And with that, the idea for A New Way of Life Reentry Project was born. In this episode of 'LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez,' Burton describes her astonishment when she realized programs like the one she participated in were not available everywhere in Los Angeles.

She got sober, went to therapy and was able to rebuild her relationship with her daughter.

Incredibly, Burton overcame her past and broke the cycle of incarceration after finding help at the former CLARE Foundation in Santa Monica. I was incarcerated over and over and over again. 'I began to try to smother it with drugs just to escape the hurting, the depression, the pain, the loss,' she said. In and out of prison for years, she muscled through life the best she could, but it was the loss of her only son that was too much to bear. Listen at the top of this page or on your favorite podcast app: 🎧 Hear the LA Stories: Unfiltered podcast version of this interview Eventually, she gave birth to her son, Marquee, or 'K.K.' Having never properly processed the trauma she experienced growing up, Burton fell into a life of drugs and prostitution. Just a few years later, she said an elderly neighbor did the same thing.Īt 14, she was left pregnant after another brutal rape and gave birth to a daughter before she could legally drive. At the tender age of 4, one of her aunt's boyfriends sexually assaulted her. This book is part of the 2020 Berkeley Summer Reading List.Born and raised in South Los Angeles, life was not easy for Susan Burton. Eventually establishing a foundation, A New Way of Life, Burton’s advocacy work challenges the current criminal justice system and the institutional and societal forces that lead women into a cycle of mass incarceration. These homes provided traditional re-entry services for women recently released from prison but, more importantly, provided emotional support and community. Overcoming incredible odds, Burton went on to eventually create several homes where formerly incarcerated women could live in safety and be reunited with their children. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Womenīurton, Susan, Cari Lynn, and Michelle Alexanderįor Sue Burton, it was a vicious cycle of poverty, racism, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, drug addiction, depression, and, most tragically, the death of her 5-year-old son that led to a total of six imprisonments over the course of 15 years.

Becoming susan burton