COLUMNISTS
ERIC PARIS WHITFIELD
Resident Poet, author of "Paris' Poetry Corner"
Eric Paris Whitfield is team leader at the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center, supervised under the Queers for Justice Director Alisha Kohn. Paris is also a member of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project's Prison Advisory Committee, an Inside/Outside Coalition member (formerly NYC's No New Jails, an Empowerment Avenue writer, a National Writers Union member, and an incarcerated citizen. Paris recently graduated from Bard College with the thesis “Feminist Theory, NYC Black LGBTQ+ Youth, & the Complexities of Intersectionality: Finding Autonomy in Heteronormalcy and Racism.” Paris continues to mentor other students.
Paris' poetry has been widely published most recently by Tufts University for their New National Literary Arts Journal entitled "Resentencing Journal".
CONTRIBUTORS
SARA G. KIELLY
"When you're told to sit down and shut up, grab the torch that is your tongue and light the world on fire!"
Sars G. Kielly is a 33-year-old Irish American transgender woman incarcerated at Bedford Hills CF. She is a tireless, forward-thinking and passionate jailhouse lawyer who has never stopped fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ and incarcerated communities.
Miss Kielly has written for the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the National Lawyer's Guild as well as an advice column for the Prisoners' Correspondence Project in Montreal. In 2018 The New York Daily News published her piece "Trans Woman's Hell in State Prison" in their "Voice of the People" section.
Miss Kielly is currently attending Marymount Manhattan College earning her degree in Politics and Human Rights. She is also learning to play the violin and write music through a "rehabilitation through the arts" course. Miss Kielly is working on her memoir and dreams of going to law school one day.
DANA "GEE" GIBSON
Gee Gibson is a Black, Jamaican American transgender woman originally from Brooklyn, NY but currently incarcerated. Gee uses she/her pronouns. Professionally, she is a member of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project's Prison Advisory Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Lawyer's Guild.
Using her knowledge and understanding of civil rights law she has advocated for transgender rights in prison as well as religious freedoms. Her work has helped many to observe their religious faith while in solitary confinement. Aside from her advocacy work, she enjoys history books and writing poems.
IDA DEEDEE DIMARCO
Ida DeeDee DiMarco is a Hawaiian/Sicilian transgender female serving a 55 years to Life sentence who uses she/her pronouns. She is a jailhouse lawyer, writer, and advocate specifically for the TGNCNBI people but assists whomever is in need; especially those seeking release from prison.
She educates her peers on transgender issues and health care as well as navigating the bureaucratic webs of the prison system and challenging departmental discrimination and illegal practices. Ida also writes quarterly essays on TGNCNBI issues, prison reform, State law affecting TGNCNBI people in and out of prison, her personal experiences and transition journey. These essays are sent, via emails, to organizations and individuals that are connected to promoting and bringing about progressive and positive change for all peoples.
Ida is slated to return to college in the Spring to pursue her Masters and is currently awaiting the prison's paralegal course so she can work in the prison law library in order to be more accessible and better advocate for her peers. She spends her time out doors and listens to music to find her inner peace as she constantly seeks a legal solution to coming home.