Jennifer Rhodes

A speech written by Jennifer Rhodes for a 2024 PA conference hosted by the Abolitionist Law Center:

 “Hello advocates, angels, supporters and all guests!  It is said that the greatest gift that we can give each other is attention to one another's existence…freedom, struggle, freedom’s cry, voice of the incarcerated woman sentenced to the state without parole.  We cling to that ole’ cliché - this too shall pass - so we thought - so they say. 

We are mothers, daughters, grandmothers, we are sisters and aunties; an act of mercy is our only hope an act of mercy from you… We carry decades of wisdom, education, and assets…we only seek restorative justice – isn't that what rehabilitation was meant to do?
Mercy is our cry, mercy is our plea, is this too much to ask? Just how long, how long must this punishment last? Mercy is our cry, mercy is our plea – your mercy is our only key.

It is a jungle in these units, too much stress and danger for the frail and elderly…I’d like to express how psychologically deafening it is to be rehabilitated and take full responsibility for crimes against god and society while having meaningful goals and assets to offer to society…yet we are being denied a second chance to become a tax paying citizen, instead of a tax burden to society… We are not the same women who came here decades ago. I pray for the day I'm afforded the opportunity to be considered and seen by the parole board…

My name is Jennifer Rhodes. I am a 65-year-old mother of three children. I have been serving  L.W.O.P. (life without parole) since 1990.  My children were 6, 11, and 13 at the time. They are now 40, 45, and 47 years old.  Reports over the years have estimated 80-85% of children with an incarcerated mother end up themselves incarcerated. Unfortunately, I know this is a fact because all three of my children have been incarcerated. They had no one to turn to and nowhere to go. They suffered abandonment issues, emotional trauma, peer pressure, and humiliation. 

Granted mercy, I would like to open an after-school non-profit program called "Girls Just Like Us" for the young girls whose mothers are incarcerated…this will be a safe haven where the girls’ shame, humiliation and abandonment issues will begin to be recognized and the healing process can begin… 

 More community awareness is needed for these young girls. They need a place of validation, healing, and somewhere to break this cycle! Prison is a polluted, restricted, isolated, sealed, ongoing nightmare. 

In closing, I’d like to thank you for your support and attention to our existence.”  Jennifer Rhodes, artist