A Labor of Livingness
A Labor of Livingness highlights Black women's carceral narratives, challenging their exclusion from incarceration discourse.
About The Book
Table of Contents
About The Author
How do formerly incarcerated Black women’s oral histories reshape our understanding of incarceration and resistance?
A Labor of Livingness: Oral Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women by Robin McGinty is a public-facing, community-based work rooted in the Black freedom struggle. It explores the political subjectivity of formerly incarcerated Black women beyond linear time, revealing the complexities of the ‘living prison’ experience. Their oral histories challenge singular narratives, reflecting historical violences and Black indigenous knowledge systems of refusal. This project highlights incarceration as a continuum rather than an event, centering the lived realities of Black women within and against the carceral state.
Ideal for scholars, activists, policymakers, and members of Incarceration Nations Network seeking critical insights into carceral histories, systemic oppression, and Black feminist resistance.
How do formerly incarcerated Black women’s oral histories reshape our understanding of incarceration and resistance?
A Labor of Livingness: Oral Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women by Robin McGinty is a public-facing, community-based work rooted in the Black freedom struggle. It explores the political subjectivity of formerly incarcerated Black women beyond linear time, revealing the complexities of the ‘living prison’ experience. Their oral histories challenge singular narratives, reflecting historical violences and Black indigenous knowledge systems of refusal. This project highlights incarceration as a continuum rather than an event, centering the lived realities of Black women within and against the carceral state.
Ideal for scholars, activists, policymakers, and members of Incarceration Nations Network seeking critical insights into carceral histories, systemic oppression, and Black feminist resistance.
- Cover
- Half-Title Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Copyright Page
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Contents
- Learning Objectives
- Foreword
- Part 1
- “A Labor of Livingness: Oral Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women”
- Prologue
- Introduction: “A Labor of Livingness: Oral Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women”
- “Labors of Livingness”
- “A Labor of Livingness: Oral Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women”
- Part 2
- 1 Russelle ‘Rusti’ Miller-Hill
- Rusti
- Living Prison
- Conditions of Confinement
- Pickin’ Up The Broken
- Making Meaning
- 2 Selina Fulford
- Selina
- Albion: Far Beyond
- Care, Custody, and Control
- Breakin’ the Chains
- Generations
- Freedom Ain’t Free
- 3 Laurie Lunn
- Laurie
- Freedom is a Secret
- Jailin’
- Freedom Dreams
- Paradigms of Self-Regard
- If Black Women Were Free…
- 1 Russelle ‘Rusti’ Miller-Hill
- Part 3
- Conclusion: Carceral Geographies
- Ecologies of Carcerality
- Conclusion: Carceral Geographies
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Recommended Readings & Materials
Robin McGinty, PhD, is a scholar-activist exploring racialized, gendered carceral spaces and serves as a policy advisor in NYC.
