Author Discusses Her Time in and out of Prison
“I wanted my life to be meaningful and purposeful.”
Putting your life back together after serving a term in prison is not easy, as we’ve heard time and time again in media reports. But putting it back together after six different prison terms over 15 years, while struggling with the death of a child and drug addiction, is a struggle few people can even imagine.
But, it is something Susan Burton has lived to tell the tale about.
Burton, author of a memoir titled “Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women,” joins Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today to share her story and talk about the lack of resources available to woman who have been incarcerated.
Burton says she feels as though there was no interest from the outside world in interrupting the cycle of trauma and abuse that was happening to her.
“Still today I look at our responses to people and it’s as if the… experiences that they have, they’re invisible,” Burton says.
She discusses an LAPD officer accidentally killing her son, and the hurt she experienced from not receiving acknowledgement or an apology for the accident.
Burton and Henderson also discuss the lack of resources and attention given to the woman who have been incarcerated.
Burton is appearing for an author talk at Source Booksellers on August 1st at 6 p.m.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
