'Sharing my experience with incarceration earlier this month at the 2020 MAKERS Conference was powerful.' writes Kamilah Newton, 'but nothing warms my heart more than to know that my message was received. Here are 5 takeaways.'
It’s not like I hadn’t spoken in the presence of large crowds about my many trials and tribulations before. I’ve been an activist ever since 2018, speaking at events including The March for Black Women/ March for Survivors in 2018 where I was the co-chair and to major networks like CNN. But sharing my experience with incarceration earlier this month at the 2020 MAKERS Conference — which aims to ignite change and advance the women’s movement in corporate America — was different somehow.
While I am appreciative of all the praise I’ve received, nothing warms my heart more than to know that my message was recognized and will be utilized to create change for people like myself. I hope my words have the power to launch people into action.
To make matters worse, studies have shown that while they are incarcerated, women are disciplined disproportionately when compared to their male counterparts. This may greatly impact a woman’s sentencing time and chances of parole. Furthermore, there are fewer diversion programs available to women. For example, while some states offer boot camp programs in lieu of prison sentences, some of these states exclude women from participating.
In my case, it was important to acknowledge my grandmother and mother during my speech because a lot of what led me down this particular path can be attributed to transgenerational trauma 一 also defined as “a traumatic event that began years prior to the current generation and has impacted the ways in which individuals within a family understand, cope with, and heal from trauma.” It was imperative to nod to both where we’ve come from and how much we’d survived.
4. RESPECTABILITY POLITICS, OR WHY WE ARE SO QUICK TO JUDGEIn my speech, I mention the need to do away with respectability politics. I recognize that for some, this may be an unfamiliar term, but many of us still engage with this culture without knowing it. A concept first articulated by author and professor Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, she defined it as “what happens when marginalized groups are told that in order to receive better treatment from the group in power, they must behave better.
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