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Piper Kerman

Piper Kerman Biography

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“How could I admit that the All-American Girl's force field of stoicism and self-reliance and do-unto-others-and-keep-smiling wasn't working, wasn't keeping pain and shame and powerlessness away? From a young age I had learned to get over - to cover my tracks emotionally, to hide or ignore my problems in the belief that they were mine alone to solve. So when exhilarating transgressions required getting over on authority figures, I knew how to do it. I was a great bluffer. And when common, everyday survival in prison required getting over, I could do that too. This is what was approvingly described by my fellow prisoners as 'street-smarts,' as in 'You wouldn't think it to look at her, but Piper's got street-smarts.”

AuthoritySurvivalEmotionsPrisonSelf RelianceStoicismStreet Smart
Book:Orange Is the New Black
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“I knew that I would have to be brave. Not foolhardy, not in love with risk and danger, not making ridiculous exhibitions of myself to prove that I wasn't terrified--really genuinely brave. Brave enough to be quiet when quiet was called for, brave enough to observe before flinging myself into something, brave enough to not abandon my true self when someone else wanted to seduce or force me in a direction I didn't want to go, brave enough to stand my ground quietly.”

WantSelfEnoughWantedForceRiskDangerQuietProveBraveRidiculousAbandonTerrifiedTrue SelfBe BraveSeducingExhibitionsFoolhardy
Author:Piper Kerman
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“If I could forgive, it meant I was a strong good person who could take responsibility for the path I had chosen for myself, and all the consequences that accompanied that choice. And it gave me the simple but powerful satisfaction of extending a kindness to another person in a tough spot.”

IfsPersonsChoicesStrongSimplePowerfulResponsibilityKindnessPathToughConsequenceForgivingSatisfactionChosenSpotsIf I CouldTaking ResponsibilityGood PersonExtending
Book:Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
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“Prison is quite literally a ghetto in the most classic sense of the word, a place where the U.S. government now puts not only the dangerous but also the inconvenient—people who are mentally ill, people who are addicts, people who are poor and uneducated and unskilled. Meanwhile the ghetto in the outside world is a prison as well, and a much more difficult one to escape from than this correctional compound. In fact, there is basically a revolving door between our urban and rural ghettos and the formal ghetto of our prison system.”

PeopleWorldWellsFactsGovernmentDifficultPoorDoorsDangerousPrisonIllClassicUrbanFormalAddictGhettoCompoundsOutside WorldInconvenientUneducatedMentally IllRevolvingRevolving DoorsPrison SystemUrban And Rural
Author:Piper Kerman
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“I went back to work right away [after prison]. I was very lucky — a friend of mine created a job for me at his company. Most prisoners who come home face really significant challenges when it comes to finding work. It’s very, very hard for most people who have a criminal record to get a job. I think the system is very wasteful of taxpayers’ dollars. It’s also very wasteful of human potential. I found that most people whom I was locked up with were, you know, good people who have skills and value. Prison is a missed opportunity to nurture those things.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsHumansHardHomeJobsFacesValuesFoundOpportunityChallengesCompanyRecordsMinesLuckySkillsFindingsDollarsPrisonCriminalsSignificantWorking ItComing HomePrisonerGood PeopleLockedNurtureTaxpayersLocked UpHuman PotentialBack To WorkMissed Opportunity
Author:Piper Kerman
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“Our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to make it right for the people they have harmed. [...] Instead, our system of "corrections" is about arm's-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night.”

PeopleTryingDoneNightJusticeArmsCurrentsRevengeCriminalsDamageLengthAll NightProvisionCorrectionsRetributionJustice SystemCriminal JusticeOffendersCriminal Justice SystemRestorative Justice
Author:Piper Kerman
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“Very close by the CMS shops, hidden about a quarter mile away in the woods, was the prison's rifle range. Correctional officers could spend quality time with their firearms down there, and the hammering of multiple rounds was typical background noise during our workdays. There was something unsettling about toiling away for a prison while listening to your jailers practice shooting you.”

QualityPracticeListeningPrisonRoundsWoodsMilesBackgroundsNoiseShootingRangeShopsOfficersQuartersMultipleTypicalRiflesFirearmsMiles AwayQuality TimeToilingJailerBackground Noise
Book:Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
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