From:
SHAREE MILLER
Date:
9/20/2023 8:10:35 PM






Attachments:






________________




I am so excited to hear from you and o be involved with JLI. Yes, I would love to be a part of your feminist circle! thank you so rmuch for sending me the notes from your previous circle. I completely enjoyed reading everyone's view points and experiences.
It feels so good to be involved with something so meaningful. I appreciate your letters and including me.

Being incarcerated we often forget that we are more then a last name or number. we are stripped from our voices, womanhood and all that stands for. Most of our incarceration is reminding us of our past bad choice or mistake, not helping us become who we are and living our purpose. We forget that we are important, that we matter, and that even from behind these walls we have a purpose.

I am blessed because when the voices here get to loud and I begin to forget that I am much more then a number, I call home and she reminds me of who I really am.

Behind these walls sometimes they try to make you feel like you are lower then them, less important, you don't matter, your voice is silenced. One day, quite a while ago, it was really getting to me. I was listening to them, believing that I did not matter anymore. that my thoughts, views, hopes and dreams didn't matter anymore. That's when I I called home and Terri said

"Obama is the President, respect his position, and understand that he is just a man equal to you."

Throughout the years when the administration here has tried to make me feel less than because of the choices I made to wear the clothes I now have on, or that my voice is not important, I replace Obama's name with theirs;
Warden [redacted] is the Warden of [redacted]. I respect his position and knowledge, however he is not above or beneath me, we are equal.

Understanding that I am not my past has helped me become who I was always suppose to be. I look at nobody as beneath or above me. Everyone is strong in their purpose. Their knowledge may be different then mine, stronger in some areas and weaker in others. we all can learn from one another, even from behind these walls.

In here we have to continually fight to remember who we really are. it took me many years to stop letting other people define who I am.

I am so excited to be a part of this vision, learning and sharing. Thank you for including me.