By Rachel Williams (Cradle to Prison Project)

I am often called upon to speak about issues facing girls in the juvenile legal system. Honestly, the best spokespeople are girls themselves. Over the years, I have learned so much from young women in conflict with the law as they narrate their own experiences. I have learned from them in person, in one on one conversations, I have learned by reading their own words (mostly through poetry), and I have learned from them through watching many films in which they are the featured protagonists.

Last year, I began working with my friend Dr. Laurie Schaffner to revive a program called Girl Talk here in Chicago. Girl Talk is a program that gives voice and visibility to the needs, issues, and strengths of girls and young women involved in the juvenile legal system. The program works directly with girls who are or have been incarcerated at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC).

Girl Talk consists of bi-weekly film screenings accompanied by an art project on Saturday afternoons in the Cook County JTDC with the young women there. Led by the Girl Talk Leadership Team and volunteer program facilitators, the group passes out snacks, watches a film (featuring a young woman who faces different challenges in life, ie, The Whale Rider; Crooklyn; Akeela & the Bee) and then works together creatively to talk about themes that came up in the film as we work on our art projects.

We are lucky to have a dedicated group of over 30 volunteers who are supporting this program. Most importantly I am thrilled that the incarcerated girls have the benefit of interacting with fierce, powerful and inspiring women. Most of the girls have never met young women like Girl Talk volunteers. I think that the most powerful part of the program is exactly this point. When an incarcerated girl sees and interacts with a woman who is close to her age and may even look like her, they are exposed to new possibilities for their future selves.

The image that I shared above is from an upcoming zine about Girls in the System that was produced by Rachel Williams through a project called the Cradle to Prison Pipeline that involves three organizations (one of which is mine). That zine will be released in May and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. To my mind, it does a wonderful job of telling a story about the lives of girls in conflict with the law in an accessible and I think beautiful way. Stay tuned for the zine and for news about our zine release event!

In the meantime, I am big fan of a terrific film about incarcerated girls that was shot here in Illinois called Girls on the Wall. If you are interested in the plight of girls in trouble with the law, you should see the film. You can watch the trailer below:

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I am a fan of young women narrating their own experiences. I received a great collection of writing by teens at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Washington from Mindy Hardwick . Here is a poem written by an incarcerated young woman from that collection:

Powerless
They think I’m Powerful
Because I do whatever I want
Because I tell everyone to screw off
Because I don’t listen to anyone
Because I run for months and I am never spotted

But, I am Power-Less
Because my friends are backstabbers
Because I can’t trust anyone
Because I was raped
Because I was jumped
Because my Mom doesn’t want me in her house
Because I cry everyday
Because I’m an addict
Because I miss my old, happy life.

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  By Hilderbrand Pelzer III, March 9, 2011 @ 9:50 pm

  Very Powerful!!

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