Becoming Ms. Burton

Description:

"Susan Burton's world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van driving down their street. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As a resident of South Los Angeles, a black community under siege in the War on Drugs, it was but a matter of time before Susan was arrested. She cycled in and out of prison for over fifteen years; never was she offered therapy or treatment for addiction. On her own, she eventually found a private drug rehabilitation facility. Once clean, Susan dedicated her life to supporting women facing similar struggles. Her organization, A New Way of Life, operates five safe homes in Los Angeles that supply a lifeline to hundreds of formerly incarcerated women and their children--setting them on the track to education and employment rather than returns to prison. Becoming Ms. Burton not only humanizes the deleterious impact of mass incarceration, it also points the way to the kind of structural and policy changes that will offer formerly incarcerated people the possibility of a life of meaning and dignity.

subjects: Abused women,  Women drug addicts,  African American women social reformers,  Women ex-convicts,  Women prisoners,  Biography,  Women, united states, biography,  BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  Social Activists,  LAW,  Criminal Law,  POLITICAL SCIENCE,  Civil Rights,  SOCIAL SCIENCE,  Discrimination & Race Relations,  Burton, Susan,  Women ex-convicts -- United States -- Biography,  Women prisoners -- United States -- Biography,  African American women social reformers -- Biography,  Abused women -- United States -- Biography,  Women drug addicts -- United States -- Biography,  Burton, susan,  Women ex-convicts--united states--biography,  Women prisoners--united states--biography,  African american women social reformers,  African american women social reformers--united states--biography,  Abused women--united states--biography,  Women drug addicts--united states--biography,  Biography & autobiography--social activists,  Law--criminal law,  Political science--civil rights,  Social science--discrimination & race relations

People: Susan Burton

Places: United States