American - Activist | -
Many times, I left the prison thinking, 'I'm smart. I can make it. I won't get caught up again.' But you get off downtown Skid Row, and you're a target for all of the environmental harms in that area. The pain and trauma in that area is so thick, you can almost reach your hand out and touch it.
Susan Burton
PainSmartEnvironmentalThinking
When you get locked up, you get locked out.
YouOutUpLocked UpGetLocked
In prison, you're issued a number of sanitary pads per month. And many times, even when you're issued a number of sanitary pads, the guards will just come in and rip your room apart, rip your locker apart and take them.
PrisonYouWillMonthRoomTake
At the age of 46, in my sixth prison term, it was the second prison I was in - California Rehabilitation Center. The California Civil Education program kind of opened up all of the experiences that that I had dealt with in my life, that I had experienced.
LifeEducationAgePrisonMy Life
We're willing to spend countless dollars putting people who need help in cages, and then when they get out we say you can't have a job, and you can't have housing, and because you don't have either, we're going to take your kids, too.
JobPeopleHelpYouSayNeed
A New Way of Life is a safe house that women can come to after they're released from prison in South Los Angeles. It's a place for women to detox the trauma, the torture of incarceration, be welcomed and embraced and live and begin their new path to - if it's recovery or receiving mental health services, go back to school, get their children back.
LifeWomenLiveChildrenHealth
Because a woman goes to prison doesn't mean she's a bad mom - doesn't mean that she shouldn't have her children.
ChildrenWomanMomPrisonBadShe
If you don't have a new door to walk through, the only thing is the old door.
WalkDoorYouNewOldThrough
When I see a woman make it over all the obstacles, my heart just sings.
HeartWomanObstaclesOverSeeJust
The person who has been convicted has served their time. Why would we continue to punish and exclude them from housing and jobs? Those are the primary areas that allow people to get their lives back on track.
TimePeopleBackPersonWhyHousing
We know that the environment and political information is important, and we expose and teach the women about some of the environmental factors that lead to their incarceration.
WomenEnvironmentalPoliticalKnow
I knew hundreds and hundreds of women like me, who had traveled in and out of prison in a revolving door. They needed support and help just like I had received. And it could make a difference, just like it had made a difference in my life. I wanted to see them come back to the community and have a chance at a different life, too.
LifeWomenCommunitySupportDoor
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Susan Burton quotes