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 Freeing TammyJody Raphael (2007) Conventional wisdom, at least in feminist circles, holds that "the personal is political." But far too often, the personal serves as mass-market entertainment. We bear witness to heartbreaking stories of the reality TV variety, but our storytellers do not connect the dots, linking the individual suffering we see to the public policies that represent, sometimes damningly, our will as a people. If it is true that we live in a culture that embraces stories devoid of political challenge, then Freeing Tammy, written by DePaul University scholar Jody Raphael, is truly counter-cultural. The story of Tammy Johnson -- a formerly incarcerated woman who now works as the job development trainer for a drug treatment program in suburban Chicago -- chronicles the detrimental effects of imprisonment on an already abused woman. Tammy, now in her fifties, was raised in a middle-class family, leaving home early because she could not live up to familial expectations. After enduring abuse, and turning to drugs and then non-violent crime, she was convicted of dealing and sentenced to prison. This book, the third in Raphael's trilogy about Chicago women, chronicles Tammy's life in prison while exploring the childhood sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction and crime that led her there. But Raphael goes a step further, challenging both the humanity and effectiveness of incarcerating poor and abused women who have committed non-violent crimes. While the treatment Tammy endured while in prison is indeed shocking, what truly amazes is her voice: this is a woman speaking truth to power, perpetrator and at times even her self. Peter Edelman of Georgetown University Law Center has called Freeing Tammy "part great journalism, part thorough research." It is also the most powerful of personal stories, where one encounters a courageous, all-too-human woman – Tammy Johnson -- whose experiences not only move us, but demand of us. The beauty of Raphael's work is that it illuminates problems, and calls us to act upon them. The wonder of Raphael's work is that it would not exist were it not for the courage of Tammy Johnson, who chose to share her story with Raphael and, by extension, with all of us. |