Compelling is an Understatement

Some of my good traits:  warm, friendly, passionate, brave, empathetic, loyal, giving.

Some of my bad traits:  prideful, vain, overly sensitive, dramatic, anxious, judgmental, and preachy.

Try to forgive me for being preachy cause I'm about to talk about another incredible documentary I just saw that has to do with prison injustice.

Yoav Potash's Crime after Crime is one of those films that will make you feel like you've done something important and powerful with your day.  My students and I were lucky enough to see an advance screening today, as well as have a Q&A session afterwards with Yoav and some of the major players in the film.

Crime after Crime

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Debbie Peagler flanked by her two pro bono attorneys

In a nutshell: Deborah Peagler was abused by her boyfriend, Oliver, from the time she was 15.  He was extremely violent toward her, forced her into prostitution, and sexually abused her daughter.  When she finally escaped with their daughters, he and his cronies came to her door with guns blazing (and issuing death threats).  Feeling like there was no way to escape, Deborah asked two of her friends to rough him up a bit.  Unbeknownst to her, they killed Oliver.  Deborah was charged with first degree murder and given a sentence of 25 to life.  

About 26 years into her incarceration, Deborah was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.  Her two attorneys, Joshua Safran and Nadia Costa, had been working (for free!) for years toward her release.  Watch the film to see what happens--it's a gut-wrenching, inspiring, unbelievable story that leaves you astounded, among other feelings, that the fate of people's lives lies in the hands of folks like, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  

This story hit a serious chord with me, as it reminded me so much of a story I heard first-hand last summer.  

Did you know that over 80% of women in prison are there for a crime directly related to their abuse?  It is astounding.  As is the lack of empathy among so many court officials.  What exactly would they do if their lives, and those of their children, were being abused and threatened daily?  

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Check out this woman's story.  The filmmakers need all the support they can get so that this documentary gets into the hands of lawyers, judges, and the general public (and not just the advocates for prison reform and social justice who seek out films like this).  If you're in the Bay Area, you can catch it at the SF International Film Festival now, the website is here, it's on facebook and twitter, and the film will be out this summer (in theaters, on Netflix, at festivals, etc.).

What inspiring stories have you heard lately?

The Holiday Blues

Every year I go home to Georgia for Christmas, but the other holidays can be hard.  I always call my mama's house on Easter, where the entire family has gathered, and she passes the phone around so I can say hi to everyone.  I love getting to talk to them, but it inevitably leaves me feeling a little depressed that they're all together and I'm thousands of miles away.  Would that I could just wiggle my nose and transport myself home for every occasion.

My auntie Pat posted these picture of our family's Easter celebration yesterday:

my sisters

(Jennifer--on the left--is my cousin, but we grew up like sisters.  Lil sis Kate on the right)

sweet Nana on the left and my mama on the right

this year Nana will be 80, Mama will be 50, and I will be 30!

Uncle Mike & pretty cousins with spread of food

Uncle Ted on left, brother-in-law Andy on right

love the twin crossed legs, boys

Jennifer's son, Ethan, and our Auntie Pat

Ethan hunting for eggs in Mama's back yard

I would have loved to be there with them.  I miss everyone exponentially on holidays.  But although it was sad that I couldn't be with my family on Easter, I did the next best thing and headed up to the Freitags to watch Milo and Jude hunt for eggs:

the Freitags on Easter + the view from their backyard

Milo furiously hunting eggs

me and my little love

JJ and Judebug, both sporting seersucker

Thank goodness for the Freitags aka my home away from home!  It was a gorgeous day outside, and those boys always put me in a better mood.  Plus, after the uncles and aunts and cousins went home, Cari and I did something very Easterly: we watched a very intense, violent movie about post-Apartheid South Africa.  ;)

Notice anything about the cast?  Particularly the guy standing in the middle?  Yes, ladies & gentlemen, it's Tim Riggins.  And despite the fact that he had to lose 30 pounds to portray strung out combat photographer, Kevin Carter, he was just as fine as ever in this movie.

All hotness aside, it was a great movie, although devastating.  The story centers around four photographers who are trying to take the best pictures of the violence going on around them.  Kevin Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch--it's a true story) eventually took the following photo of a starving child in Sudan being stalked by a vulture:

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Although Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo (taken in southern Sudan in 1993), it was obviously surrounded by controversy.  The public questioned him: did you just leave that girl to die?  What did you do after you took the picture?  Unable to face these questions and the ethics of his job in general, Carter kills himself.  And while it was tough to watch Tim Riggins go through all that . . . it was worth it.  

Sorry for the downer.  Probably should have ended with Jude toddling around in his seersucker suit clutching plastic eggs.  What did y'all do for Easter?

Me Facing Life

Would you believe that it was only in 2005 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled out the death penalty for juveniles?  Until then, kids could be sentenced to death for crimes they committed.

However, no such law has been established when it comes to life sentences.  There are thousands of kids in the U.S. who have been given the infamous LWOP sentence: life without parole.  Kids as young as 14 have been sentenced to prison until their natural deaths, without any chance for parole.

This evening, I went to the San Francisco Main Public Library to see a screening of a new documentary called Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story.

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It was an incredibly compelling account of Cyntoia Brown, a Tennessee girl who, frankly, was never dealt a fair hand.  Her mother gave birth to her at age 16, and confesses that she drank heavily every day while she was pregnant.  After Cyntoia was born, her mother began using crack cocaine and prostituting, resulting in danger & instability for Cyntoia.  According to psychologists, ages 0-3 are crucial when it comes to forming attachment, trust, decision-making, etc.  

Cyntoia was eventually adopted by a friend of the family, but was sexually abused, repeatedly, starting at age 7.  It comes as no surprise that by her early teens, she was doing drugs and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

One night, having escaped her violent pimp, Cyntoia walked to a local gas station, where she was picked up by a 43 year old man looking for sex.  He took her back to his place and showed her several of his guns, and after he grabbed her forcefully, she shot and killed him.

Cyntoia, at the hearing to determine whether she would be tried as an adult

In the end, she was tried in adult court, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison.  Producer/Director Daniel Birman explores issues of biology, abuse, and social factors as they pertain to crime and sentencing.  

I urge you to watch the trailer here, and try to catch the documentary when it airs on PBS!

The Day After Halloween is Not an Excuse to Buy Half Off Candy

Or so I'm trying to convince myself, having gorged on Tootsie pops and Kit Kats and mini Mr. Goodbars for the past two days.

Saturday, after a quick trip to the Alemany Farmers' Market with Doro to get some pumpkins, I spent the day at the household of my little boo, Freeman J. George.  While Freeman was napping and his daddy and I watched Game 3 of the World Series, I baked this:

quick way to get you in the Halloween spirit

And then as soon as my buddy woke up, we carved pumpkins!

well, I carved.  Freeman colored and covered his pumpkin in stickers.

Our results?

Boo Dat!

I had to combine my football spirit and Halloween spirit, cause my Saints played my bestie's Steelers Halloween night!  My amateur fleur de lis ain't bad, huh?  

I'm slightly ashamed to say that I didn't dress up this year, but it's only cause Halloween day was full of sports, and I couldn't justify the time and effort on a costume just to stay on my couch and watch the World Series and the NFL.  But keep your eye out for a Halloween babies post coming soon, where I'll share pics of my little friends in their get ups.  Goodness gracious they're cute.

And the other thing about California is that it was gorgeous here yesterday.  Anna and I walked to the farmers market where I bought some veggies and these:

before heading out on a beautiful afternoon hike.  We drove up to the Lafayette Reservoir, whose trail around the water offers a perfect combo of exercise and beauty.  It was such a nice start to the day!  Afterwards, we came home and made chili and watched sports (my teams did me proud), and then, thanks to a zillion recommendations on facebook, we watched

Have you seen it?  Ultimately, I'd give it around an 8 out of 10 on the scary scale (I was looking to be terrified).  Plus, it stars two of the hottest actors in Hollywood: Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman.  Zombies and dolls and aliens don't scare me one single bit; it has to be something that could feasibly happen to me to get me really spooked.  The Strangers is about a couple who, after breaking up at a wedding reception, come home to a country house, only to be tortured by three deranged killers in horrifying masks.  And what makes it even better?  It's based on a true story.  Yikes.

Tell me about your Halloween!!