Hello friends,
Shirley here. Judy, Mae, Lina and I are pursuing a story that will tell the struggle that Native American women face in the criminal justice system and the transition out of prison. We’ve been in contact with Trish Jordan, the executive director of Red Lodge Transitional Services, who is passionate about reducing recidivism within the Native American community. Red Lodge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer-based organization based out of Portland.
On Friday evening, we had the chance to talk with her over Skype. Whether we were learning about the misrepresented Native American population in prisons or success stories resulting from Red Lodge, Trish provided us more information than we could have asked for. However, we realized we needed to educate ourselves more thoroughly on Native American history.
In the meanwhile, Trish is putting together a list of people who would be willing to tell us their story. She also invited us to visit the prison, which is more than we could’ve asked for. There will be a lot of legal paperwork involved in being able to film at the facility, and we’re willing to do it all to tell the full story. We are open to tell the story of a current inmate going through the transition process, but also would be willing to tell a success story.
There are many possibilities of where we could go with the story, but for now, we’re open-minded to where this will take us. To say we’re excited about this story would be an understatement.
Until next time,
Shirley
