{"html":"\u003C!-- Advertisements --\u003E\n\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\tkey = [];\n\tvalues = [];\n\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\tkey.push(\u0022tn_keyword\u0022);\n\t\t\tvalues.push(\u0022\u0027mass-incar\u0027\u0022);\n\t\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\tkey.push(\u0022tn_author\u0022);\n\t\t\tvalues.push(\u0022\u0027michelle-a\u0027\u0022);\n\t\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\tjQuery( document ).ready(function($) {\n\t\tcustom_targeting = false;\n\t\tif (key.length \u003E 0 && values.length \u003E 0) {\n\t\t\tcustom_targeting = true;\n\t\t}\n\t});\n\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022tn_pixel_248176_1\u0022 style=\u0027height:0px; width:0px;\u0027\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022tn_pixel_248176_2\u0022 style=\u0027height:0px; width:0px;\u0027\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022postid-248176 scrolltrace\u0022 articlelisttitle=\u0022What I Learned From Susan Burton, a Modern-Day Harriet Tubman\u0022 articlelistlinks=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/what-i-learned-from-susan-burton-a-modern-day-harriet-tubman\/\u0022 article-post-id=\u0022248176\u0022\u003E\n\t\n\t\u003Carticle id=\u0022url-title\u0022\u003E\n\t\u003C!-- Banner Image --\u003E \n\t\t\t\u003Cheader class=\u0022article-header\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022article-header-content\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cul class=\u0022article-info\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cli class=\u0022category\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/autobiography-and-memoir\/\u0022 class=\u0022anchor_subject\u0022\n subjectlink=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/autobiography-and-memoir\/\u0022\u003EAutobiography and Memoir\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022category\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/criminal-justice\/\u0022 class=\u0022anchor_subject\u0022\n subjectlink=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/criminal-justice\/\u0022\u003ECriminal Justice\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022subcategory\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/keyword\/mass-incarceration\/\u0022\u003EMass incarceration\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\t\t\t\t\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003Ch1 class=\u0022article_title hide\u0022\u003EWhat I Learned From Susan Burton, a Modern-Day Harriet Tubman\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003EWhat I Learned From Susan Burton, a Modern-Day Harriet Tubman\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u003Ch2 class=\u0027subtitle\u0027\u003EReading her life story will change the way you view the world.\u003C\/h2\u003E \n\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022byline\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch2 class=\u0022author_name\u0022\u003EBy \u003Ca class=\u0022author\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/michelle-alexander\/\u0022\u003EMichelle Alexander\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\u003C!--\u003Ch2\u003EBy\u003C\/h2\u003E--\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch4 class=\u0022time is_date article_pub_time\u0022\u003EMay 11, 2017\u003C!--\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\u0022 class=\u0022click_comment\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E0 Comments\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E--\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u003C\/h4\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cul class=\u0022article-share\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share fb\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFacebook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share tw\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETwitter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share email\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEmail\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022social-share tn_print\u0022 href=\u0022javascript:void(0)\u0022 onclick=\u0022tn_print_fn()\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPrint\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/header\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Csection class=\u0022article-body abody-248176\u0022 \u003E\n\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image wide indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca class=\u0022gallery imgHover\u0022 href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/becoming-ms-burton-jacket-cover-OTUO-crop-img.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Activist and author Susan Burton. (Courtesy of The New Press)\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/becoming-ms-burton-jacket-cover-OTUO-crop-img.jpg?scale=896&compress=80\u0022 alt=\u0022becoming-ms-burton-jacket-cover-OTUO-crop-img\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003EActivist and author Susan Burton. \u003Cspan class=\u0022credits\u0022\u003E(Courtesy of The New Press)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv style=\u0022clear:both\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp\u003EThere once lived a woman with deep brown skin and black hair who freed people from bondage and ushered them to safety. She welcomed them to safe homes and offered food, shelter, and help reuniting with family and loved ones. She met them wherever they could be found and organized countless others to provide support and aid in various forms so they would not be recaptured and sent back to captivity. This courageous soul knew well the fear and desperation of each one who came to her, seeing in their eyes all the pain she felt years ago when she had been abused and shackled and finally began her own journey to freedom. Deep in the night she cried out to God begging for strength, and when she woke she began her work all over again, opening doors, planning escape routes, and holding hands with mothers as they wept for children they hoped to see again. A relentless advocate for justice, this woman was a proud abolitionist and freedom fighter. She told the unadorned truth to whomever would listen and spent countless hours training and organizing others, determined to grow the movement. She served not only as a profound inspiration to those who knew her but also as a real gateway to freedom for hundreds whose lives were changed forever by her heroism.\u003Caside class=\u0022ad right most-popular-plus-ad grey_back\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022ad-halfpage-248176-0\u0022 class=\u0022sailthru_class_form\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\u0022 class=\u0022ad-policy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAd Policy\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left textaside\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022message\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis essay is adapted from the foreword to \u003Ca target=\u0022_blank\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/thenewpress.com\/books\/becoming-ms-burton\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBecoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn (The New Press, April 2017) and published with the permission of the author and The New Press.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003ESome people know this woman by the name Harriet Tubman. I know her as Susan.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI met Susan Burton in 2010, but I learned her name years before. I was doing some research regarding the challenges of reentry for people incarcerated due to our nation\u2019s cruel and biased drug war. At the time, I was in the process of writing \u003Cem\u003EThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness\u2014\u003C\/em\u003Ea book that aimed to expose the ways the War on Drugs had not only decimated impoverished communities of color but also helped to birth a new system of racial and social control eerily reminiscent of an era supposedly left behind. The United States has become the world leader in imprisonment, having quintupled our prison population in a few short decades through a drug war and a \u201cget tough\u201d movement aimed at the poorest and darkest among us. I was writing a chapter that explains how tens of millions of people branded criminals and felons have been stripped of the very rights supposedly won in the civil-rights movement, including the right to vote, the right to serve on juries, and the right to be free of legal discrimination in employment, housing, access to education and public benefits. I had mountains of policy analyses and data, but I was disturbed by the fact that few voices of those who actually had been impacted by these modern-day Jim Crow policies could be found in the research.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI scanned dozens of articles online, then paused when I stumbled upon an interview with a woman named Susan Burton. The integrity and authenticity of her voice was undeniable. She told the reporter plainly and directly what it felt like, as a recovering drug addict released from prison and struggling to survive, to be forced to \u201ccheck the box\u201d on the ubiquitous employment, housing, and food-stamp applications that asked the dreaded question, \u201cHave you ever been convicted of a felony?\u201d She knew full well that, once that box was checked, her application would be thrown straight in the trash. How would she survive without food, shelter, or a job? She described with clarity and conviction what it meant to be a second-class citizen in the so-called land of the free, and she insisted that she was determined to do everything she could to ensure that the laws, rules, policies, and practices that authorize legal discrimination against people with convictions are eventually abandoned, and that we begin to provide drug treatment rather than prison cells to people struggling with addiction and drug abuse. I learned Susan had created several safe homes for formerly incarcerated women and that she was part of a small but growing movement for the restoration of basic civil and human rights for people who have spent time behind bars. The interview moved me, and I thought \u003Cem\u003EI have to meet this woman.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Caside class=\u0022right hidden-on-mobile most-popular-plus-ad\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022most-popular hover_b_remove\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ch3\u003EMost Popular\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E1\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/trumps-commission-on-election-integrity-will-lead-to-massive-voter-suppression\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Trump\u2019s Commission on \u2018Election Integrity\u2019 Will Lead to Massive Voter Suppression\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003ETrump\u2019s Commission on \u2018Election Integrity\u2019 Will Lead to Massive Voter Suppression\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E2\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/we-may-be-witnessing-the-unraveling-of-donald-trumps-presidency\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027We May Be Witnessing the Unraveling of Donald Trump\u2019s Presidency\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003EWe May Be Witnessing the Unraveling of Donald Trump\u2019s Presidency\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E3\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Wisconsin\u2019s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016 (Trump Won by 22,748)\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003EWisconsin\u2019s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016 (Trump Won by 22,748)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E4\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/trumpism-its-coming-from-the-suburbs\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Trumpism: It\u2019s Coming From the Suburbs\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003ETrumpism: It\u2019s Coming From the Suburbs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022popular-article\u0022\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E5\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/this-mothers-day-black-lives-matter-activists-will-give-more-than-30-women-their-freedom\/\u0022 onclick=\u0022ga(\u0027send\u0027, \u0027event\u0027, \u0027Most Popular\u0027, \u0027Click Most Popular\u0027, \u0027This Mother\u2019s Day, Black Lives Matter Activists Will Give More Than 30 Women Their Freedom\u0027,\u00270\u0027)\u0022\u003EThis Mother\u2019s Day, Black Lives Matter Activists Will Give More Than 30 Women Their Freedom\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/aside\u003E\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left full-width-mobile image indent\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/becoming-ms-burton-jacket-cover-OTUO.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022 \u0022 class=\u0022gallery\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/becoming-ms-burton-jacket-cover-OTUO.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cp class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EShortly after \u003Cem\u003EThe New Jim Crow\u003C\/em\u003E was published, I had my chance. A mutual friend introduced us via email, and Susan invited me to come to Los Angeles and visit the nonprofit organization she founded, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.anewwayoflife.org\/\u0022\u003EA New Way of Life\u003C\/a\u003E. She thanked me profusely for my book, and said that she, along with the formerly incarcerated women currently residing at the safe homes, wanted to organize a book event for me at a local community center. I told her that I would be thrilled to come and hoped to learn more about her work and lend support as best I could.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI was not prepared for what followed. Upon my arrival, Susan gave me a tour of the safe homes for formerly incarcerated women that operate as part of A New Way of Life. I\u2019m not certain what I expected, but probably something similar to various halfway houses I\u2019ve seen over the years. Instead, I discovered something else entirely. These were not facilities or shelters or way stations or simply housing for people released from prison who need support services. These were homes. Loving homes. Susan took me from house to house and showed me where the women slept and worked. The residents and staff greeted Susan with a measure of formality\u2014\u201cGood afternoon, Ms. Burton!\u2014yet the warmth and love was palpable. In some of the bedrooms, paint was peeling off the walls, and mattresses for children were on the floor along with a few scattered stuffed animals. Clearly, every penny raised was immediately invested in providing more beds, houses, and services. The accommodations were sparse, to say the least. But they were also immaculate, and every woman I met expressed enormous gratitude for Susan and the lifeline she provided. Susan offered not just a place to sleep and to get desperately needed assistance but also emotional support as the women struggled to meet the seemingly endless and impossible requirements of parole and probation officers, as well as the demands of the most feared agency of them all: child protective services.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EIn California, like most states, women released from prison must meet a dizzying list of requirements if they hope to regain custody of their children, including showing they have secured employment and housing. Meeting these requirements is no small feat, particularly when hundreds of categories of jobs are off-limits to people with felony records, discrimination is still legal against them, public housing agencies routinely deny access to people based on criminal records, and\u2014until recently\u2014even food stamps weren\u2019t available to people with drug convictions. Susan and her staff work tirelessly to help women at A New Way of Life meet these conditions, but they also go to court with them, hold hands with them, and pray with them, as judges decide whether custody will be terminated forever. \u003Cstyle\u003E\n .cta.primary.zbyrCcsRuL{\n background: #cc0e0e !important;\n color: #ffffff !important;\n }\n .cta.primary.zbyrCcsRuL a:hover\n {\n color: #cc0e0e !important;\n background: #ffffff !important;\n }\n \u003C\/style\u003E\n \u003Caside class=\u0022siderail__item full cta primary right article_action_right zbyrCcsRuL\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022item__content\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EGET A DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION \r\nFOR JUST $12!\r\n\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022 https:\/\/ssl.palmcoastd.com\/06601\/apps\/ORDOPTION1LANDING?ikey=I**ALL \u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022btn\u0022\u003ESubscribe\u003C\/a\u003E \n \u003C\/div\u003E \n\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI remember calling Susan one day, long after my first visit, and catching her when she was at the courthouse with a young woman who had just lost custody\u2014permanently\u2014of her daughter. Susan\u2019s voice was cracking and breaking over the phone, failing to hold back tears, as she erupted: \u201cI\u2019ve been down here all week at the courthouse, watching and waiting as these families are torn apart. I see these women doing everything they can, and still their babies are taken away. How can we do this to people? Does anyone really understand what\u2019s going on here? We\u2019re willing to spend countless dollars putting people who need help in cages, and then when they get out we say you can\u2019t have a job, and you can\u2019t have housing, and because you don\u2019t have either we\u2019re going to take your kids too. Sometimes I think I can\u2019t go on, that I just can\u2019t bear to watch this or do this anymore.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cstyle\u003E\n\t\t\t\t.article-wrap .article-body aside.left.custom_background_248176\t\t\t\t {\n\t\t\t\t background:none !important;\n\t\t\t\t }\n\t\t\t\t \u003C\/style\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cstyle\u003E\n\t\t\t\t.article-wrap .article-body aside.left.custom_background_248176\t\t\t\t {\n\t\t\t\t background:#5000b2 !important;\n\t\t\t\t }\n\t\t\t\t \u003C\/style\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Caside class=\u0022left takeaction indent custom_background_248176\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022action_tout_heading\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETHE STAKES ARE HIGHER NOW THAN EVER. GET THE NATION IN YOUR INBOX.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cform action=\u0022\u0022 name=\u0022sailthru_action_tout_form\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cinput type=\u0022email\u0022 name=\u0022email\u0022 id=\u0022take_action_sailthru_email_248176\u0022 class=\u0022take_action_sailthru_email\u0022 Placeholder=\u0022Enter Email\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cinput type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022take_action_sailthru_list_final\u0022 id=\u0022take_action_sailthru_list_final_248176\u0022 value=\u0022daily_tout,master,daily\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cdiv class=\u0022cta\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003Cinput type=\u0022button\u0022 class=\u0022take_action_sailthru_submit\u0022 name=\u0022submit_sailthru\u0022 value=\u0022SIGN UP!\u0022 onclick=\u0022add_action_tout_sailthru(248176)\u0022\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/form\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003Cp id=\u0022action_tout_response_248176\u0022\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\u003C\/aside\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EBut she does. Day in and day out, Susan is always there, welcoming women returning home from prison, providing them with as much support and guidance as possible, and walking with them into the courthouse. Over and over again. Like Harriet Tubman, who famously helped to build the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves who yearned to be free and reunite with their loved ones, Susan has committed her life to helping those held captive today make a genuine break for freedom, attempt to rebuild their lives and families, and hopefully begin to heal from the trauma of it all.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t think I understood the full extent of the trauma experienced by people who churn through America\u2019s prisons until I began taking the time to listen to their stories. Research suggests that people rarely change their minds or form a new world view based on facts or data alone; it is through stories (and the values systems embedded within them) that we come to reinterpret the world and develop empathy and compassion for others. Susan Burton\u2019s life story\u2014filled with trauma, struggle, and true heroism\u2014is precisely the kind of story that has the potential to change the way we view our world. It is impossible to read her story and not feel challenged to reconsider basic assumptions about our criminal-injustice system, as well as the conscious and subconscious beliefs we hold about the living, breathing human beings we, as a nation, have condemned and discarded. In today\u2019s political environment we are constantly encouraged\u2014through the media, politicians, and government bureaucracies\u2014to view certain groups of people defined by race and class as undeserving of care and concern, especially the drug addicts, criminals, and so-called illegals who are trapped in prisons, detention centers, and ghettos across the United States.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring my first visit to A New Way of Life, Susan sat me down on a couch in an empty safe home\u2014the residents were out for the moment\u2014and quietly began to tell her story. She explained that her odyssey with the criminal justice system began when her 5-year-old son was accidentally killed by a police officer employed by the Los Angeles Police Department. The officer was driving down her street in her South Central neighborhood and ran over her boy while he was crossing the street. The LAPD initially offered no compensation, no counseling, no trauma support\u2014not even an apology. She fell into a deep, seemingly bottomless well of grief and depression.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EI have no doubt things would\u2019ve turned out differently if Susan had been wealthy and white. Even if she had been middle class and had access to a good health-insurance plan, she could\u2019ve afforded years of therapy and been prescribed the best legal drugs available to help her cope with her trauma. But things were different for Susan. Lacking money and a support system, she turned to illegal drugs and became addicted to crack cocaine. Living in an impoverished black community under siege during the height of the War on Drugs, it was only a matter of time before Susan was arrested and offered her first plea deal. It would not be her last. Susan cycled in and out of prison for 15 years, trapped in a virtual undercaste\u2014a parallel social universe that exists for those labeled criminals and felons in the era of mass incarceration. Every time she was released, she faced a web of discriminatory rules and laws that made survival next to impossible, and continued to self-medicate with illegal drugs.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003EBy no small miracle, Susan was eventually granted admission to a private drug treatment facility and given a job. When she became clean, she decided to devote her life to ensuring that no other woman would ever have to suffer what she had been through. She began meeting the prison bus, as it released women onto the streets carrying nothing but a cardboard box with their belongings and a few dollars in their pockets. She said to these women, who were strangers to her, \u201cCome home with me, sleep on my couch or on my floor. I\u2019ll make sure you have a roof over your head and food to eat. You don\u2019t have to turn to the streets tonight.\u201d\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003ESusan explained to me that, in the beginning, she simply wanted to give women who were struggling to make it on the outside food, shelter, safety, and some support as they pieced their lives back together again. But now, Susan said, she sees her mission and purpose as much broader. She aims to help build a movement, a human-rights movement that will provide a path to a new way of life for all of us. She co-founded \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.prisonerswithchildren.org\/our-projects\/allofus-or-none\/\u0022\u003EAll of Us or None\u003C\/a\u003E, an organization dedicated to the restoration of basic civil and human rights for formerly incarcerated people, and has begun training the women who are part of A New Way of Life to be leaders, spokespeople, and organizers. She views the women who live and work with her not merely as people to be \u201chelped,\u201d but women who are joining in a shared struggle to remake their individual lives, while transforming their communities and the nation as a whole.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003ESince that talk on her couch several years ago, Susan and I have had many conversations about the future of movement building and advocacy to end mass incarceration. She has become a friend and a confidant, as well as my personal shero. Every time I speak with her I am reminded of why it is so critically important for people who have been directly impacted by injustice to emerge as partners and leaders of the movements for justice we aim to build. As a lawyer and as an academic, I am often surrounded by people who think they know the answers, as well as how to define the problem, and have endless opinions about what to do next. They\u2019ve done their research and studied the data and read the reports and they know how to navigate the halls of power. Yet often what they lack is relevant life experience\u2014the deep, profound ways of knowing and seeing that come from living through severe racial and social injustice and making a way out of no way. What I have found is that I have much more to learn from Susan Burton than she does from me, despite all of the research and writing I have done on these issues over the years.\t\t\n\u003Cp\u003ESusan\u2019s book, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/thenewpress.com\/books\/becoming-ms-burton\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBecoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, is not simply a story about a formerly incarcerated woman dedicated to working for justice and freedom in the era of mass incarceration. It is a story of a black woman who, as she often tells me, is \u201cnothing special\u201d and yet has somehow managed to transform her own life as well as hundreds of lives around her. She has emerged as a leading figure in the movement to end mass incarceration, always leading by example and never leading alone. This book tells a story of one woman known to staff and residents as Ms. Burton, but it is also tells a much broader, universal story about the utter fragility and breathtaking resilience of the human spirit\u2014even in the face of severe sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. In the end, this is a story about how an entire system of oppressive rules, laws, policies, and practices has failed to permanently crush one woman\u2019s spirit and the spirits of the many women who have walked through the doors of A New Way of Life, though surely that system has tried. 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The Nation is one.\u201d - Alec Baldwin\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022donate-grid\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ssl.palmcoastd.com\/06601\/apps\/ORDOPTION1LANDING?ikey=I**AKK\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022btn\u0022\u003ESubscribe Today\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\t\u003C\/footer\u003E\n\t\u003C\/article\u003E\n\t\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022\u003E\n\tvar targetingArray = new Array();\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_author\u0027] = [\u0027michelle-a\u0027];\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_articleid\u0027] = [248176];\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_ptype\u0027] = [\u0027article\u0027];\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_keyword\u0027] = [\u0027mass-incar\u0027];\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_subject\u0027] = [\u0027activism\u0027, \u0027autobiogra\u0027, \u0027criminal-j\u0027, \u0027drug-war-a\u0027, \u0027jails-and-\u0027, \u0027race-and-e\u0027, \u0027racism-and\u0027, \u0027social-jus\u0027];\n\t\ttargetingArray[\u0027tn_slp\u0027] = [];\n\t\tfunction autoload_article_ads(slotName,articlePostId){\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\/\/ Create a div for the slot\n\t\t\tvar slotDiv = document.createElement(\u0027div\u0027);\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tslotDiv.id = slotName; \/\/ Id must be the same as slotName\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tvar advdivnamed = document.getElementById(\u0022slot-\u0022+articlePostId)\n\t\t\tadvdivnamed.appendChild(slotDiv);\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/call_ad_new(\u0027pixel\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,\u0027tn_pixel_248176_1\u0027,\u0027pixel_1\u0027,targetingArray);\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcall_ad_new(\u0027pixel\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,\u0027tn_pixel_248176_2\u0027,\u0027pixel_2\u0027,targetingArray);\n\t\t\tcall_ad_new(\u0027leaderboard\u0027,\u0027tn_article\u0027,slotName,\u0027leaderboard_1\u0027,targetingArray);\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t}\n\n\/\/\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {\n\/\/ var slot = googletag.defineSlot(\u0027\/1004953\/tn_article_leaderboard_2\u0027, [728, 90], slotName).\n\/\/ setTargeting(\u0022test\u0022,\u0022infinitescroll\u0022).\n\/\/ addService(googletag.pubads());\n\n \/\/ Display has to be called before\n \/\/ refresh and after the slot div is in the page.\n\/\/ googletag.display(slotName);\n\/\/ googletag.pubads().refresh([slot]);\n\/\/\t});\n\t\u003C\/script\u003E\n\t\t\n\t\u003Cdiv id=\u0022slot-248176\u0022 class=\u0022ad full-width interarticle position-relative\u0022\u003E\n\t\t\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\u0022 class=\u0022top-ad-policy\u0022\u003EAd Policy\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\t\u003C!--\u003Cdiv id=\u0027div-gpt-ad-1428494597034-0\u0027 class=\u0022push ad full-width leaderboard\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E--\u003E\n\t\u003Ca class=\u0022inifiniteLoader\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/themes\/thenation\/images\/infi_loader.gif\u0022 alt=\u0022loader\u0022 \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\t\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C!-- Including Body content image in gallery --\u003E\n\t\u003C!-- Including Body content image in gallery --\u003E\n\t\n\u003Cscript\u003E\n$(\u0027.postid-248176 .gallery\u0027).magnificPopup({\ntype:\u0027image\u0027,\ngallery: {\nenabled: true\n}\n});\njQuery(document).ready(function(){\n $e = $(\u0027.article-body\u0027).children().last();\n $t = $e.prop(\u0022tagName\u0022);\n var tagsArray = [\u0027UL\u0027,\u0027OL\u0027,\u0027FORM\u0027];\n if(jQuery.inArray($t, tagsArray )==\u0027-1\u0027)\n {\n $e.addClass(\u0027redotclass\u0027);\n } \n else\n {\n $e.find(\u0027li:last\u0027).addClass(\u0027redotclass\u0027); \n }\n tweetFollow();\n});\n$(\u0027.post-edit-link\u0027).attr(\u0027href\u0027, function( _, action){\n return action.replace(\u0027https\u0027, \u0027http\u0027);\n});\nfunction load_article_ads()\n{\n\/\/console.log(\u0022hello\u0022);\ncall_ad_new(\u0022halfpage\u0022,\u0022tn_article\u0022,\u0022ad-halfpage-248176-0\u0022,\u0022rectangle_1\u0022,{\u0022tn_author\u0022:\u0022\u0027michelle-a\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_articleid\u0022:248176,\u0022tn_ptype\u0022:\u0022article\u0022,\u0022tn_keyword\u0022:\u0022\u0027mass-incar\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_subject\u0022:\u0022\u0027activism\u0027, \u0027autobiogra\u0027, \u0027criminal-j\u0027, \u0027drug-war-a\u0027, \u0027jails-and-\u0027, \u0027race-and-e\u0027, \u0027racism-and\u0027, \u0027social-jus\u0027\u0022,\u0022tn_slp\u0022:\u0022\u0022});\n}\n\u003C\/script\u003E\n"}