By WMBD-TV
NORMAL – Heartland Community College hosted Illinois Prison Project for a panel focusing on women who have experienced incarceration. The panel Redemption, Resilience & Reclamation: The Lives of Women in the Criminal Justice System was timely for Second Chance Month.
“April is Second Chances month. So, we really wanted to do something in April along the lines recidivism, release,” said Cristina Preston-Beard, Faculty for Criminal Justice and Psychology. “And then also a lot of things they talk about the trauma and sexual abuse and April is also sexual abuse awareness month.”
NaJei Webster shared the impact of being separated from her best friend, who was incarcerated at the same institution, so they couldn’t even eat “chow” together.
“Just to think that was my support system. So, they went out their way to make me miserable, to make us miserable,” she said.
Webster also shared how being incarcerated impacted her approach after her home was burglarized by juveniles.
“I’m still mad. But I know that prison is not the answer,” said Webster. “Prison ain’t gone do nothing but make it worse. Cause either they go to prison for a little bit of time, they gone think it’s okay and they gone come back. Prison ain’t doing nothing to heal, to rectify the problem.”
Beria Hampton talked about being resilient after incarceration. She works to lower the crime rate in her community.
“One hand in my community it was high-five getting out. Like everybody on the block, it’s a party right. That wasn’t resilience. That was their way of resilience,” said Hampton. “Because if they was thinking that was resilient that meant that they needed leadership. So, I had to become a leader to show them that that wasn’t a good thing.”
After the panel discussion, the community asked more questions about the women’s experiences and improvement to resources for formerly incarcerated women.
“I’m always so grateful for them willing to come and talk and be so vulnerable and share their stories. Cause we can learn so much from listening to the lives of other people.”
For Hampton and Webster community played an important role in surviving incarceration and re-entering into the civilian world.
“But the inside, that’s a whole different culture of community and you will find the most phenomenal people on the inside in spite of conditions that we go through in there,” said Hampton.
“Re-entry for me would be hell without community,” Webster said.
Hampton is the President and Executive Director of the Altgeld Garden-Murray Homes Alumni Network. Webster is the project manager for Restore Justice. The McLean County Reentry Council is hosting a Reentry Resource Fair on May 4 at the Eastview Community Center beginning at 12 p.m.
