The Other Side of the Wall

The four-part Understanding and Responding to Mass Incarceration (URMI) 2021 virtual series "From Mental Illness to Public Wellness" addresses the criminalization of those with mental health disorders and where we need to direct our organizing and activism.

More than 85% of the U.S. prison population have networks that consist of friends and families who have now become their sole supporters. It is noteworthy to state that this population of supporters serve by choice. These volunteer advocates are often unacknowledged, seldom heard, and barely considered as they perform much needed compassionate measures for prisoners who, more than likely, will return to our own communities, our own neighborhoods and in some cases, back to prison or jail. Supporters of the imprisoned, including the children involved, are heroes who must have information, resources, viable coping skills education available and be properly acknowledged through legislative policy when visiting the imprisoned and also when reentry of their loved one occurs.

In this fourth and final session of the URMI 2021 series, Dr. Sharon Brooks Green will delve deeper into the catastrophic event of mass incarceration and speak of its effects from the perspective of an experienced and educated supporter of the imprisoned. Together, she and participants will explore how society has "glorified" and "glossed over" the heavy responsibility assessed to the person "on the other side of the wall." Dr. Green will also discuss appropriate responses to mass incarceration for the ones who give support, love, and encouragement to the imprisoned who will eventually be released back into society.

Time for audience questions will follow the presentation, after which we will gather in circle discussions to address plans for action.

Library Service staff at Metro State University's Library and Learning Center have developed this special resource guide as an educational supplement to the event: https://libguides.metrostate.edu/URMI

Questions? Email Associate Professor Therissa Libby, at therissa.libby@metrostate.edu.