A special appeal for incarcerated moms
Lore wrote to us on Mother’s Day, to share a vivid story of life on the women’s unit at FDC Philadelphia, and to ask for your help in supporting all of the moms who live there. She also introduced us to one very special mom whom we all should know and love and hold in the light.
Hi everyone! <3
I wrote something about one of my favorite mommas I have met here to share with you all in honor of mother's day. I have been lucky enough to have a mom I look up to, who is too humble to admit to being the idol to me she truly is. She is the perfect mother to me, living the meaning every day, and I miss her very much.
The majority of people here are parents. When I first got here, I was asked “do you have any kids?” more often than I was asked “what are you in for?” Okay, probably because my picture was all over the news, but still, you get what I mean!
Prison life exists in a black box for the most part, and most of the press that incarcerated folk get is skewed negatively. After all, how could a moral, just, and forgiving society put someone behind bars or sentence them to death if they weren't deemed monsters, incapable of functioning in society? I would like to spotlight people for the individuals they are — people who bear wild kindness and generosity, and are separated from their vibrant lives but still find ways to shine.
Some backstory
This past Tuesday, May 4th, the captain conducted a shakedown on the women's unit. The purpose and objective of a shakedown is to remove contraband. However, what happened was punishing, humiliating, and treacherous instead. We were removed from the cells into the recreation yard where we remained for hours. A nurse came by to administer morning medication and insulin to the inmates and diabetic folk but was turned away, leaving those folk without their morning medicine. Something felt wrong as the day got later and more staff members participated in the shakedown. It should be over by now.
The rec yard looks out to the doors exiting the unit so we saw exactly what was in the dumpster bins they rolled out: trash bags filled with stuffed animals, booties, and blankets went past to the women's horror. These were the knitting and crocheting projects that they had been working on to send home for mother's day to their kids and/or moms. The supplies were all bought on commissary or came from the prisons that the women were transferred from but were allowed to have.
This really hurt all the people here. When people were later called individually to claim their “contraband,” they were forced to either throw out the gifts themselves or watch an officer do it.
Many of us found water and chemicals thrown on our property. For myself, all my letters and pictures were taken out of the locker, put on the floor, and I found every page soaked through with water and some photos torn up. This was a rough lead up to mother's day, as many people's gifts and yarn were tossed out.
As we do, we comfort each other. As we do, we find things to still be grateful for. I am immensely grateful for you all, and for the opportunity I have to share with you about my pal below:
"A really good heart." "Not trying to copy, but yes, a really big heart."
In a room of more than 12 of her peers, Tessicar Jumpp ("Tess") listened with the humility that we have come to know her by, as we shared our favorite things about her. Today is her birthday. Today we celebrate her. She's an Aquarius. I started the round-table of joyful reflections about Tess: "She's got this laugh. Not her day-to-day laugh. She's got this really special laugh that's like winning the lottery when I hear it. It is a deep, down-to-your-soul kind of laughter. You can't miss it. And boy, does she know how to make me laugh too."
"No one has a single bad word to say about her." Let me tell you, that's next to impossible to find. Someone can have a problem with the way you sneeze or the way you fold your clothes in here! Really, it's not hard to get a bad review. Out of all possible compliments that says the most about her, the woman, the momma, the sister, the wife, the daughter, who we have come to know. We are all hurting in here, it's common to see people take their pain out on others. Every day we "wake up on the wrong side of the bed" because we wake up without our families within reach.
Or in Tess’s case, more than an ocean away. Due to a 2016 treaty that the USA made with Jamaica, Jamaican people who are found guilty of a crime committed here in the USA can be taken into American custody to serve all of their time. They are not eligible to do programs or go to camps and lower security prisons where most incarcerated folk with non-violent crimes do their time. She is here, in the detention center where folks are often placed after getting kicked out of one place or another, a place that offers no job skill training. She cannot do any programs that US citizens convicted of the same exact crime can do to help her time go faster, because of the treaty.
Tess has seen her husband for a total of two hours on two visits since March of 2020, when visits to the FDC were shut down. He contracted Covid-19 along the way to the USA and missed the first month of visiting her. She was granted an extended visit with her husband by the warden, but a lower staff member denied it, despite allowing the same thing for someone who is white and the heir to a 100 million dollar company. (Yes, you read that right.) The exception was revoked for Tess’s husband despite his extraordinary travel circumstances.
Every day she persists despite this infertile soil. Every day she hopes despite historical suppression. Every day she shatters the stereotypes and the stylized caricature of a prisoner as she is simply, unapologetically herself. But she is missing a part of her whole self here. When she laughs, I see the more complete picture: generations of her family sitting around a birthday meal as we did, in a way only families can do, reminding you of who you are and how much you bring to the table.
"She is passionate, she stands by her opinions." My first memory of Tess is a woman full of conviction, who laid down a faith so convincing that I had no choice but to pick my chin up. She did not know me, but she approached me, listened to me and moved me with her wisdom and expressiveness. Her words reminded me that while I am physically separated from my family, the spiritual connection remains and can only grow stronger. There are things that the feds can never take away.
She has anything but a quiet mind. When Tess has an opinion to share, you *will* hear her out! :) I am honored to be in attendance to such a truth-seeking mind. She has so much to teach her daughters about grace, confidence, and determination. She has lessons on how to be humble: she blushes magenta as we spoke our truths about her, to her. She cooked all the food for her own birthday party, including something vegan for me. That is who she is. She does not want to leave anyone out.
If I am seeking her, I will find her knitting something for her kids, picking through her first-aid kit to salve someone's wound, singing her own arrangements of popular songs super loudly, and her own talk-version of raps songs. Tess has the kind of spirit you want to follow. Since this is the way she is while incarcerated, imagine how excellent she is with all the resources available to a free woman, with those who know her best, with her family who love and know her by her side.
Tess knows shelter, she knows suffering, she knows forgiveness. She is shocking and soothing in her compassion. She is startling in her beauty—I hope she knows this. And if she ever forgets, I'll remind her.
<3
If you were planning on sending me any books, please send to Tess instead. If you would like to send her a mother's day card, or any commissary money that you were going to donate to me, this is her info:
Tessicar "Tess" Jumpp #92202083
Federal Detention Center-Philadelphia
PO Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Book requests: James Patterson, Carl Webber, Stephanie Meyer, John Grisham. Genres: urban, suspense, romance, educational, inspiration, Christian-based.
How to help the mommas on the women’s unit
Send children’s books! We are allowed to mail personal property home, hence all the crochet and knitted projects that were worked on for mother's day. Since books can be mailed, women here would appreciate books for all ages that they can mail home, hardback is okay! Send them to me and they will reach a momma. Requests: stories about Black/African-American Girls. Subjects for ages three and up: fashion, baking, princess, dolls, Peppa Pig, unicorns.
Books must be mailed directly from the seller [we recommend Powell’s] to:
Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal #70002-066
Federal Detention Center-Philadelphia
PO Box 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105
Or share this with a close friend! Please don't feel pressured to help if you cannot. Sharing is the best. Information is queen!
love love love!!
lore