Hi Everyone,
 
In way of wrapping up our discussion, first, I want to thank Daphne for asking me to be this week's guest discussant.  Second, I want to thank everyone who participated both actively and those who participated simply by reading my words and the words of others.  In other words, hello to all my fellow "lurkers".  After this week, though, I don't think I will ever be able to go back to my role of lurker.  You have all engaged with my thoughts, made me think harder, reminded me of why it is that I do the work that I do, and immensely expanded my knowledge of both what is happening in the field and all of the resources out there.  Thank you all for that.  
 
I also think our discussions about Lily's case was a beautiful reminder to me of exactly the bars, barriers, and boundaries I face in researching and working with women student-inmates.  While to me they will always be women and students, to others they will always be viewed first as inmates regardless of whether or not they are guilty of their alleged crimes.  I fear it is easier to stigmatize those who stand accused rather than to believe that a system designed to protect us and be just could ever actually be unjust.  I think it is a myth (or maybe it too is a spell) to believe that the system or process of "truth, justice for all" is currently operating here in the U.S.  Although, I do think it is an ideal worth continuing to strive for.   
 
I wish everyone well in their continued work.  I think we all agree that this is such important work, and I'm so glad to know that there are colleagues out there who are on this fabulous rollercoaster along with me.  I look forward to the continued discussions on this listserv.
 
Warmly and respectfully,
 
Dominique
 
"I choose to identify with the underprivileged.
I choose to identify with the poor.
I choose to give my life for the hungry.
I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity.  
I choose to live for those who find themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit sign.
This is the way I'm going.
If it means suffering a little bit, I'm going that way.
If it means sacrificing for them, I'm going that way.
If it means dying for them, I'm going that way, because I heard a voice saying, 'Do something for others.' "  --Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
"True, the court punished you when you were sent here.  But that is in the past.  What matters now is education for the future.  Here you are a student, not a prisoner.  If you will, you can help to make this a better place.  In making your contribution to help others who are sharing this experience with you, you will find this time worthwhile.  You have our good wishes."
  --Handbook for the Newcomer to Framingham--distributed to women inmates upon arriving at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women at Framingham.  The Handbook was in use during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.
 
"According to its ideal, a democracy wishes to save every human being.  There is to be no scrap heap.  No one is to be cast aside; no one is to be defeated."  --a very wise student inmate writing in 1940 while she was imprisoned at the Reformatory for Women in Framingham, Massachusetts.  
  
 
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