Disclaimer – Auto-generated content in Spanish:
Algunas partes de esta página se generan automáticamente y podrían contener errores menores. Se recomienda usar el juicio crítico al interactuar con ella.
Disclaimer – Auto-generated content in Spanish:
Algunas partes de esta página se generan automáticamente y podrían contener errores menores. Se recomienda usar el juicio crítico al interactuar con ella.
On a recent episode of the Wait A Gam Minute podcast, formerly incarcerated leader Kariva Nicole talked about having her story included in the new book Jailbirds In Flight by Nicole Daedone:
“There’s two white women that have a high-profile case that came in. They’re Buddhists, so they taught us how to meditate. So, that was one of the most profound experiences that I learned throughout my whole bid this time, because it taught me how to block out the noise and live in the moment. It centered myself. So when centering myself, it’s giving me that connection with my higher power. So I got that connection, and I can just drown out anything.
[Jailbirds In Flight] talks about how you can overcome. Being unconditionally free … meaning being free in all aspects.
“When I say it’s freezing cold in there, it’s like the Arctic. They don’t give us no extra blankets. So you got them thin, little, homeless-looking blankets, and you just freezing. So, the ladies, Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, they came in, and … throughout the meditation, they gave us a practice on learning how to warm your body up. So we could overcome any obstacle that faced us. Like, we overcame being cold. We overcame the noise. Learning how to, you know, just be one with yourself. So, like I said, I’m grateful for meeting them.
“[Nicole] wrote a book, and … I am one of the main characters in this book. … It talks about how you can overcome. Being unconditionally free. Unconditionally free, meaning being free in all aspects. …
“But this book talks about her experience. We did things like Loving Tree. So a Loving Tree is, I’m gonna focus on you, Derek, and we’re gonna put you in the middle, and we just gonna put positive energy into you. Speak words of affirmations, words of encouragement, to let you know, like, you’re not in this by yourself. We’re in this together.
“So, once she started doing these classes and helping us to overcome, you know, it changed the trajectory. It changed the energy in the room.”
Watch video:
New York Times best-selling editor Beth Wareham says, “I’ve been a book editor for about 30 years, and I’ve done a lot of work on the subject of incarceration. It is one of those human situations where you get to explore absolutely everything, because the pressure is so intense. It is the same kind of situation that, say, attracted Walt Whitman to the Civil War. He wanted that kind of pressure cooker to be able to observe humanity. And prisons serve much that same way to the writer and those interested in stories.
“And the other day, this hit my desk. This, Jailbirds In Flight by Nicole Daedone is literally a series of essays that she wrote in her first weeks inside of the MDC prison in New York City. There is not a shred of ‘I feel sorry for myself.’ There’s not a shred of ‘they did me wrong.’ This is a beautiful exploratory writing about freedom and what it means to have bars in front of you and what it means to be trapped inside your own soul. I would suggest this book to any woman who is searching for her insides anywhere. It is absolutely beautiful.”
This is a beautiful exploratory writing about freedom …
Watch video:
The publisher, Soulmaker Press, is also releasing a series of songs and music videos about each of the people whose stories are written about in the book. Check it out!
Watch music videos:
Thank you so much for supporting our mission here at JLUSA! Your donation helps to support our network of leaders working to dismantle oppressive systems and uplift people and families impacted by mass incarceration across the country.
All charitable donations made to JLUSA are fully tax deductible, as allowable by the IRS.
