Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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Here we go again. For anyone just now tuning in, I'm located here at the California Institution For Women in Corona, California. Earlier this week, all California state prisons were placed on quarantine and began mandatory testing of all state prison inmates... My housing unit got tested 3 days ago. Presently, my unit has about 85 women. It can hold 120. Anyway, I had a sense that Covid-19 might be present in my housing unit. There's been a lot of coughing in my building lately. So, yesterday,...
As of Tuesday Dec. 1st, all California prisons went into a "quarantine" lockdown coupled with mandatory testing of ALL inmates. This is to brace for the covid-19 surge impact. As Governor Gavin Newsom essentially locks down the entire state, he labels state prisoners among highest priorities in receiving the coming vaccine doses, according to multiple news reports. Will you take the vaccine? I doubt I will. But, thanks to the Governor, I have that choice! Thanks, Gavin!! You Rock!! Now, if you c...
I love sharing stories of what I've seen in prison. I strictly only share what I've seen with my own eyes. I've seen everything you can imagine happening in prison. And some things you never thought of. After 16 years in, you name it, I've seen it. The look of disbelief people get is worth it! The most traumatic experience of my life was not something that happened to me but something I witnessed. Very early in my prison time I was baptised by fire. I saw 12 women gang rape another woman. Why?...
What good would it be to have your own women's prison weekly columnist if I held back on some of the most interesting and least known elements of what goes on in this place? I've given this a lot of thought and decided to share some of what I've observed in this place. So please, just for a moment, allow me to take your mind off of COVID-19 and entertain your imagination. We've all been aware of the EDD unemployment fraud. Millions upon millions of dollars going out to fraudulent claims of...
I'm not a fan of holidays while in prison. No mail. Nothing on TV. Time seems to slow down. The state of California usually opens up visiting for the specific holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, and on July 4th. Obviously that's not happening this year. I did not get visits before the pandemic began. But on days when visiting was going on, there was much more positive energy and excitement. So, time did not feel so empty. Aside from that, any holiday is just a regular day....
Dateline NBC...48 Hours on CBS...We love to watch them. We love to hate those featured in them. Both shows feature a large number of cases from here in California. Do you ever wonder what happens after they catch, convict and sentence those who committed crimes worthy of being featured in an hour-long, riveting TV show?? Specifically, the women involved. Well, when society flushes the toilet, women only have 2 prisons in California. I'm in the oldest one in the state. With some of the most famou...
The Trans-Wave has hit the prison system! When you imagine a day in my life here in prison, you probably did not think it included so many men living in this women's prison population. It began about 4-5 years ago. Now, it's on steroids, literally. Have you ever wondered how some women with no outside financial support manage to get by?? There is plenty of Men I walk past daily. Sometimes, l forget where l am. Man, have I got a tale to tell... Right now, in this women's prison and in men's priso...
Most people have no clue what prison is like, especially a female prison. All these vaginas in here that have not had any attention in years can make some men think of ways to exploit this untapped (pun intended) potential. If this title seems interesting, it should. I'm about to show you a whole new form of predation. If this title OFFENDS YOU, then I think we both know you're probably one of them?? Get ready for your weekly fix of fascinating reading only I, Ms. Amber Shaina Jackson, can...
As a child in foster care at 12 years old, I began writing poems. I continued this into my juvenile hall years. I wrote many. I use writing as a form of therapy and expression. Here in prison, when someone makes me really mad, I'll write a song about them to get it off my chest. Would it surprise you to know that I used to Rap? I outgrew it. Now my therapy is talking to all of you each week! I learned to paint in 2007 in an art class at the now closed Valley State Prison for Women. Never did...
I wanted to take a moment and just share something deeply personal. You see, I'm a "lifer," about 3-4 years away from freedom. And yes, I will be living in or around Santa Monica. I have been in for 16 years. Sometimes I'm not sure how to feel about freedom or what to pray for. After 16 years in, I don't even remember what it's like to be free. Gavin Newsom had to outlaw Menthol Newport cigarettes and that made me think carefully about this uphill battle for freedom. Just the ability to enjoy...
Editor introduction: Ms. Jackson wrote to us from C.I.W. asking if she could write a regular weekly column about life in prison. After growing up in foster homes, she entered prison at age 20 when she disfigured someone. She spent the next 16 years in prison, where she now awaits a parole that may not be for another 4 years. "I want to make people think," Jackson wrote us. "When it comes to foster kids, most of them end up in prison at some point! Yes! Now, that is no excuse...I own every mistak...
