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I made my mom this sand art for her birthday this year, when up in the mountains with the one I love, who I so wish she had the chance to know - Mom died a couple years ago after battling brain cancer. As much as I believe she's always with me now, I still miss her smile and laughter, the love in her voice, and the smell of her presence in my room...
I do a lot of work with moms of prisoners these days - most of them fighting for their kids' lives, and where that is too late, fighting for the lives of the children of others. Mother's day is especially hard for those who have lost their kids to the despair or violence of prison. My friend Kini Seawright approaches holidays like this with growing dread, as the grief she thought once subsided swells again to unbearable levels. She decided this year she needed to do something healing for Mother's Day.
It's heartbreaking for those mothers who are separated from their living children by prison walls as well, knowing they are being subjected to violence and despair, and finding that their arms aren't long enough to reach them, to protect them from the world that envelopes those we banish from the world we think we want to have without them.
As much as I lament that the prison suicide and homicide rates in AZ doubled under the current administration, the simple fact is that there are NO safe, or decent, or humane prisons - jus tsome that are less horrendous than others. The very architecture of prison is explicitly intended to impose total domination over the minds, enslave the bodies, and surveille the lives of those we have already punished duly with exile. Tossing the most vulnerable in with people who readily exploit, assault and kill them, and putting them in cages and chains as if they might suddenly transform into werewolves and devour everyone around will always be a cruel and unusual punishment, in my book. And disgustingly, it's a growing industry.
Mother's Day, 2013 begins a week of prison abolition actions and a celebration of sex workers rights - as well as a Kiss for Gabriella and a toast to Marcia Powell at Puente (1306 E. Van Buren, PHX) on Sunday, May 19 at 6pm.
If you want to show support for arizona's prisoners and their families for Mother's Day, come on out to the state prison on Van Buren, between 24th and 28th street. (We think we can get away with parking across the street at the Salvation Army). We'll be at the gate building a silent memorial to honor the mothers who have born the cost of prisons in our communities, and to let prisoners know they have not been forgotten. Bring flowers, a candle, a photo of your loved one in prison, or maybe a sign that suggests liberation and solidarity for those inside. Or just come and say hey to the moms who make it that day.
More on the week of action to follow...RSVP to Peggy with questions at 480-580-6807.