On The Issues With Michele Goodwin Mass Incarceration: Don’t Forget About the Women
Women make up the fastest growing incarcerated population in the U.S—yet, politicians and the media frequently frame incarceration as an issue that affects only boys and men. Why is so little attention paid to women and mass incarceration? What does the failure to include women in the analysis on mass incarceration mean for communities, families and the women themselves? What are the unique challenges women and girls face behind bars and after they are released?
Helping us sort out these questions and more are very special guests:
- Sue Ellen Allen, founder and executive director of Reinventing Reentry. A University of Texas grad, educator, community leader, former inmate at Arizona State Prison and current activist, she found her purpose from serving time in prison. She is the author of The Slumber Party from Hell, a memoir about prison life, and the recipient of the Dawson Prize in Memoir in the 2009 Prison Writing Contest for PEN American Center.
- Piper Kerman, author of the memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. The book has been adapted by Jenji Kohan into an Emmy Award-winning original series for Netflix, which ran for seven seasons. Piper collaborates with nonprofits, philanthropies and other organizations working in the public interest and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association and the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship, InsideOUT Writers, Healing Broken Circles and JustLeadershipUSA.
- Kamilah Newton, a writer for Yahoo Lifestyle and associate producer for MAKERS. Her background is in advocacy, activism and social justice reform. She has been featured on CNN, Career Contessa, Miss Grass and Hello Beautiful among other publications. Most recently, she participated in a virtual reality piece directed by Al Jazeera called Still Here, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
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Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.