Source: AdrienneTrier-Bieniek
The Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black has gained so much attention for its insight on life inside a women’s prison. This TV crime-drama has been nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and it just signed on for its third season. Besides winning numerous awards for overall series and individual actors, Orange Is the New Black is large enough where even Halloween costumes are being made. The show had more viewers in its first week than any other Netflix original series, including House of Cards and Arrested Development. A myriad of critics rave about the show and I give kudos to those who directed and produced it. But where did the creative genius come from?
Source: Litquake
This hit TV series is more than a fictional plot; it is based off of a memoir of Piper Kerman herself, better known by her screen name, Piper Chapman. In her novel, Orange Is the New Black: My Year In a Women’s Prison, Kerman describes what it was like in and out of jail. She, like Chapman, was arrested for drug trafficking years after the fact. In jail she was faced with an abundance of issues and challenges such as cliques, behavior, mental illness, the role of religion in some cases, and many more. These dynamic issues are often hard to address because people are made uncomfortable by them and do not know how to handle them. In her memoir she took readers right in the middle of the drama that she lived through. The novel was too good not to make into a hit TV series. These issues were attacked head on in the series and brought to light some very important issues that Kerman tackled herself after being released from prison. She is on the board of the Women’s Prison Association and was given many awards for her work, including the Justice Trailblazer Award.
While she works on addressing the issues she was confronted with while in jail, Kerman also spends her time being a public speaker. The best way to address issues is to bring those issues to light, and she is a lighthouse when it comes to informing the public about continued and dire problems concerning over-incarceration, the use of solitary confinement, and women prisoners. Through her book and the TV series, she is spreading the word. She has spoken at many colleges and to organizations all throughout the nation. Her insight is truly eye opening, and implores you to take a step back, see what is really happening, and consider how you can help; knowledge is power, after all.
Kerman will be coming to Florida State to give a speech on various prison-related topics. She will be in the Ruby Diamond Concert hall tomorrow, February 10th from 7:30pm-10pm. You can go online now to purchase tickets or call Ashley Kerns (850-644-7670) or email openingnights@fsu.edu for more information.