by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Life After Prison, Newsletter, Prisons, Reviews
“The Kernel of Truth”
By Katie Mulligan
Exuberant audiences cheered the premiere performances of “The Kernel of Truth” at the Overture Center on Father’s Day weekend. Billed as a story of redemption from behind bars, the play presents the stories of men imprisoned in a county jail and shows how they come to understand the complexities of the criminal justice system and eventually realize their own power in building new lives and transforming their communities.
Each man steps forward to speak directly to the audience. One of the most haunting stories is of a man who is incarcerated for running over a young girl. He is tormented by the accident and the resulting separation from his own daughter. Other men speak about the power of drug addiction and how they came to sell drugs as their only means of providing support to their families. The yearning for a nurturing family life is a constant theme throughout the play.
Staging in the Capitol Theater was particularly effective in bringing these stories to life. The play opened with a spotlight on a single female figure, the warden, who said she was “the judge and jury” of everything that happened in her jail. As the action progressed and each man addressed the audience, relevant statistics about racism and other social issues flashed on large screens on either side of the stage. At other times, the entire stage was dark, except for two characters in dialogue at one end. The stage was fully lit to highlight a dramatic fight among all the inmates.
Clearly, the play struck a chord with the attendees. In fact, the interaction between actor and audience was reminiscent of call and response in a church. “Yes, yes, that’s the way it is!” they would yell at particularly poignant moments in an actor’s monologue. Sustained cheers and knowing cries of support followed this comment, in particular: “You don’t have to have a lot of money to keep your kids happy. You just have to be there.”
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Community Issues, Events, Housing, Information, Newsletter
Who Is Corey Marionneaux and Why Do I Keep Seeing His Name?
By Sherry Reames
If MOSES members haven’t yet heard about Corey Marionneaux and his ambitious projects, trust me – this is a young community leader to watch. Marionneaux is founder and CEO of Black Men Coalition of Dane County, a nonprofit established in 2020 “to foster and develop a safe and inclusive environment for Black men and other vulnerable populations in Dane County through community involvement, mentorship, education, and employment skills.” The “vulnerable populations” at the heart of its mission are men who already have lived experience with the criminal-legal system, as Marionneaux himself does, and youth at risk of going that way.
Marionneaux has been in the Madison media this summer primarily because of his play, “The Kernel of Truth,” which had two performances at the Overture Center on June 15. He devised this powerful play, based in part on his own incarceration story, to raise public awareness of the human costs of the current system, both for the individuals locked up and for their families and communities. To increase its impact, he hired seasoned professionals to write, direct, and act in the play instead of trying to pull it all together himself. See Katie Mulligan’s review for an account of the final results.
As with the play, so with other projects of the Black Men Coalition (BMC): Marionneaux’s strategy is to recruit experienced, reliable partners to advance the various aspects of his vision. Among his partners at this point are Jerome Dillard of EXPO, who chairs BMC’s board; Diane Ballweg, who has provided seed money to get things started; Summit Credit Union, which works with BMC to provide a financial literacy program for vulnerable youth; the Boys and Girls Club, Urban Triage, the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, the Madison Area Builders Association, and a growing list of local employers. Marionneaux’s coalition tries to think of everything – not just matching job-seekers with potential employers, but bolstering their odds of success with “wrap-around support” that includes job-readiness skills, reliable transportation to work, any required clothing and tools, weekly contact with mentors, and referrals to appropriate community resources. The BMC even provides a free youth baseball league for kids ages 4-12.
The missing component so far is what Marionneaux calls “Supported Employment Housing.” He is hoping to break ground before the end of 2024 on an affordable housing development in Sun Prairie that will offer a range of supported options – four-bedroom shared units, efficiency singles, and one-bedroom apartments, with monthly rents ranging from $600-$900 – for participants in BMC’s programs who face barriers to housing as well as employment. More information on this project, which would include onsite facilities for exercise, learning, and other necessities, can be found on the BMC website: bmcdc.org/employment-housing.
Dane County clearly needs a lot more of what Marionneaux describes as “housing that creates a path from entry-level employment toward home ownership.” How can MOSES help to bring this promising vision into being? At present the chief impediment, he says, is NIMBY opposition from some Sun Prairie residents who haven’t grasped the difference between BMC’s wrap-around plan and the kinds of housing projects that just throw low-income people together and hope for the best. Advocacy from groups like MOSES at the local and county level could make a difference.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Events, Information, Life After Prison, Newsletter
Lunch and Learn Fundraiser Celebrates Madison’s New SAFE House
By Katie Mulligan
On May 15, MOSES members and others gathered for a “Lunch and Learn” fundraiser at Lake Edge Lutheran Church in Monona. We were there to hear EXPO member Deliliah McKinney speak about the special problems of women who spend time in prison, what they need to succeed after release, and how she obtained a grant for a SAFE House that helps them move toward new lives.
“I am in awe of her,” said MOSES organizer James Morgan when he introduced McKinney. The two had met at JustDane, where they were peer specialists, and clearly had a special bond. In fact, it was obvious from the event’s opening that lived experience and peer support are crucial elements in efforts to help women who are rebuilding their lives after incarceration.
McKinney began with a daunting list of what she and other women have faced upon discharge. “We are released to a motel and given a week to find a place – usually a shelter. We must have a job to pay rent but might not have anywhere to take a shower and keep our clothes. And we might be revoked if we can’t provide an address to our parole officer.”
Many women also suffer from the emotional trauma of separation from their children and the prospect of a long struggle for permanent reunification. In fact, the ACLU recently sued the Department of Corrections because it had failed to set up a program that would enable some women to keep physical custody of their children while in prison.
These problems are not unique to Wisconsin, and they are increasing throughout the country. The rate of growth for female imprisonment has been twice as high as that for men since 1980. In 2022, over 50% of the women in prison were mothers of children under 18, as were 80% of the women in jails.
McKinney moved on to become a certified peer support specialist and looked for ways she could help other women who had been through similar struggles. She found inspiration in the work of Susan Burton, who had cycled in and out of prison for more than 15 years before she found help at a drug rehabilitation facility.
Burton developed a reentry program called A New Way of Life that included housing and access to various supportive services. But it also featured other kinds of help she knew women needed. Stability and a sense of security are key to their healing. as is assistance with their efforts to reunite with their children. Burton’s model program has evolved to a SAFE Housing Network that now consists of 31 organizations in 18 states, including Wisconsin.
McKinney attended a three-day training in Chicago, where she learned how to establish a SAFE House and implement the model. She then succeeded, in a highly competitive process, to obtain a grant that helped secure a mortgage for a SAFE House In Dane County
That SAFE House opened last fall and has four residents. Each of them was urged to take 30 days after release to “do nothing,” an acknowledgment of the difficulty of adjusting to post-prison life. They also are allowed to stay in the SAFE House as long as they need. A video showed comfortable overstuffed furniture, flowers on a mantle, and colorful bedspreads. “I knew what I would want to see when I come home,” said McKinney.
The luncheon offered an inspiring story about a successful effort to help women after prison. For me, however, its greatest gift was a better understanding of the value of lived experience and peer support. McKinney repeatedly told the audience how important it was to her to be surrounded by people like her “who were doing the work,” and to be the person who could provide hope to others like herself. The SAFE House model works because it reflects the hard-won knowledge of women who know what it takes to survive reentry from prison and build a better life.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Advocacy, Events, Newsletter, Prisons
What’s the Significance of “23”?
By Pamela Gates
On the 23rd of every month, MOSES and EXPO members plan to gather from 12 to 12:30 pm on the State Street steps of the Capitol to draw attention to the fact that hundreds of people are being subjected to solitary confinement in Wisconsin’s prisons, and to demand that the state put an end this practice. The 23rd was chosen because people in solitary spend 23 hours alone in their cells every day. They spend the other hour someplace else, but also alone.
The United Nations has declared that solitary confinement for more than 15 days is torture. By that measure, we are torturing hundreds of people in Wisconsin prisons and jails. On April 30, 2024, 787 people were confined in solitary in Wisconsin’s prisons, and Wisconsin’s county jails use the practice as well. People are confined to solitary for various reasons, including breaking a prison rule, having a mental breakdown, or being perceived as a danger to themselves or others. Says WISDOM’s David Liners: “Wisconsin needs to join the states that have implemented the ‘Mandela Rule’ that limits the practice to 15 days, and that only for extraordinary circumstances.”
On May 23 members of JOSHUA gathered outside the Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) to call attention to the 129 people confined in solitary at GBCI on that date; 81 had been there for over a month. Seven of those in solitary were acknowledged by the DOC to have “severe mental illness.”
On May 23 in Madison, about 15 people gathered to offer prayers for those in solitary and to deliver a letter to the Governor’s Office reminding Evers of his stated opposition to solitary confinement and demanding that he take tangible steps to put an end to it in Wisconsin.
On June 23, a Sunday, only two were there: Patti La Cross and Pam Gates. We talked with one couple at some length and otherwise held signs (“Solitary = Torture” and “End the Lockdown”) as people moved up and down the steps enjoying the beautiful surroundings and the beautiful day. (Ongoing lockdown measures at Green Bay, Waupun, and Stanley have mimicked the practice of solitary confinement to a significant degree. The excuse has been lack of staff, but releasing people who are eligible for release would solve that problem completely.)
You are invited to join the gathering at noon on the 23rd of each month on the State Street Capitol steps to remember, as Liners puts it, “some of the most isolated, marginalized, suffering people in Wisconsin.” To learn more or become further involved with this effort, email WISDOM Organizer Mark Rice at ricermark@gmail.com.
Note: This report relied heavily on a May 22 press release by WISDOM Executive Director David Liners for background information.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Information, MOSES activities, Organizer
Organizer’s Corner: Greetings, Everyone!
From Community Organizer, James Morgan
It is my sincere hope that as I share with you in this moment, that you’ll gain a greater appreciation for having had, at one time or another, an experience of making “it” make sense. The “It” I am referring to has no boundaries, when it comes to how we may act, or our reaction to the situations and circumstances before us. It can and often does involve personal and collective decision-making in our families, on issues within our sphere of influence, or in our civic and political engagements. In virtually every area of human endeavor, I think we all have the desire to have things make sense.
In our work as MOSES, we have and continue to do our best to make sure our time and efforts toward systemic changes in criminal-legal reform contribute to outcomes that are humane and just. Our efforts must make sense and have some form of logic that leads to sensible solutions. To make it make sense means we must constantly be vigilant in the expression of our faith, values, and truths.
In virtually every issue and action that comes before me on behalf of MOSES, I literally ask myself: Does it make sense? The question allows me to focus on what is good for us as an organization. Does it make sense that we have called upon one another to build a collective base of power and representation for those at the margins of our culture, society, and politics? Does it make sense for me (us) to give voice to the issues of exploitation, abuse, and harm that are caused to our fellow citizens by our fellow citizens?
And what must be done when “it” does not make sense? I believe that that is the time when our collective voices and actions are most needed. The continuing prison lockdowns, reported deaths, dismal living conditions, and lack of transparency from those in positions of authority must be challenged to make it make sense. In our endeavors to influence decisions on education, housing, and mental health and other services, our approach, process, and solutions must make sense.
Our newest MOSES T-shirt has our mission statement on it, to remind us that we must make “it” make sense! Does our mission statement make sense to you? It must, if we are to carry out our mission. I shall continue, both personally and professionally, to invite you into the space of making all that we are engaged in make sense. Make It Make Sense!
Let’s do MOSES!
