Author Archives: Jean

Cherishing Lillie A. Estes

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There are no words when a friend dies.

 

             Lillie on the left in both pictures at the National Council of
             Higher Education in Prison Conference in Indianapolis, Nov. 2018.

 

But Lillie A. Estes was much more than my friend, she was Richmond, Virginia’s friend; she was a friend to people who have been trampled by injustice; and she was a friend to hundreds of people she mentored through her many years as a commuity justice strategist. 

                       Lillie. Image credit: Scott Elmquist, Style Weekly

I have written about Lillie’s work in these pages here. And about her work on the community justice film series, here.

Richmond is paying tribute to her life. Read a piiece by Catherine Komp, “Community Mourns Passing of Civic Leader and Strategist Lillie A. Estes,” here, and by Richmond’s Style Weekly: “Community Strategist and Mentor, Lillie A. Estes, has Died.” The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute of Race & Justice (CHHIR&J) which introduced Lillie and her work to Massachusetts has a moving video that they created with Lillie which is posted here.

David Harris, Managing Director of the CHHR&J said in an article by the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Lillie was “the exemplar of an organizer. She always wanted to
make sure everyone’s voice was part of the decision-making.”

Below Lillie is teaching in Boston this past November at the Mothers for Justice and Equality gathering. 

There are no sufficient words when we lose a friend. But there are memories and comforts. From my many texts and emails, here is a picture Lillie sent of herself, at the Virginia Poverty Law Center gala this past December, 2018. She is standing in front of a photograph of herself which she never mentioned. Instead, she wanted to show me that she was wearing a scarf I gave her. “Cute picture I guess,” is all she said. That was Lillie. Humble, in spite of the accomplishments of a hero. David Harris of the CHHIR&J called her “the real deal.”

Lillie was, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant social justice strategists I have ever known. I talked to her several times a week and she taught me so much and she made me laugh. She was so honest! And loving. Devoted to her community of Richmond. And amazingingly able to make connections in a heartbeat. She died too young, a mere 59 years old, but she lived a life that was filled with meaning and import. I mourn the loss of someone whom I love and whose work will be sorely missed.

In Richmond, for the Communty Justice Film Series, Feb. 16, 2018

MA! Call Your Governor Councillor Now-UPDATE

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Background

On January 2nd , Governor Charlie Baker nominated the Parole Board’s General Counsel, Gloriann Moroney, to fill the seat that Lucy Soto Abbe had occupied on the Parole Board for eight years. He terminated Ms. Soto Abbe’s appointment on that date and nominated Ms. Moroney. Prior to coming to the Board as General Counsel in January 2016, Gloriann Moroney had worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for 14 years. Now she wants to be a Parole Board member. The Coalition for Effective Public Safety (CEPS) has long advocated for more diversity of experience on the Board.

 

We must speak out for a Board that strives for diversity of training and experience so that the Board is able to more appropriately assess the candidates who come before them, including many with mental health and addiction issues. Our present Board has 5 members with law enforcement backgrounds. This severely limits the range of perspectives Board members bring to the hearings to judge fairly the people who come before them. Other problems with Moroney’s nomination? In a nutshell, Moroney currently oversees a Board that still does not have a healthy paroling rate; prisoners with life sentences are still waiting 8 to 10 months for parole decisions; the Board has not recommended one person for commutation or pardon since Moroney became General Counsel, much less in the past year since Ms. Moroney was bumped to Executive Director/General Counsel; indeed, the Board has not even acted on a single petition for commutation since she became Counsel; and way too many people are returning to prison on technical violations rather than receiving intermediate sanctions, and therefore we are needlessly filling up our prisons and creating more harm.

 

Action Needed Now

CEPS asks that you call your Governor’s Councillor before Weds. January 23, when they will vote on Moroney’s nomination. THE VOTE WAS POSTPONED WHICH IS GOOD NEWS SO PLEASE KEEP THE PRESSURE ON>

Here is what you can say to your councillor:

Our present Parole Board has five members who have worked in law enforcement, parole, as attorneys, or in corrections, with only one member, Dr. Charlene Bonner, having both experience and training in psychology.  We have no Parole Board members with experience and training in psychiatry, sociology or social work. I oppose Moroney’s nomination precisely because in order to fairly judge the potential parolees who come before them, the Board needs more balance in their training and experience. In addition, because she does take ownership of her role at the Board and supervises some seriously flawed practices–low paroling rate, too many re-incarcerations, no acting on commutations, unconscionable delays in lifer decisions– I cannot support Gloriann Moroney’s nomination for a parole board member. 

Call Before Wednesday, January 16, when the Governor’s Council will vote on Moroney’s nomination.

Find your Governor’s Councillor here https://www.mass.gov/service-details/councillors

Find your district here http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eledist/counc11idx.htm

MA Show up on Wednesday!

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Dear Activists,

Your presence is needed on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 9 am, Room 360 – in the Governor’s Suite at the Statehouse to advocate that the governors’ councillors oppose the nomination to the Parole Board by Gov. Baker of the current Parole Board Executive Director, Gloriann Moroney.

The Parole Board has myriad problems that keep our prisons full and create more harm, including:

  • The Board does not have a healthy paroling rate;
  • Prisoners with life sentences are still waiting 8-10 months for parole decisions;
  • The Board has not recommended one person for commutation or pardon in the past few years;
  • The Board has not even reviewed four-fifths of the petitions it has received from those who have requested termination of parole; and
  • Too many people are returning to prison on technical violations rather than receiving intermediate sanctions.

We have power to influence the Parole Board by taking an interest in nominees to fill positions to review the almost 5,000 annual parole applications.

Gov. Baker nominated on Jan. 2, 2018, Gloriann Moroney – yet another person from Corrections – who prior to working for the Parole Board as General Counsel in 2016, worked as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for 14 years.

CEPS [Coalition for Public Safety] in Massachusetts has advocated for a parole board member to be a social worker, sociologist, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Such a nominee, particularly with a background in treating mental health problems and addiction, would also be committed to the objectives of parole. We currently only have one Board member with such a background and it is not enough to deal with enough of those 5000 hearings.

The Governors’ Council will hear testimony on Moroney’s nomination on Wednesday, Jan. 9, and then vote next week on it.

PLEASE join me in attending the Governor’s Council on Jan. 9, at 9am and oppose the nomination of current Parole Board Executive Director, Gloriann Moroney. She first served as counsel and has been now nominated to take the place of Lucy Soto Abbe as a Board member.

PACK ROOM 360 OF THE STATE HOUSE on Wednesday.

The International Gramsci Prize

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Me!

 _________________________

The International Gramsci Prize for the Theater in Prison assigned to Jean Trounstine

 November 25, 2018

 ***(translated from Italian)

URBANIA, 11/24/2018 – Awarded to  Jean Trounstine and the  Gramsci International Prize for Theater in Prison  (third edition). The Award is organized by the European magazine “Catarsi-Theaters of Diversities” in collaboration with the Casa Natale Gramsci Association of Ales, the National Theater Critics Association and the International Theater Institute.

Jean Trounstine  is an American activist committed to recognizing the rights of women held in prisons around the world. She is the author and co-author of six books translated into various languages. Among these Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama In A Women’s Prison, 2001, a world-famous guidebook that has paved the way for teachers, staff and magistrates who work directly in contact with the prison world. A fundamental testimony, useful to introduce into the prison system the use of the Theater and Literature as an effective tool for the education and reintegration of prisoners and prisoners in civil society.

Jean Trounstine taught and worked for over a decade at Framingham Women’s Prison; a female prison where she directed eight theatrical productions and where, with her work, she showed how thanks to the Literature and the Theater practiced in prison there is a substantial change in the life of the prisoners, because they are tools that offer a real hope, a moment of change and freedom.

The third edition of  the Gramsci International Prize for the Theater in Prison  took place in the context of the XIX Edition of the International Conference The Theaters of Diversity(underway in Urbania), organized as part of “Destini incrociati” National Theater Project in Prison by the AENIGMA THEATER International Center of Production and Research at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo and of the National Theater Coordination in Prison, with the support of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities – Entertainment Department, Marche Region – Department of Culture, with the Patronage of the Municipality of Urbania, of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, of the Ministry of Justice – Department of the Penitentiary Administration – Provveditorato Regionale dell’Emilia Romagna and Marche, of the National Association of Theater Critics and of the Italian Center of International Theater Institute UNESCO, with the collaboration of the House District Supervision of Pesaro,of the Regional Theater Coordination in Carcere Marche, of the ANFFAS Fermignano-Urbino-Urbania and of the Labirinto Social Cooperative.

Jim Lyons is Not Serving Massachusetts

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Please see my article in the Lowell Sun on why we need to delete Rep. Jim Lyons from the Legislature in Massachusetts and elect Tram Nguyen! It begins:”Republican Jim Lyons is claiming the support of Gov. Charlie Baker in his campaign for re-election… But if you examine his voting record, another story becomes clear. Lyons is out of step with our state’s ideals.” More