Paris Hilton is back in jail today shouting, "It's not right!"
The Bureau of Justice statistics reports that 2.186 million persons are being held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails in 2005. The latest figure I can find show that 38,817 Black Women were held in Federal or State prisons or 46% of the female population vs. 44.7% for white women.
In some prisons or correctional facilities across the US, volunteers teach quilting to inmates. Do the math, that's a lot of Sistah quilters and crafters behind bars. A few facilities that have or had quilting programs included:
- Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Alaska
- Patuxent Institution for Women in Jessup, MD
- Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex in Morgan County, TN
Even male inmates are quilting. Katherine Mills reports about Quilting Convicts (WCC, page 20, 2003) at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, New Mexico. Inmates can earn Good Works credits (and minimum $0.40 per hour) for taking part in the hand-quilting program.
Thanks to blogger, JenClaire of Bayou Quilts, for letting us know about Fine Cell Works, a British charity that promotes needlearts in prisons and sells their products, including quilts, online. WhipUp blogger talks about her experience with Fine Cell Works with the quilt teachers and the prisoners. (Photo from www.WomenandPrison.org - Beyondmedia's Prison Installation Voices in Time: Lives in Limbo)
