Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to American Prison Writing and Mass Incarceration
- The Cambridge Companion to American Prison Writing and Mass Incarceration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword: Messages from the American Prison
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Part I Forerunners
- Part II Revolutionaries
- Part III Witnesses
- Part IV Survivors
- 15 Men’s Prison Memoirs of Trauma and Recovery
- 16 Reading Wounds in Women’s Prison Writing
- 17 Susan Burton’s New Beginning
- 18 Qu(e)erying Orange Is the New Black
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To Literature
17 - Susan Burton’s New Beginning
from Part IV - Survivors
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 October 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to American Prison Writing and Mass Incarceration
- The Cambridge Companion to American Prison Writing and Mass Incarceration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword: Messages from the American Prison
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Part I Forerunners
- Part II Revolutionaries
- Part III Witnesses
- Part IV Survivors
- 15 Men’s Prison Memoirs of Trauma and Recovery
- 16 Reading Wounds in Women’s Prison Writing
- 17 Susan Burton’s New Beginning
- 18 Qu(e)erying Orange Is the New Black
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To Literature
Summary
Susan Burton’s memoir, Becoming Ms. Burton, exposes the systemic inequalities perpetuated by the penal system on women of color. Burton cycled in and out of prison for over a decade before she demanded treatment for her addiction. Burton’s memoir shows how childhood trauma, including rape, became a catalyst for her drug addiction; how the self-perpetuating pattern of addiction, crime, and incarceration inflicts new trauma; how the transformative power of self-reflection and healing enables her to have empathy and compassion for others facing similar challenges, and how that led her to break the cycle by creating an organization to help other women getting out of prison to stay sober, address their trauma, and stay free. Burton’s story of reaching back to help women escape the system has earned her the honorific title of a modern-day Harriet Tubman.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
The PDF of this book
complies with version 2.1 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), covering newer accessibility requirements and improved
user experiences and achieves the intermediate
(AA)
level of WCAG compliance, covering a wider range of accessibility requirements.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.