I’m Mona- she, her, ella. First, I’d like to thank Admin, CRM, and all of our special guests, and families on Zoom.
Think back, ya’ll. Our first class was on January 15th, 2026 and look at us now! Eight months later and still going strong! For me and Lizzy, being a part of this special group was not only to be around Niki- and getting to know the new Niki (cause we knew the old Niki!)- and to have the opportunity to see how much she has grown and become such an inspiration to not just me and Lizzy but to US ALL! Also, to see what Sister Warriors is all about as everyone I grew up with in prison has become a part of Sister Warriors since they’ve paroled.
In our first group, we were told that we would be doing some kind of research project that affects us as a whole here in CIW. This would be our own CIW movement and this intrigued me even more. Coming together and utilizing our experiences, brainstorming, and researching by collecting data made me feel so empowered. As groups went on, our time was getting closer and closer on picking a specific topic and as a team, we had to come together and decide what we would actually do research on and collect data from. Of course, we as women have a lot to say, especially when it came to CIW and how things could be better and realistic along with (more) humane.
Unfortunately, on 4/29/26, our dear, beautiful, and forever in our hearts friend, Tamara passed away. In our next group (meeting) after her passing, it was still fresh and was pretty heavy, upsetting, and realistic that this was real and that Tamara was no longer with us physically. I saw how Tamara impacted every person sitting at our table. She wasn’t just my friend, she has so many friends and we all have our special nicknames! There was a heavy cloud of sadness, hurt, and pain in all of us by losing our one and only Tamara Hinkle AKA Long Hair. For us all, sadness brought strength and diligence along with a louder voice to be heard. Tamara was IT! She became our reason for what we were researching and collecting data on. We focused on Mental Health and how Mental Health concerns had been addressed in our community. How we could help CIW be better, with each one of us, as each one of us are special and unique in each way, and deserving to accept help and not be judged by categorizing ourselves CCCMS (Correctional Clinical Case Management System). We were honored to have Dr. Julisa come in and have the opportunity to learn about Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR).
Which in a short summary is:
Critical– Focuses intentionally on questions of Power, Justice, and uses critical perspectives and theories to frame an issue being studied.
Participatory- stands for deep participation by researchers, including those most impacted by the issue being studied.
Action- Links research with action, using creative ways to share research with an audience, such as policy makers and public forums.
Research- Still committed to systematic inquiry – Quantitative and Qualitative mixed methods centered in the perspectives of the most silenced.
Dr. Julisa shared with us different ways to collect our research and we as a team chose
1) Platîcás (having a small chat with someone while we take a walk).
2) Surveys ( which we made up our own questions to the survey).
3) Our personal experience with Mental Health.
When I first came to prison, there was such a stigma with Mental Health and how it was basically frowned upon if you needed Mental Health or were a part of the Mental Health program- “CCCMS”. Today, Mental Health has come a long way but there is always need for improvement- cause Tamara suffered from Mental Health and everyone knew this. Our focus was to honor Tamara’s struggle and we did exactly that. We came together as sisters, leaders, and most of all game-changers. Our next step is to obtain our freedom, put on some Sister Warriors swag, get our “freedom” tattoo, gather our Sister Warriors and make some changes with them at the Capitol!
Thank you, Sister Warriors!