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" Each time I left prison, I left with the resolve to get my life together, to get a job, to get back on track. And each time, the task became more and more and more daunting. "
Susan Burton
Job
Together
Time
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" Life has took me on a journey, and through much of that journey, I didn't feel whole, connected, and grounded. So as a kid, everyone called me Sue. My daddy called me Susie Q. But through this journey, I've sort of risen to a place that I get this level of respect of Ms. Burton. "
Susan Burton
Me
Feel
Journey
" We're willing to spend countless dollars putting people who need help in cages, and then when they get out we say you can't have a job, and you can't have housing, and because you don't have either, we're going to take your kids, too. "
Susan Burton
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You
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" After six prison commitments, at the end of those, I was more broken than when I went into the system. "
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" Telling your story is transformative. For both the storyteller and their audience, a new bridge to understanding is created. "
Susan Burton
Audience
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" At the age of 46, in my sixth prison term, it was the second prison I was in - California Rehabilitation Center. The California Civil Education program kind of opened up all of the experiences that that I had dealt with in my life, that I had experienced. "
Susan Burton
Education
My Life
Prison
" There are so many bright people who just need an opportunity to help others and pay it forward. "
Susan Burton
People
Help Others
Help
" Education, hard work, dedication, a support system, and knowing my life had value - these were what had made all the difference. "
Susan Burton
Value
Work
Hard Work
" It seems like I was born into trouble. "
Susan Burton
I Was Born
Like
Born
" Our ancestors went through so much in a fight for us to vote. So I believe that we should engage in all civic participation. It's healthy engagement. "
Susan Burton
Vote
I Believe
Believe
" We continue to work on policy to end discrimination against people with criminal records. "
Susan Burton
People
Discrimination
End
" Many times, I left the prison thinking, 'I'm smart. I can make it. I won't get caught up again.' But you get off downtown Skid Row, and you're a target for all of the environmental harms in that area. The pain and trauma in that area is so thick, you can almost reach your hand out and touch it. "
Susan Burton
Smart
Thinking
Environmental
" I knew hundreds and hundreds of women like me, who had traveled in and out of prison in a revolving door. They needed support and help just like I had received. And it could make a difference, just like it had made a difference in my life. I wanted to see them come back to the community and have a chance at a different life, too. "
Susan Burton
Community
Women
Support
" In prison, you're issued a number of sanitary pads per month. And many times, even when you're issued a number of sanitary pads, the guards will just come in and rip your room apart, rip your locker apart and take them. "
Susan Burton
Number
Month
Will
" Nothing good could ever have come of my life if I hadn't been able to get therapy and overcome my addictions. "
Susan Burton
Life
My Life
Nothing
" It has to be about more than punishment. We need to rehabilitate people. We lock up far too many people in America today. We lock them up as if locking them up is gonna solve the problem. And locking them up does not solve the problem. Did locking me up make me better? No, it did not. It made my struggle harder. "
Susan Burton
Struggle
Today
America
" When I see a woman make it over all the obstacles, my heart just sings. "
Susan Burton
Heart
Woman
See
" Insulin is a crisis medication. "
Susan Burton
Medication
Insulin
Crisis
" It's important the sheriff and the D.A. work with the community to realize real-world solutions. If they make decisions in silos, it will fall short. "
Susan Burton
Decisions
Work
Short
" One of the things about incarceration is that you're deprived. You lose all of your identity, and then its given back one day, and you're ill-equipped to actually embrace it and work it. "
Susan Burton
Lose
Back
Day
" It would have been great if there were a trauma center located in our community, where you could access grief counseling and be able to address it in a healthy manner. "
Susan Burton
Great
You
Healthy
" A New Way of Life is a safe house that women can come to after they're released from prison in South Los Angeles. It's a place for women to detox the trauma, the torture of incarceration, be welcomed and embraced and live and begin their new path to - if it's recovery or receiving mental health services, go back to school, get their children back. "
Susan Burton
Children
Life
Women
" When you get locked up, you get locked out. "
Susan Burton
Get
Locked
You
" I got caught back up in the underworld because the upperworld really doesn't have a place for people with criminal histories. "
Susan Burton
Back
Place
People
" Unless we address those that are leaving prisons, we can't begin to repair the damage of mass incarceration and make our communities whole and healthy once again. "
Susan Burton
Leaving
Incarceration
Repair
" People are released from prison so unprepared. They give you $200. We call it gate money. And you have to pay for a bus ticket back to L.A. You get off the Greyhound bus, downtown Skid Row, and you're supposed to make a life from that. "
Susan Burton
Back
Life
Money
" The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery other than in prisons - but it was a lie that you regained your freedom once you left the prison gates. "
Susan Burton
Lie
Constitution
Freedom
" Morning meditation is important to start every day on a positive note. "
Susan Burton
Day
Important
Morning
" If you don't have a new door to walk through, the only thing is the old door. "
Susan Burton
Through
You
Door
" We all make mistakes. Sometimes people slip, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of the support. "
Susan Burton
Mistakes
People
Support
" Because a woman goes to prison doesn't mean she's a bad mom - doesn't mean that she shouldn't have her children. "
Susan Burton
Prison
Woman
Bad