This week: DNTO heads behind bars
Our country's prison population is at its highest level ever, despite the fact that the crime rates have decreased for two decades. Right now, there are more than 15,000 inmates in federal prisons. Today we'll hear from a few who have lots to say about the ways their experiences in prison change them.
Originally aired January 24, 2015
Today we bring you a seldom seen glimpse of what life is like incarcerated in a Canadian prison.
Our country's prison population is at its highest level ever, despite the fact that the crime rates have decreased for two decades. Right now, there are more than 15,000 inmates in federal prisons. That's a lot of people we don't usually hear from. But today we'll hear from a few who have much to say about the ways their experiences in prison change them.
Sharon Jones is a Grammy nominated R&B singer known for her big, sultry voice and boisterous live shows with her band The Dap-Kings. But before her rise to fame, Sharon worked as a prison guard in a notorious men's prison in Queens, New York. Thing was -- she was singing in there too.
Today we bring you a seldom seen glimpse of what life is like incarcerated in a Canadian prison.
Our country's prison population is at its highest level ever, despite the fact that the crime rates have decreased for two decades. Right now, there are more than 15,000 inmates in federal prisons. That's a lot of people we don't usually hear from. But today we'll hear from a few who have much to say about the ways their experiences in prison change them.
Sharon Jones is a Grammy nominated R&B singer known for her big, sultry voice and boisterous live shows with her band The Dap-Kings. But before her rise to fame, Sharon worked as a prison guard in a notorious men's prison in Queens, New York. Thing was -- she was singing in there too.
In 2006 BobbyLee Worm went to prison on assault and robbery charges. After she was involved in a gang-related fight with another inmate, she was put in solitary confinement... where she was kept for over three and a half years. BobbyLee is now an activist, working to change the practice of solitary confinement.
With degrees in both theatre and psychology, Nicola St. John can usually talk her way out of any crisis. But the actor turned real estate agent found herself at a loss for words when she got arrested for something she didn't do.
In 2013, Glory Anawa came to Canada seeking refuge from the threat of genital mutilation in her home country of Cameroon. Instead, she was placed in a immigrant detention centre where she's been ever since. Glory was pregnant when she arrived and gave birth in the detention centre 16 months ago. She is one of many migrants held indefinitely in detention centres and provincial jails.
Cody Carter-Squires was sent to a holding cell when he was just four years old. He and his mom Kim vividly recall the crime that led to him "doing time."
In 2004, Sook-Yin headed to the Labrador Correction Facility in Happy Valley, Goose Bay where she met carver and inmate Jacko Jararuse.
Annie Burchard used to have a very distinct style: tattoos, bright red hair in a poofy pompadour and a rockabilly sensibility to her clothes. But when she was incarcerated in a county jail in San Diego for two years, she found that no haircutting is allowed, and makeup is limited. So Annie and other inmates created their own concoctions using coffee, pencil crayons, ink from newspapers and Kool-Aid.
When a prison riot happens in Canada, authorities put the jail into lockdown. Then, they invite government-appointed citizen observers to check things out. We'll hear former citizen observer Bobbi Taillefer's tension-filled story of her first lockdown visit, at four o'clock one morning.
When Winnipegger Moe Thiessen roadtripped to the annual tubing festival in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, the last thing he expected was to end up in a state penitentiary -- wearing nothing but his swim trunks.
Halifax Poet Laureate El Jones often works with prisoners, and she introduced us to the poetry of three young inmates. Their poems were originally aired on the radio show Under the Umbrella of iMOVe which stands for (In My Own Voice). To hear a radio doc about inmate poet Aidan Cromwell, click here.
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Retreat"
Purity Ring - "Push Pull"
Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Bird on a Wire"
Hannah Georgas - "Waiting Game"
Glorious Sons - "Mama"
Pros and Cons in Kingston Pen - "Silent Eyes"
Wanda Jackson - "Let's Have a Party"
Beams - "Black Shadow"
Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock"
Joel Plaskett - "The Park Avenue Sobriety Test"
Main photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr