During her recent visit at Tulane, Jackie Sumell addressed the breaking down of racial binaries and her work with Herman’s House in her lecture “I Wish the Indians Won: The Radical Practice of Dissolving Racial Binaries.” Earlier this month, her work with Herman’s House ultimately aided Herman Wallace – a member of the Angola Three, a group of three prison inmates held in solitary confinement in Angola Prison – and his release. Wallace had spent 40 years in confinement. He passed away three days after regaining his freedom. Sumell now plans to continue her work with Herman’s House in order to construct a home in his honor.

Check out this great article by Jason Ryan on Sumell, her life, and her work:

The status quo depresses Sumell, too. Ask her what’s wrong with America’s prison systems and she’ll bemoan the lack of restorative justice, which is designed, through the guidance of experts, to promote a reconciliation between victims and perpetrators that allows lives to move forward following a crime. She’ll rage against the prison industrial complex, in which business interests – whether companies that build and operate prisons or manufacturers who use prison labor – are aligned with high incarceration rates and a lack of prisoner rights. What grieves Sumell most, however, is what affected her friend Wallace in Angola prison as well as tens of thousands of other prisoners each year: the widespread use of long-term solitary confinement.

For more information on Sumell and the fight against solitary confinement, check out our “inspired-by-jackie-sumell” tag!