February 12, 2020
Page 7
Esteemed Author on Prison Justice
C onTinued from f ronT
1980s and 90s, and mandatory sentencing
laws for all contributing to extreme over-
crowding in prisons, a result that she says
is both cruel and unusual punishment as
well as a war on people of color.
On a recent journey to visit with inmates
at the Oregon State Penitentiary, she ex-
panded on her views and thoughts, “How
do we go about imaging different ways of
existing without prisons?” she asked.
The same subject was the topic of her
book, “Angels with Dirty Faces: Three
Stories of Crime, Prison and Redemp-
tion,” which won the 2017 Oregon Book
award.
“I strongly believe in prison abolition,
the idea that prisons make us all less safe,
and that there are ways of creating com-
munity accountability without relying on
police and prisons,” she said. “The book
focuses on the lives of three people who
have dealt with harm, as well as how the
prison system itself is harm.”
Imarisha does a lot of volunteer edu-
cational work in the criminal legal sys-
tem. She personally reaches out to peo-
ple currently under lockup, evidenced by
her heading to the prison in Salem for a
meeting with Uhuru Sasa, a black cultural
group for inmates.
“They put on amazing programs and
events in prison, and also do incredible
work connecting with the community and
being a positive force, she said about the
organization,” she said. “This past sum-
mer I facilitated a 10 week cultural work-
shop to really explore black culture and
how it is a positive force in the communi-
ty, historically and currently.”
When considering all the communi-
ties in Oregon, Imarisha said the people
housed in prisons must be counted in as
well, because “If you are not talking about
the black people who are incarcerated, you
are not talking about the entire black com-
munity.”
She stresses a number of ways to sup-
port our incarcerated brothers and sisters.
“There are myriad ways to get involved
in prison justice, to connect with organi-
zations doing that work in that area,”
Imarisha said. “There are prison writing
groups, groups working on legislation,
and community-based leadership pro-
grams, and you can work directly with
organizations working in the prisons as
well, pending approval. There are many
ways to encourage people to do research
and connect with organizations doing
work they are interested in to support the
people inside.”
Imarisha teaches creative writing in
the masters of fine arts program at Pacific
Northwest College of the Arts, as well as
conducting community workshops both
in the community and at several different
state prisons. She has also taught at Stan-
ford University, Portland State University
and Oregon State University, and created
the Oregon Black History Timeline, avail-
able on YouTube, exploring key moments
in Oregon black history.
PhoTos CourTesy W alidah i marisha
Walidah Imarisha, the nonfiction
book author of ‘Angels with Dirty
Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison
and Redemption’ won a 2017 Oregon
Book award.
She also co-edited the anthology, “Oc-
tavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories
from Social Justice Movements,” a col-
lection of 20 short stories and two es-
says written by organizers, activists and
change makers.
Imarisha said one premise behind
“Octavia’s Brood” was that you need to
imagine a just prison system because one
doesn’t exist.
“So every time we imagine a world
without prisons, without borders, without
oppression, that’s science fiction because
we’ve never seen that world,” she said.
“But we can’t have what we can’t imag-
ine, so we absolutely need imaginative
spaces like science fiction that allow us to
imagine beyond what we’re told is pos-
sible.”
Imarisha also talked about racism in
Portland, the whitest major city in America.
“Institutional racism is built in every
aspect of society and our lives and the
way power functions, and unless folks
are committed to keep doing the difficult
long term work of uprooting institutional
racism, and recognizing the extent of op-
pression, they aren’t committed to making
real change,” she said.
She was even more pointed in a recent
speech at the University of Portland on
honor the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday:
“Portland specifically, and Oregon in
general, has been incredibly good at mar-
keting itself in a multiplicity of ways as
a progressive city, as a liberal city, as a
city that cares about diversity and inclu-
sion. How is it possible to be a city that
proclaims itself to be the liberal capital of
the United States, and be the whitest city
in America?” she said, as quoted in the
University of Portland student newspaper
the Beacon.
“The reality is Portland and Oregon
are exactly as they were intended to be: a
racist white utopia. That is the foundation
C onTinued on P age 14