Prison Industrial Complex - Trans Views
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0:17 - 0:21Well i think, in this time, more trans women are being incarcerated
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0:21 - 0:23more than ever is because
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0:23 - 0:27even though there are a lot of resources available today,
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0:27 - 0:31we still face a lot of discrimination,
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0:31 - 0:33and a lot of us lose hope,
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0:33 - 0:38that leads to prostitution, and more than likely you'll end up going to jail.
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0:39 - 0:40And people are in prison,
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0:40 - 0:42not because they've committed crimes,
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0:42 - 0:44but because they're poor
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0:44 - 0:48and they dont have money for good attorneys
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0:48 - 0:52and public defenders are over worked, under payed,
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0:52 - 0:58and they sort of dont know the plight of the under served and the under privileged
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0:58 - 1:00and they also come with a whole nother,
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1:00 - 1:01with their own set of values.
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1:09 - 1:11Years ago, back in the '80's,
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1:11 - 1:15when trannies were growin' up and coming of age,
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1:15 - 1:17there was no place for us in society,
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1:17 - 1:20and we were kind of put out on the fringes of society.
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1:20 - 1:24We were allowed by society to be the hookers late at night,
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1:24 - 1:25do little petty crimes,
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1:25 - 1:28be little petty drug dealers,
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1:28 - 1:30but we were never allowed to be in somebody's business,
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1:30 - 1:33to represent their business standing at the counter,
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1:33 - 1:36and the real safe place for us was out there on the streets,
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1:36 - 1:39in the little underworld or whatever you wanna call it,
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1:39 - 1:42being petty criminals and coming in and out of jails and stuff.
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1:42 - 1:49And um, i did, i've done a 9 year term, and a 13 year term,
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1:49 - 1:51back to back in prison,
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1:51 - 1:53behind growing up out there on the street.
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1:55 - 1:58ive had maybe 100 prostitution cases,
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1:58 - 2:02um, drug and other offenses,
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2:02 - 2:08so when you go to court, they shackle you to each other,
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2:08 - 2:13and, um, when you go inside courtroom, a public defender's appointed to you,
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2:13 - 2:16but you dont get to say anything,
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2:16 - 2:17they do all the talking,
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2:17 - 2:21so, the public defender does talk to you,
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2:21 - 2:21asks you about your case,
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2:21 - 2:23but you never get to talk the case in court.
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2:23 - 2:25he just gets to talk for you,
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2:25 - 2:28and so whatever sentence the judge gives you, you have to do.
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2:29 - 2:31They called me a thing.
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2:31 - 2:33You know, i had to sleep on the floor for a week,
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2:33 - 2:34they had no transgender cells.
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2:34 - 2:40My first day, i had to suck 65 guys off,
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2:40 - 2:42yes, or get my ass kicked,
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2:42 - 2:47and i was sexually assaulted by the guards, and then the guards tried to charge me
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2:47 - 2:53for, by saying i was a homosexual, and charged me for indecent exposure.
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2:53 - 2:55And i basically had to fight every day.
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2:55 - 2:57We have no justice in here,
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2:57 - 3:02um, we have to do, basically, what either a guard tells us or one of the inmates,
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3:02 - 3:05so there_ our lives can be spared, and not be shamed.
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3:05 - 3:10All i want to say is that prison is like the worst experience anybody can go through.
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3:10 - 3:10People get sent here becuase they're poor,
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3:10 - 3:12because they cant get jobs,
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3:12 - 3:14because they dont have anything else going for them,
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3:14 - 3:16because they're different,
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3:16 - 3:18because they dont have an education,
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3:18 - 3:22because people in the mainstream society dont want to deal with them.
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3:22 - 3:24Thats why they're growing, by leaps and bounds,
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3:24 - 3:26and theyre gonna continue to grow until things change.
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3:27 - 3:30The criminal system
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3:30 - 3:36is really set in place to have people come and to be in a revolving door,
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3:36 - 3:40to come in, and to go out, to come in, and to go out.
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3:40 - 3:45And so it becomes this sort of vicious circle,
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3:45 - 3:47cuz once youve been to prison you cant get a job,
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3:47 - 3:51and if you cant get a job you do have to eat,
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3:51 - 3:54and so people are gonna eat and stay off the street,
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3:54 - 3:58and so you commit a crime because you couldnt get a job because youre an ex con,
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3:58 - 3:59and then youre back in prison...
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3:59 - 4:03And you know, before you know it,
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4:03 - 4:07your life's over, and thats what your life has been.
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4:07 - 4:09Constant in and out of prison.
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4:10 - 4:17Well both my tranny friends, when they go to prison, and they get out, they do the shelters.
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4:17 - 4:21Well, when i left, and got my housing, and then i lost my housing,
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4:21 - 4:25i went back to the shelter, and all my friends were back in jail.
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4:25 - 4:30So i dont know __a parole violation, or probation violation,
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4:30 - 4:35but it just, its real scary not to see em anymore.
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4:36 - 4:38i know that if i ever went to prison
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4:38 - 4:42i would be torn because i would be very scared that
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4:42 - 4:47i wouldnt be able to get my hormones and my medications that i need,
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4:47 - 4:51you know, that keep me healthy, and keep me growing as a woman.
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4:53 - 4:54Where i was from,
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4:54 - 4:57they had a half a hose like from the fire department,
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4:57 - 4:57and they would hose you down,
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4:57 - 5:00and they would strip your clothes off of you,
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5:00 - 5:04they would check your rectum, to make sure there was nothing in your rectum,
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5:04 - 5:07and also lift up your balls.
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5:07 - 5:10They would rape, call you names, beat you with a billyclub,
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5:10 - 5:11and i was arrested twice.
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5:12 - 5:15And they made me like the "house wife" of the cell,
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5:15 - 5:20so i had to do the cores, i had to clean up, i had to wash uniforms,
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5:20 - 5:22ihad to be the "house lady",
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5:22 - 5:24and it was real intimidating.
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5:30 - 5:34They perpetrate stereotypes, and report only negative news.
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5:34 - 5:37Very rarely do you see positive stories from inner cities,
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5:37 - 5:40for example various people rising up from their beginnings.
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5:40 - 5:45They always report on gangs, and murders, and various crimes that go on,
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5:45 - 5:48very rarely do you ever see a positive report
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5:48 - 5:50because it's all this negative news,
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5:50 - 5:52because negative news sells
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5:52 - 5:56Prison is just part of a larger endemic problem,
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5:56 - 5:59it's corporate, we gotta keep people employed,
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5:59 - 6:01we've gotta keep prison guards employed,
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6:01 - 6:06and sherrifs employed, and cooks in prison, and medical help in prison,
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6:06 - 6:09and people that build prisons and construction companies,
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6:09 - 6:13theyre all part of this whole industrial complex,
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6:13 - 6:15that perpetuates that.
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6:17 - 6:21Um, prisons are a big business, people are making billions of dollars off of prisons.
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6:21 - 6:25It takes millions to build them and theyre making billions of dollars off of prisons.
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6:32 - 6:34I think its deplorable.
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6:34 - 6:36Once upon a time when i was younger,
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6:36 - 6:38schools used to be the thing,
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6:38 - 6:42but you know, times went on and people started debunking schools,
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6:42 - 6:44and doing what they want to do,
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6:44 - 6:45getting in trouble,
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6:45 - 6:48and now they say that jail is the thing.
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6:48 - 6:50but i dont think that jail is the answer.
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6:50 - 6:54What we need is good psychological help for people,
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6:54 - 6:57so we wont have as many prison systems,
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6:57 - 6:59therefore, we can fund more schools.
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7:04 - 7:10Because im sick and tired of seeing so many of my trans sisters being incarcerated
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7:10 - 7:12over something that couldve been prevented,
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7:12 - 7:14and i would like to make a change.
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7:14 - 7:15thats why im in school,
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7:15 - 7:19im taking care of my business, and im doing what i can do in this society.
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7:20 - 7:24So i just felt that i had a response to her answer to the question,
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7:24 - 7:28and i think the transformation of the individual level that way
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7:28 - 7:31really has such a powerful rippling effect,
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7:31 - 7:33because i think energetically,
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7:33 - 7:37you know, theres a really big impact on the community,
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7:37 - 7:39all around her,
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7:39 - 7:45it just redirects that negative energy, you know, from stressful conditions,
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7:45 - 7:48and you know, the disparities,
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7:48 - 7:49you know, in another direction thats productive,
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7:49 - 7:53thats positive, thats not not contributing to the prison system.
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7:59 - 8:02i dont think that people in general are safer with more prisons.
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8:02 - 8:05i think the status quo is safer with more prisons
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8:05 - 8:08because they create scare tactics
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8:08 - 8:16in which they say that "oh theres an epidemic of black people running amok
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8:16 - 8:18or people of colour running amok",
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8:18 - 8:23so they scare the nation, the united states of america,
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8:23 - 8:28on television, saying that uh we cant stand it no more,
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8:28 - 8:33we're gonna start lootin', and, as if thats our thats our M.O., our stereotype, you know?
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8:35 - 8:38Hi! My name is Miss Billie Cooper,
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8:38 - 8:41and im a proud member of TGIJustice,
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8:41 - 8:43and i oppose prisons.
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8:45 - 8:49My names Patti, im a proud member of TGIJustice,
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8:49 - 8:51and i oppose prisons.
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8:52 - 8:55Hi, my name is Bo-Derek and im a part of TGIJustice,
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8:55 - 8:59it stands for Transgender, Intersex Justice Project,
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8:59 - 9:02and we oppose prisons.
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9:02 - 9:06My name is Broderick, im a proud member of TGIJustice,
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9:06 - 9:08and i oppose prisons.
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9:10 - 9:14Hi, my name is Kiki Robinson, and i am a proud member of TGIJustice project,
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9:15 - 9:17and i oppose prisons.
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9:18 - 9:21Hi, my name is Lyn Johnson Rawles,
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9:21 - 9:24and i am proud to be a member of TGIJustice,
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9:24 - 9:27and im opposed to prisons.
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9:28 - 9:32Hi, im Trisha, and i am a proud member of TGIJustice project,
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9:32 - 9:34and im very opposed to prisons.
- Title:
- Prison Industrial Complex - Trans Views
- Description:
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Powerful documentary - Transgender women from TGI Justice speak out about their experience with the Prison Industrial Complex. http://www.tgijp.org
During the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) training series, members learned about the politics of prisons in the U.S., honed their public speaking and leadership skills, and shared their own personal thoughts and experiences about the Prison Industrial Complex. Additionally, as a key part of the training, members wrote, directed, and filmed a mini-documentary in which they interviewed each other as first hand experts on the effects of the Prison Industrial Complex on trans women and their communities.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 10:07
Nora Bratface edited English subtitles for Prison Industrial Complex - Trans Views | ||
Radical Access Mapping Project added a translation |