What Happened to Mommy?

What does healing the trauma of incarceration look like? For Aniah and her family, it has looked like years of storytelling and reconnecting across differences. In the fourth and final episode of What Happened to Mommy, Stephanie unpacks how the label “convicted felon” has continued to follow her since her release from prison limiting her ability to find employment and provide stability for her children. By embracing vulnerability, Aniah and her mother offer each other space to understand how their individual experiences influence how they can show up in their relationship with each other. With understanding and love, Aniah sets out on a bold mission to offer peace to herself, her siblings, and her mother. 

The United States carceral system is a system that separates and isolates mothers from their children at alarming rates. The task of maintaining a close relationship with one's children while in prison may seem impossible to some, but for the millions of mothers who have been incarcerated, it is a task that they would do anything to complete. In this episode of What Happened to Mommy? Aniah explores the different ways motherhood changes when incarceration comes into the picture. She unpacks the difficulties of being in a mother-child relationship when you can only connect through letter writing, phone calls, and irregular visitations. This episode explores how trauma from their separation continues to impact their relationship today and imagines what can become possible when Aniah and her family begin to heal their wounds.  Written & produced by: Aniah H. Washington, With special thanks to the Amherst College Black Studies Department  Intro music produced by: sketchmyname

The stigma that exists around mothers that have been incarcerated places a heavy weight on the shoulders of millions of people in the United States. When poverty, abuse, and incarceration have a hold on your life being a mother becomes seemingly impossible. In this episode, Aniah grapples with the impact of her mother's arrest on their ability to have a safe and nurturing relationship as mother and daughter. Aniah also begins to unpack the work of critical prison theorists and advocates to imagine a world in which mothers are not placed in cages anymore.  Written & produced by: Aniah H. Washington With special thanks to the Amherst College Black Studies Department Intro music produced by: sketchmyname

Is it not every parent’s wish to give their children the best childhood possible? Maybe, but what happens when your own childhood trauma stops you from being able to be a fully attentive parent? In this episode, Aniah looks back in time to hear stories from her mother’s gloomy childhood and young adult life. She uses storytelling, development psychology, and poetry to make connections between the past and the present that give her a new understanding of her complicated relationship with her mother and incarceration.  Written & produced by: Aniah H. Washington With special thanks to the Amherst College Black Studies Department Intro music produced by: sketchmyname