Until These Chains are Broken
.Addressing the Social Issues of Incarcerated Women
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        The social issues facing the incarcerated women who participated in the Women’s Art Project do not deviate a great deal from the issues facing those of us who remain unconfined by the bars of a jail cell.  A homeless HIV-positive teenage prostitute desires safety and economic security, just as we all do—and if she thought she had a chance at a  respectable job she would be the first in line to apply.  A young crack-addicted grandmother wants to regain the love and respect of her family while struggling against the drug cravings that drove them from her—and if she could release some of the self-destructive anger she has internalized since a childhood of sexual abuse, she just might be able to quit drowning her memories in cocaine.
        The Women’s Art Project was one small way these women had a chance to examine the issues of importance to them.  They described and analyzed the causes of their mental and emotional pain.  They pondered the reasons for their legal problems. They looked into the future for ways to reduce recidivism.
      The Women’s Art Project was a low-cost strategy to help incarcerated women explore their lives in a positive, constructive manner.  It was also a chance for the women to apply the concept of resolving conflict through the written word.  This is evident from the contents of their writing.
One of our participants, a crack addict who supported her habit with shoplifting and prostitution, said she was determined to get her life together when she gets out of jail this time so she can start a writers group in the inner-city neighborhood she calls home.  A girl of 14, incarcerated for accessory to murder, said the writing she did with the Women’s Art Project  made her want to go back to school when she gets out of jail.
        The value of  the Women’s Art Project to our community and the inmates is immeasurable.  This program offered the participants a chance to develop a tool they can use to resolve conflicts in a safe and legal way.  The Women’s Art Project also provided a reprieve from the stark reality of incarceration, and a ray of hope, to a group of 30 women who deserve another chance. .
 Susan Weill
The Women’s Art Project
Jackson, Mississippi, 1997
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(Excerpts from Until These Chains are Broken)
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        Time on My Hands
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Years ago, I never thought
that I would have time on my hands.
Until life’s pleasures are taken,
the mind has a tendency to be preoccupied.
Even as the mind goes astray,
and life’s challenges may bring you down,
confidence can be regained, just like next year’s crop.
Thank God for mirrors that I can see myself.
Seven months.
I’m itching for something.  God, grace and security.
Now that’s a lick.
        CL, 1997
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         Locked Up in Safety
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Since I have been absent from the free world,
locked up here,
I have been looking forward to the joy of love.
I have so many hopes and dreams.
But I also have a sense of freedom here.
Away from the dangers of the outside world,
I get good sleep.
        LW, 1997
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        Out of Here
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Hopefully I can go home soon to my kinfolks
back in Texas.
It was terrible for them to find out I was in jail.
I had been once before, but never like this.
It was probably all a mistake.
        AF, 1997
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        I’m Not Coming Back Here
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I have been behind these bars for a long time.
I will be so glad when I can go home.
I had a dream about being there.
And I am not coming back to jail again.
        CW, 1997
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        Behind These Bars
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Being behind these bars has been so hard for me.
I cry, and I think about how my life should be.
My sister tells me she misses me.
I cry, and I feel all alone.
But I know I didn’t do anything wrong,
so everything will be all right.
        LS, 1997
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        The Dream
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Sometimes I have a dream
that I am not behind these bars.
But then again, bars can be many different things.
Like at home.
My husband wants me at home 24 hours a day,
and that’s been just like being behind bars.
But I’d rather be at home behind those bars,
than behind these jail bars.
        AW, 1997
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        Behind These Bars
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Behind these bars, life doesn’t make much sense.
I’ll be so glad when I go home.
Oh, how I wish I wasn’t behind these bars.
        DS, 1997
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        Behind These Bars
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Behind these bars each day is a reiteration
of the one before; every day is the same.
Behind these bars is another world entirely.
Behind these bars you feel alone.
There is a loss of respect.
It feels as if the walls are closing in.
You feel like a lab experiment.
Just when you get comfortable around someone,
they go home.  Behind these bars you have time to think
about the mistakes you have made.
        CS, 1997
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        Being an Inmate
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When a person becomes an inmate they are labeled
a nobody and belittled.  People forget why you are in here.
Maybe it’s because there are no jobs.
Maybe it’s because you couldn’t get welfare
for your children.
I am here for trying to make ends meet.
This is my first and last experience in jail.
        GC, 1997
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        Behind These Walls
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As I sit here behind these walls,
I let my mind drift to a beautiful place.
Surrounded by flowers, I close my eyes.
I picture myself there. I can smell the different fragrances,
the roses and sweet dandelions.  It is soothing to me.
As I walk around this garden in my mind,
it is all I have to hold on to for now.
Until I come out from behind these walls.
        TL, 1997
This page maintained by Susan Weill.
Last updated 1 June 2002.