After reading, Inside This Place, Not of It, I was very interested in specific ways to help women who are incarcerated. To do this, I wanted to know where to begin. The work to educate ourselves about incarceration is important, and having conversations around what we learn is an important step to knowing how to be supportive. That said, our book talk didn’t afford the time to really review the appendices in depth, but there are many wonderful resources and enlightening statistics that add gravitas to the stories shared in this book. They are equally enlightening and necessary.
Thankfully, this collection of stories includes 70 pages of information for better understanding any technical language, legal cases supporting the narratives in this book, and stepping through post-prison consequences, just to name some resources in the appendices.
One particular resource I found helpful to become better educated on how to learn even more about women’s prisons was Appendix X. This is a list of people “doing the work” to advocate for better legal, health, and overall representation for ensuring women’s needs are met while incarcerated. If ever you needed a place to begin learning about how to support women who are incarcerated, please begin here.
Item 10 specifically lists vetted organizations you can donate to who are fighting for justice in women’s prisons. Consider adding one or all of them to your list of organizations to support.
This particular appendix reminded me of Angela Y. Davis’ illustration that the way we begin to imagine abolishing prisons includes a “constellation of ideas.” This is what I imagine a constellation could look like for abolishing women’s prisons. I imagine replacing the advocacy services for women behind bars with the support services within the communities their struggles/traumas began. Abolition isn’t a dangerous idea. It is imagining the support services these women needed being available within their communities as their traumas and struggles unfolded; services that could have prevented the situations that led to their incarceration. Services that were desperately needed for true rehabilitation. Services that could replace prison sentences that perpetuate further trauma.
