Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I got caught back up in the underworld because the upperworld really doesn't have a place for people with criminal histories. "

Related Quotes:

" I went to pick my son up from school and walked him back and was in the house preparing dinner, and he came in the house and gave me this flower of chrysanthemum that was full of ants. And he went back out to play and ran out into the street and got hit by a car. The car happened to be driven by a LAPD detective. "

" 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. "

" We keep a woman in prison for decade after decade at a cost of $60,000 a year, and then give them $200 when they hit the gates for release. And, adios. People have to get their IDs, Social Security cards. They have to get clothing, housing, apply for benefits and services, and it's impossible to do with 200 bucks. "

" After six prison commitments, at the end of those, I was more broken than when I went into the system. "

" 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. "

" It seems like I was born into trouble. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" When you get locked up, you get locked out. "

" 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. "

" Morning meditation is important to start every day on a positive note. "

" Most incarcerated women have stories that are similar to mine. They suffered great trauma as children. "

" 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. "

" The person who has been convicted has served their time. Why would we continue to punish and exclude them from housing and jobs? Those are the primary areas that allow people to get their lives back on track. "

" Telling your story is transformative. For both the storyteller and their audience, a new bridge to understanding is created. "

" I knew I wasn't born to be caged and chained up. "

" There are so many bright people who just need an opportunity to help others and pay it forward. "

" We all make mistakes. Sometimes people slip, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of the support. "

" Insulin is a crisis medication. "

" If you don't have a new door to walk through, the only thing is the old door. "

" 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. "

" When I see a woman make it over all the obstacles, my heart just sings. "

" 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. "

" We continue to work on policy to end discrimination against people with criminal records. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Everyone needs a place to live. Everyone needs a place to come home to every night. I don't understand why our society, our government, can think that you can lock a person away for months or years... and then release them back after they pay their debt without any support and expect it to be okay. "

" 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. "