2022 Citizens and Democracy Week Panel

As a part of Citizens and Democracy week, the Center for the Study and Support of Children and Families of the Incarcerated will host a panel discussion on working with Children and Families of the Incarcerated.

Frontlines: Working with Children and Families of the Incarcerated.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 7pm

Panelists:

Bekky Baker is the Program Manager for the Death Penalty and Peace & Nonviolence at Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center. Bekky has a BS in Journalism with minors in Environmental Studies and Geography from Ohio University and a Masters of Social Work from the University of South Carolina. She is an AmeriCorps alum who spent years working in Appalachian Ohio at a nonprofit creating local food access and fighting for food justice and then expanded her advocacy and community organizing skills with Save the Children Action Network, working to secure funding for early childhood education programs. Bekky has experience working with marginalized communities and families facing incarceration from working directly with families in foster care and as a school social worker in Price Hill. Currently, she organizes a pen pal program for people on death row and advocates for ending the death penalty in Ohio.

Dominque Jones-Johnson is the child of an incarcerated parent, an advocate for kids with incarcerated parents and the founder of Daughters Beyond Incarceration and Parenting from Prison. A native of New Orleans, Dominque is an expert on trauma due to parental incarceration. She is dedicated to educating communities on best practices for shifting paradigms and creating safe and supportive environments for children living with an incarcerated parent (CIP’s), to decrease trauma related stress and anxiety and nurture success. Often called upon to speak on panels, Dominque uses platforms available to her to raise the consciousness of public on the hardships CIPs live with. She has been featured in Gambit Weekly, NBS News, Dateline, and Sight Magazine to list a few. In 2007, "When are you coming home: AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY CONFRONTING THE ISSUES INVOLVING CHILDREN WITH INCARCERATED PARENTS AND HOW TO BREAK THE CYCLE," was published in Loyola's Law Review. Mrs. Johnson is a fellow of the Youth Justice Leadership Institute; Power Coalition She Leads and Citizen She- She Shows Up and was recently awarded City Business Women of the Year.  Dominque is a graduate of Warren Easton Sr. High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Alabama State University on a full track and field scholarship and, a Master's in Human Resource Education with a specialization in organizational leadership from LSU.

Kehaulani Walker is the founder of FOTi Families of the Incarcerated.  Since 2016 Kehaulani and her leadership team have joined thousands of families across the nation to build trust and unity by forming over 37 FB pages for support.  As a wife of an incarcerated individual that is currently housed in WA, Kehaulani strives to empower communities that are impacted by incarceration by bringing awareness to the unjust justice system. She advocates for proper rehabilitation, for the civil rights of individuals affected by imprisonment, for holding doc accountable to current policy, for abolishing solitary confinement, and being a voice for ending the stigma of incarceration.

Kehaulani has partnered with Via Path Technologies to create a new smartphone application to help families and friends navigate the judicial journey. Kehaulani is building a website that will be a “One Stop Shop” of resources for anyone impacted by incarceration. The two platforms are scheduled to launch by the end of 2022.

Register

Contact Yvette R. Harris harrisyr@miamioh.edu for additional information