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" Morning meditation is important to start every day on a positive note. "
Susan Burton
Day
Important
Morning
Related Quotes:
" After six prison commitments, at the end of those, I was more broken than when I went into the system. "
Susan Burton
Than
Broken
End
" 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. "
Susan Burton
Why
People
Housing
" 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
" 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
" If you don't have a new door to walk through, the only thing is the old door. "
Susan Burton
Through
You
Door
" We know that the environment and political information is important, and we expose and teach the women about some of the environmental factors that lead to their incarceration. "
Susan Burton
Women
Environmental
Know
" 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
" 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. "
Susan Burton
Home
Society
Support
" 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
" 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
" I knew I wasn't born to be caged and chained up. "
Susan Burton
Up
Caged
Chained
" 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. "
Susan Burton
People
Prison
Impossible
" 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
" Most incarcerated women have stories that are similar to mine. They suffered great trauma as children. "
Susan Burton
Children
Stories
Trauma
" We all make mistakes. Sometimes people slip, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of the support. "
Susan Burton
Mistakes
People
Support
" It seems like I was born into trouble. "
Susan Burton
I Was Born
Like
Born
" Telling your story is transformative. For both the storyteller and their audience, a new bridge to understanding is created. "
Susan Burton
Audience
Understanding
Story
" 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
" 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
" 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
" We continue to work on policy to end discrimination against people with criminal records. "
Susan Burton
People
Discrimination
End
" 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
" When I see a woman make it over all the obstacles, my heart just sings. "
Susan Burton
Heart
Woman
See
" There are so many bright people who just need an opportunity to help others and pay it forward. "
Susan Burton
People
Help Others
Help
" 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 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. "
Susan Burton
Me
Flower
Dinner
" Long before I ever got incarcerated, I should've been able to access services that help me deal with the grief and the loss of my son, that help me deal with the trauma, the abuse that I experienced as a child. "
Susan Burton
Loss
Child
Grief
" 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
" 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
" 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