I'm thankful to Witness for allowing me to be part of the 4th Annual Suitcase Sunday. It was a wonderful event that allowed me to meet and support different small businesses founded by either formerly incarcerated, system-impacted, migrant community, or ally business owners. It was inspiring to hear the different stories of how people took a negative point in their life and are now doing so much good. Not only were the people great to interact with but so were the products and services they offered. I ate some delicious jerk meatballs and mac n cheese from Just Soul Catering, bought a gorgeous hand embroidered belt from Ti Toro Miko, and a beautiful soap bar with healing properties from Chocolate Bunny. Despite the heat, this event was a huge success and one I plan to mark down in my calendar yearly.

Suitcase Sunday on July 14th served as my introduction to the work and impact of Witness to Mass Incarceration. I began as an intern the week prior with a very base understanding of Witness’ mission, and the event served as a showcase of the community and support system created by Evie and her organization. It was incredibly motivating and inspiring to see such an impressive group of people come together to celebrate their resilience and success since being released from prison.

As an intern at the event, I got the chance to meet most of the business owners who attended the event. It was a diverse group of successful people who had managed to create a life from themselves post-incarceration, and listening to their stories was a testament to the necessity of reentry and redemption.

I also got the chance to work alongside some of these business owners to set up their stations. Everyone was just fun and easy to work with – Antwoin Gutierrez of Fresh Taste bakery would be an especially great boss – and I had a really good time spending my day working with and learning from this impressive group of people.

As an intern helping with the Witness to Mass Incarceration's 4th Annual Suitcase Sunday, I was amazed by the sense of community present between the formerly incarcerated vendors. Every vendor brimmed with passion when talking about their business, whether it be handmade soaps or fresh cupcakes. I believe that the vendors at Suitcase Sunday were so passionate because they were given a second chance to live, to not be condemned to alienation simply because they have a criminal record.

Rather than enduring unjust employment discrimination for being formerly incarcerated and other associated stigmas, the vendors created their own purpose and their own livelihood through entrepreneurship. The magic of Suitcase Sunday lies in advocating for these formerly incarcerated vendors in the community because they, like all of us, are people with their own dreams, hopes, and stories. By promoting their businesses, Suitcase Sunday humanizes the vendors, alleviates economic inequities for formerly incarcerated people, and ultimately proves that true and lasting criminal justice must address the whole person, not just the law.

It was such a great experience working as an intern during Suitcase Sunday. Before this event, I had almost no experience talking to formerly incarcerated people in person. They are so warm and welcoming to everyone who talks to them. What they have been through is never easy, from post-trauma in prison to barriers in re-entering society. However, everyone is so passionate and proud of what they are doing. For instance, Jeffrey Deskovic’s story was particularly inspiring. As an exoneree, he started the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation, which has helped 14 exonerees get out of prison. It was also a pleasure meeting other interns and getting to know each other outside of Zoom meetings. Everyone is open-minded and kind to each other. This event was truly illuminating and meaningful to me.