Inside This Place, Not of It, published by Voice of Witness, reveals some of the most egregious human rights violations within women’s prisons in the United States. In their own words, the thirteen narrators in this book recount their lives leading up to incarceration and their experiences inside– ranging from forced sterilization and shackling during childbirth, to physical and sexual abuse by prison staff. Together, their testimonies illustrate the harrowing struggles for survival that women in prison must endure.

Join Editors Robin Levi and Ayelet Waldman in conversation with Dr. Monique Morris about these stories and the challenges faced by African American girls and women in the prison system and the movements for prison justice and reform.

‍Robin Levi is consultant working in the field of human rights. For eight years she was the human rights director at Justice Now. Levi spent four years as Advocacy Director for the Women's Institute for Leadership for Human Rights, where she advocated for the human rights of women and girls in the United States, especially women of color.

‍Ayelet Waldman is the author of Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was adapted into a film called The Other Woman starring Natalie Portman.

Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her radio commentaries have appeared on All Things Considered and This American Life.

‍Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. is Co-Founder and Director of the National Black Women's Justice Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco and Saint Mary's College of California. She is the author of the book, Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century (The New Press, 2014), the novel Too Beautiful for Words (MWM Books, 2012); and the forthcoming book, Pushout: Countering the Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (The New Press, 2015).

She is a regular contributor to Ebony.com; has written dozens of articles, book chapters, and other publications on social justice issues; and has lectured widely on research, policies, and practices associated with improving justice, educational, and socioeconomic conditions for Black girls, women, and their families.

‍FREE ADMISSION

‍This program is presented as part of Third Thursdays in Yerba Buena. More information here.