Chicago, IL—(ENEWSPF)—May 8, 2015. The Illinois Department of Corrections estimates that 80-85% of incarcerated women are mothers of minor children. That means a whole lot of moms will visit their kids inside jail or prison this Mother’s Day. Given the many barriers to visitation, many moms never receive a visit from their kids, a painful and personal reminder that incarceration disappears people, sometimes permanently. For that reason, a group of formerly incarcerated moms, and moms who have lost children to incarceration and other forms of state violence, will be holding a Mother’s Day vigil this Saturday, May 9 beginning at 11:15 a.m. right across from Cook County Jail Division 17 (27th & California by the grass median), which houses women who are pregnant and also women who are struggling with trauma, including mental illness and addiction. Organizers insist that this year mothers will not be forgotten behind those walls, rather they will be honored. Furthermore, they will insist that survival is not a crime.
