Beyond Bars Re-Entry Program For Women

We are SO proud that this film has helped promote the need for support for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women! Please donate here: https://www.paypal.com/US/fundraiser/charity/1237704

What an amazing night! The premier of BEYOND BARS: Prison Women Speak was an astounding success at the 2023 Honolulu African American Film Festival at the Doris Duke Theatre in the Honolulu Museum of Art. The theatre was full of remarkable people from O`ahu, Maui, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and even Ukraine - who all care about the incarceration of women in America. Distinguished guests included Supreme Court Justice Michael Wilson, Senator Michelle Kidani, Judge Bevanne Bower, former UH Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, William S. Richardson School of Law and Co-Director of the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project Ken Lawson, and so many other remarkable individuals. The film and program was sponsored by the nonprofit Tahirih Association https://tahirihassociation.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/tahirihassociation and featured interviews with five incarcerated women who told their stories in their own voices. The panel that followed welcomed two of them, Momilani Cody and Zoe O'Brien, who are now free and fulfilling their dreams of a better life. Attorney Leslee Matthews also joined them along with me. I am humbled by the support and love that permeated the room of activists for humanity!

Did you know that the number of women incarcerated in the United States has skyrocketed in the last four decades, increasing 700% in 40 years. In 2018, Hawaiʻi had an incarceration rate of 439 per 100,000 people. Over 75% of the state’s incarcerated women are mothers, and many have substance abuse problems. 40% are Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and 60% are victims of childhood physical, mental, and sexual abuse. This is a critical matter. Join us on Saturday February 18 to find out more!