On Saturday, March 15, Piper Kerman, the real-life version of fictional blonde and perky Piper Chapman, will appear on a panel, “Sentenced to Change” at the Brooklyn Museum as a part of the three-part series open to the public, “States of Denial: The Illegal Incarceration of Women, Children, and People of Color.”
Kerman, author of the memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, the basis for the Netflix series we all binged watch in one sitting, will lead a conversation among an inspiring group of formerly incarcerated women.
Other panelists who have initiated criminal justice reform include Steeda McGruder, founder of Sisters That Been There; Vivian Nixon, Executive Director of the College and Community Fellowship at CUNY; and Tina Reynolds, founder of Women On the Rise Telling Her Story (WORTH) and a leader of the national reproductive justice campaign, Birthing Behind Bars.
“Sentenced to Change” will explore the effects prison has on women during and after incarceration. Though OITNB is popular among fans for being funny, sexy, and shocking, the show has truly brought a new focus on incarceration and life for those who have been convicted. The panel may not be as bubbly as that fictional “These are just like TOMs” Piper Chapman, but it promises to be informative and thought provoking.
The 3:30pm panel is free with the cost of admission, which is a suggested donation of $12, $10 for students or “students”