serISM MEAN FOR ME AND
vices may be provided. We WHY SHOULD I CARE?
must provide services to
Taking an abolitionist apthose who have difficulty
providing for themselves.
proach means radically
Such strategies can empha- shifting the way we think
about providing for oursize not only taking care of
those who need the most
selves and living with each
help, but finding ways to
other. It means imagining
social environments that
help people get through
these systems and come out provide all of us with basic
with both what they need
necessities: a safe place to
and their humanity and dig- live, enough food, access to
medical care for minds and
bodies, access to information and the tools with •
which to understand and
use that information, the
resources to participate in
whatever kind of economy
we have, a means of expressing opinions/interests/concerns, and
living free of bodily, psychological and emotional harm
(both from individuals and
from the state).
Can you say that you have
access to all these things?
Does every one in your
community have that same
access?
We need to start building
the kinds of social environments that will provide
these resources for all before we can abolish anything. We need strategies
that will keep our communities whole and keep us safe,
not ones that rely on punishment, caging, and bodily
harm. The environments
most of us live in offer us
"public safety" that does not
serve the entire community,
but protects the interests of
the state and the rich and
powerful. We cannot abolish
prisons if we don't have sustainable communities for
people to come home to.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Abolition means that every
time we oppose or try to
tear something down, we
need to build something
sustainable in its place. We
can do this by being strategic, by researching not only
www.womens-project.org *Page 4* Transformation * Winter 2003
what the problems are,
but also what resources
are available. We must
look not only at what the
state is doing wrong, but
what is already available
in our communities that
could provide economic
and social sustainability
for all, or what needs to
be created and how we
will create it. Each step
in our organizing must
be able to do this.
Being an abolitionist
means taking action and
putting energy into
building our families,
neighborhoods-all
of
our communities. It
means creating a firm
community foundation
for people to come to
when we finally tear
down all the walls. Together
we can do this, but we must
believe that it is possible. ■
WP Board Member Brenda Olive discusses prison issues with activist and
prison abolitionist Angela Davis and other conference participants.
Report from CR South
By Sabrina Hood, WP Member and CR South Participant
Critical Resistance is a very important part of our life and our culture. It teaches you
about how to work with the system. It teaches you what you can accomplish if you put
your mind to it, and that one person can make a difference.
Why CR is important to me: because I'm a Black woman who has been through the prison
system and was judged unjustly. I was strung out on cocaine and guilty of being an addict, locked up for many years. Now I've learned about the Critical Resistance movement,
and it is very important that I do not drop the torch. It was a great pleasure and adventure to be taken to a conference of that magnitude. I learned that nothing's impossible if
I put my mind to it. I learned that there's nothing I cannot accomplish. I am very proud
to have been a part of the Critical Resistance movement, and it will forever be a part of
my life. I do not plan on setting the torch down ever again.
I hope that through the Women's Project we become a strong force to help anyone who's
been sentenced unjustly. I pray that we, as women, become a stronger force to help
other women to be released from prison and to give them a chance to enter life again and
be stronger. I do not want to see any more women sent back to prison or kept in prison
because they don't have a place to go. I truly pray that we are allowed to help them transition out. This is my dream: to be of service to someone else before myself.
www.womens-project.org *Page 5* Transformation
* Winter 2003
Facts about Arkansas Prisons
•
In 2001, the estimated prison population in Arkansas was 16,400. The total
population was 2. 7 million.
•
Between 1980 and 2001, the Arkansas prison population increased by 249%.
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas are in for substance abuse-related felony convictions.
•
Arkansas is the #1 state for methamphetamine
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas have experienced domestic violence,
sexual assault, and/or physical abuse.
•
Arkansas is the #3 state for domestic violence homicides and #1 for domestic
violence homicides of African-American women.
•
80% of women incarcerated in Arkansas are mothers; the average mother in
Arkansas prison has 3 minor children.
•
The average female prisoner has an 11th grade education.
•
The cost to educate someone for 2 semesters (15 hours/semester) at the University of Arkansas: $3,556. The cost to incarcerate one prisoner for a year:
$13,747.25.
•
The average female prisoner earned less than $10,000 the year before incarceration.
•
In one year, approximately
•
In 2001, 1,163 youth aged 10-12 were arrested in Arkansas.
•
In 2001, 17,255 youth under 18 were arrested in Arkansas.
production.
2100 women are incarcerated at Newport.
Correctional Facilities in Arkansas
(not including county jails and transitional housing)
Benton Unit, Boot Camp Program, Central Office, Cummins Unit, Delta Regional
Unit, Diagnostic Unit, Jefferson County Jail & Correctional Facility, Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi County Work Release Center, North Central Unit, Northwest Arkansas Work Release Center, Pine Bluff Unit, Texarkana Regional Corrections Center, Tucker Unit, Varner Unit, Wrightsville Unit, Grimes Unit,
McPherson Unit.
www.womens-project.org *Page 6* Transformation
* Winter 2003
Property of the Center
Prisoners Speak Out
The following testimonials were written by participants in Felicia's
Domestic Violence classes.
On or about Feb. 4, 2003 I
walked into Domestic Violence
Class, not knowing some of the
things I know now. With the
help of Mrs. Felicia I learned a
lot about domestic violence.
I learned a lot about the concept
to building and making a strong
and healthy relationship. I also
learned what leads to a negative
and unhealthy relationship, domestic violence.
There are all types of domestic
violence. In the most harmful
case it would be physical abuse,
which involves hitting, kicking,
slapping, etc. There are all
types of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, economic, and
also verbal. I learned that
abuse is abuse no matter how
you se it. It only brings your
mate down. It causes low selfesteem for both parties involved.
Low self-esteem causes a person
to be bitter and angry inside and
out. It then leads to build-up,
which causes domestic violence.
Learning About Violence
Step One
I had a fight with one of my classmates.
Mad nervous. Fear. No.
Step Two
Fear mad no
Step Three
I was in control
Yes. I got upset
Blame
Step Four
I need to learn control
Talk without anger
Why we violent
Violent Incident
She was talking about the baby that I feel isn't mine
Had a male friend over all night
I got mad, punch her on side of face
I became upset.
I wanted her to stop saying that was my baby
Short & Long-term Impact
Made my wife really start cheating
Put me back in jail and the thought of it being over.
In order to avoid domestic violence in a relationship, you must - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - learn to trust your mate. You must learn to communicate. I learned that communication is the key to solving problems.
Testimonials continue on next page ...
www.womens-project.org *Page 7* Transformation * Winter 2003
This class has helped me
mainly in preparing myself
for a healthy relationship, but
it goes deeper and beyond
that; it also has helped me
identify some coping skills
with my temper. The class
has certainly given me a better look at me, for better,
and for worse. But I am not
discouraged, because, as I
found out in this class, there
is effective treatment for this
behavior flaw, if one is willing
to be honest and open, to
accept new suggestions and
ideas from Felicia and the
program that she so willingly
gives her precious time to
teach.
Movement
Building
From "Critical Resistance South Conference
Report" by Melissa Burch, CR South
To
A Radicalized Movement
Finally, we have the sense
that the movement was radicalized by the conference and
its focus on PIC abolition.
From the introduction to abolition on Friday night, to the
well-attended workshops on
abolitionist organizing strategies, and other workshops
that approached the ideas
less directly, finding ways to
create community safety
without relying on prisons,
policing and surveillance was
central to the agenda
throughout most of the
People were inspired and mo- weekend.
tivated to work more closely
together and left feeling they Several conference goers
who work in traditional rewere part of a larger moveform organizations have spoment that they could conMs. Felicia has earned the
ken up since the conference
tinue to access and collabotitle "Ms." which is the form
about how they now better
of respect all women deserve rate with. We succeeded in
and which she has respectcreating a space where infor- understand what CR means
by PIC abolition and agree
fully earned. I pray that her mation and resources were
thoughts and teachings will
shared effectively, and most with the need to pursue abolitionist strategies and reimportantly, relationships
be forever engraved in the
forms that do not undermine
contents of my heart, and
built that have the potential
the ultimate goal of abolition.
that I can take the skills she to form the fabric for a rehas given me, and pass them newed movement against the In the space we all shared
and created over the course
PIC in the South.
to someone who perhaps it
of the
can help free from the slavconferery of abuse.
ence, it
1really
Abuse is a terrible thing and
: felt like
it is not an individual prob,. a world
lem, it's a community probwithout
lem, and education is the
walls
first indication of fighting
was
back. Again I say thank you
possiand I pray with all my heart
and soul that this program
ble. ■
will forever be blessed. ■
those of us who worked
CR
South and from reports from
those who attended, the conference was a tremendous
success. An incredibly diverse group of people came
from all over the region,
many from communities directly impacted by the PIC.
Over the course of the weekend, 1200 people registered
for the conference, while
hundreds more participated
in some part of the conference.
I~o hard to organize
www.womens-project.org *Page 8* Transformation
*
Winter 2003
The New Slavery
By Henri Smothers, WP Member and CR South Participant
I
'm convinced that a person's life experiences
determine how they feel
about what happens around
them. Just the other day I
was told of an event that recently happened that reminded me so much of what
the Negro slave must have
felt like in the 1600's. I was
told of 9 or so dark skinned
Black men chained together
in prison clothes being led
into a courtroom. Those who
were in charge were the
White people. Those who
were accused of having violated the law were all dark
skinned Black men. That description reminded me of the
many pictures I have seen in
so many books that I have
read. That description reminded me of the New Slavery. The court system as it is
now is the new Middle Passage to the prison system.
Someone has to run this big
business we call the Criminal
Justice System. Why not use
the New Slaves as free labor
just as was done years ago?
Back in the old slavery days,
.-------------_------~
no one really knew what happened to their loved ones as
they were carted away from
their relatives. Many of the
slaves didn't even have relatives that were close by their
sides. Even if the relatives
were there, when their loved
ones were sold there was
nothing they could do about
it. Today in the Criminal Injustice System, much is done
the same way. Black men,
women and children are being carted away by the thousands every year while many
of us stand idly by and do
nothing or we do very little.
There are many reasons
given as to why many of us
do nothing or very little. One
of those reasons is, it doesn't
concern me. Well, it does
concern me. My life's experience has taught me that
every man, women, boy and
girl that is being sold into the
New Slavery is someone's
child. There is a very good
chance that for every woman
that is locked up she has at
least one child that is being
left behind as a result of her
being sold
into slav:,~,-c;;a::~..,
ery. Not
every man
that is being sold
has children neither does
he necessarily have
a significant other
that he is
leaving behind. Yet there is a
very good chance that his
being sold into the New Slavery is costing some loved one
somewhere some pain and
some money. Those persons
caught up in the Criminal
Justice system usually bring
the whole family with them.
When a young black person
is locked up, chances are he
or she will never be known
by any name but Ex-Con, if
and when he/she is released.
Therefore, that person moves
further down the road into
deeper slavery. Once that
person has donated their
time to the Criminal Justice
System, the System doesn't
do any favors for the Ex-Con.
Take for instance, the many
low to no paying jobs that
the prisoner does while in
prison for some of America's
companies and corporation.
Those same companies would
not consider hiring an Ex-Con
upon their release from
prison. Yet that company has
reaped the benefits of cheap
labor while that person was
in prison. What is 12 cents
an hour to a prisoner who is
working in the prison system? That is his hourly wage
for each 8 hours of work.
That's about $20.00 a month
per working prisoner. If
shopping in the Prison store
is the equivalent of $100.00
per month, something is
wrong with this picture. The
prisoner works all month and
doesn't make enough money
to afford to shop for some of
the luxuries at the prison
www.womens-project.org *Page 9* Transformation * Winter 2003
store, such as shampoo, deodorant, feminine products.
Isn't this similar to what the
indentured slave went
through before slavery was
declared unconstitutional by
the 13th Amendment in
1865?
The Empowerment
By Shirley
Burgess,
of CR 2003
WP Member and CR South
Participant
I
sit at the Women's Proto continue my vision and to
ject in Little Rock, Arkan- help other women.
sas in a house on the
corner of 23 rd and Main
I know that when I was
The New Slavery is a way of Streets that is filled with
locked up I lost my selfcontrolling massive numbers love, care and concern for
of people who have no say in women of all nationalities.
Continued on page 11...
what happens to them, a way I'm beginning to focus on the
of controlling many, many
empowerment of the conferlives by getting them to work ence. I am able to find so
for free and paying them litmuch peace within, because
tle to nothing for their labor. of the compassion, informaWhat a concept. It is a fact
tion, and inward drive that I
that much of America has
received.
Published four times a year
by the Women's Project,
been built on the backs of
2224 Main Street, Little Rock,
the African American, and it
As I think on the many times
Arkansas 72206
that I have been locked and
will continue to be until
Phone: 501-372-5113
enough folks' life experiences behind cold, cold bars, not
wproject@aol.com
get them to think. It's time
knowing when nor how I was
www.womens-project.org
for something to be done
going to be able to get out, I
about this Middle Passage.
focus on the conference to
Where is the new Harriet
end the prison industrial
Tubman now? We are the
complex. I truly agree with
Letters to the editor are welcome.
Harriet Tubmans of the 21 st
the mission. I know from
century. If we are to survive
experience when we get out
as a people, it's time we get of jail/prison, we know not
Editor
Amy Edgington
this train rolling. ■
what the future has in store
for us. At times we feel as if
Layout
Angeline Echeverria
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
society has forgotten that we
are humans locked in a cage.
After the struggles of being
Women's Project Staff:
behind bars time and time
~r,e l\T0111eu·1P•oJe~t again, the Women's Project
Felicia Davidson-Richardson
has allowed me the opportuits lil'llt
is Pll
Angeline Echeverria
nity to attend a conference I
Lynn Frost
eirel.'
BD1.,ct1itltroobshall never forget.
Dee Dee Green
Transformatio
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. ~&e.
boo W>Jl1Mils oirel.'
10 •-~·"'•
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mem I'll. Piends.
fomily. Olld lllppol.'1el'll. ~o-to ol.'del.'
YOlll.' ~opy todoy!!!
-·······················-
During this conference I
found the drive to do all that
I can to make it better for
the next woman, man, or
child who comes along and
has been in the same situation. I gain hope, enthusiasm and a drive from within
Judy Matsuoka
Pat Schuyler
Tufara Wall er Muhammad
Staff Emeritus:
Suzanne Pharr
2003 The Women's Project
www.womens-project.org *Page 10* Transformation * Winter 2003
Univi'\111{1[1\\lillilil\
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M 001 111 353
esteem, my pride, and the
reason to even live. The
conference gave me so
much. I was unable to store
it all, but I know that I want
to .be the person who is part
of rebuilding and reconstructing individual lives so
We all must remember that
no matter what others say,
there is still hope as long as
we have the air that we
breathe. We must all know
that love and peace come
from within. I always
looked outside of my self for
Transformation ...
is published four times
every year. In each issue,
members receive analysis
of contemporary issues,
information about Women's
Project upcoming events
and activities, book
reviews, and more. If you
are not a Women's Project
member and would like to
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journal, please fill out the
membership form below.
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~ join the Women's
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Zip
Shirley Burgess poses with Angela Davis at Critical Resistance South.
Ms. Davis was a featured speaker at the conference.
that they too may find a
new freedom. I feel the
conference will empower
and sustain solutions to social, political, and economical problems. It will continue to build the people of
faith, activists, former and
current prisoners, as well as
families. Critical Resistance
focuses on fighting to rebuild the lives and to redirect our people. So let us
all join in and keep our desires strong and never let
the freedom light go out.
I Phone/evening
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that peace. Today we must
guide our people to find that
love within, and this world
will be a better world. See
you next year if GOD be
willing. ■
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