This is such great news. I hope it extends to more prisons soon. A dark cloud over the new year is the COVID-19 outbreak at CCWF - huge women's prison. In the last 2 weeks 450+ have tested positive. I write to a woman there & I want to share some of her story w/her permission. 1/
https://twitter.com/akhan1437/status/1345496489968029697
She is a Black woman in her late 50s, a mother and grandmother. She has multiple chronic health issues. She has been incarcerated for nearly 30 years. Over the last several days 3 of her roommates have tested positive and been moved to quarantine. 2/
In fact, more than half her unit (150+) has moved to quarantine. She is utterly terrified. This year has been tremendously difficult for her. She has told me for months that if she gets the virus she doesn’t think she’ll be able to fight it off. 3/
Words she’s used in the past week include: helpless, alone, drained, overwhelmed, confused. There are no hot meals. She’s trapped in her cell almost all the time. She takes comfort in her faith, that she is covered by the blood of Jesus. She asks for my advice, but... 4/
This is a sweet, caring person who needs medical care. We did this. We lock people like my friend in cages. We have not taken the recommended steps to mitigate the pandemic inside prisons. The disease spreading inside is the same that is spreading out. This is our community 5/
She can’t social distance. She can't avoid those who are sick. The tools many of us have used to make it through this time - baking, zoom calls with family, long walks - are not available to her. She needs #CareNotCages. Can we #LeadWithCompassion in 2021?
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