Title
Honoring and celebrating Patricia "Mama Patt" Vickers for her work to love and care for people across Philadelphia, her commitment to justice, and her resolve to reduce the suffering of incarcerated people, on the occasion of Black History Month.
Body
WHEREAS, Patricia "Mama Patt" Vickers was born and raised in Philadelphia. She has lived across the country, from New Jersey to Delaware to Atlanta and more, but always comes back to Philly. Her son Shakaboona was arrested at age 17 and sentenced to life in prison, which brought her to the work she has done with the Human Rights Coalition and later the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration (CADBI). When he was arrested at age 17 in 1988, Mama Patt did not know about the criminal justice system - it was unheard of for people to offer support to the mother of a child who received a life sentence, was labeled the worst of the worst and unredeemable in a tough-on-crime era; and
WHEREAS, Shakaboona was new at the prison and was trying to fit into the system of people making him a number instead of a name. It was an adjustment for Mama Patt too, wondering where she went wrong and reflecting on herself. For the first ten years, she worried a lot and blamed herself a lot; and
WHEREAS, Confined to solitary while in prison, Shakaboona met Russell Maroon Shoatz, and Mama Patt noticed a change - that he wanted to be better and do better; he was maturing. Together with Russell and Saleem Holbrook, Jerome Coffey and others, started the Human Rights Coalition to protect loved ones in prison; and
WHEREAS, The mothers of incarcerated children wanted to protect them while they were in prison for men. Mama Patt has been doing that work since 2001 trying to protect her son, and in the course of doing that work she met a lot of good people who were in prison, and felt compassion for them. They experienced a system set against them and received no mercy; and
WHEREAS, Mama Patt became close and connected to people thro...
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