Victoria Law
| Victoria Law | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
January, 1977 Jamaica, NY |
| Occupation | freelance writer and editor, prison abolition activist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Chinese American |
| Alma mater | Brooklyn College |
| Subject | English Literature |
| Notable works | Resistance Behind Bars: the Struggles of Incarcerated Women |
| Children | one |
Victoria Law (born January 1977), who is familiarly known as Vikki, is an anarchist activist, writer, freelance editor, photographer and mother.
Biography
Law is of Chinese descent and was born and raised in Queens NY where she had her first brush with the law as an armed robber while still in high school.[1] Her exposure to incarcerated people at Rikers Island prompted her to get involved with prison support. She has continued fighting for prison abolition, co-founding Books Through Bars NYC as a joint project between Blackout Books & Nightcrawlers Anarchist Black Cross in 1996 at the age of nineteen.[2] The project moved to ABC No Rio in 1997 or 1998.[3] A few years later, in 2003, at the prompting of women incarcerated in an Oregon prison, Law launched the zine Tenacious: Art and Writing from Women in Prison.[4][5] (Note: the zine's title varies occasionally.) In 2009, after a decade of researching and writing about incarcerated women, Law published her first monograph with PM Press, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women, with a second edition released in 2012.[6] She is a frequent invited speaker, especially since publishing the first edition of Resistance Behind Bars.[7]
Law works with Books Through Bars (now located at Freebird Bookstore[8] in Brooklyn). She has participated in many of the art and activism center's projects, including the Visual Arts Collective and the darkroom that she co-founded and co-built. She has had tangential involvement in the punk collective, as well, and was the primary caregiver of ABC No Rio's last remaining squatter, Cookiepuss (1996-2013), a calico cat.[9]
In her twenties, after having a child, Law's activism began to include raising awareness of parents in anarchist communities' need for solidarity, including free childcare activities at events and protests. Together with long-time mamazine maker China Martens, Law began doing workshops and editing compilation zines about parenting for activists and their allies, called Don't Leave Your Friends Behind. The two eventually co-edited a book by the same name, also published by PM.[10] As her child got older and Law engaged with the literature her child read, Law began to focus attention on the lack of racial diversity in young adult fiction, including writing a series of blog posts on girls of color in dystopia for Bitch Media.[11]
Selected works
Books
- Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, 2012 & 2009[12]
- Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities, 2012. Edited with China Martens.[13]
Zines
- Tenacious: Art & Writing from Women in Prison, 2003–present, editor[14]
- Nefarious Doings series, about travel in Hong Kong and South Africa, 2006[15]
- Many others, authored or edited[16]
- Mamazines, contributor[17]
Articles
Law's articles about gender, incarceration and resistance[18]
Blog posts and web articles
Law is a regular contributor to online news and culture venues, most frequently
Awards
- 2013, Health Behind Bars Fellowship, John Jay’s Center on Media, Crime and Justice[21]
- 2011, Brooklyn College Young Alumna Award[22]
- 2009, Prevention for a Safer Society PASS Award for book Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women[23]
External links
References
- ↑ "Beyond Attica: The Untold Story of Women's Resistance Behind Bars". AlterNet. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ↑ "The ABC No Rio Interviews: Vikki Law". Art F City. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ Email from Victoria Law
- ↑ "Tenacious: Art and Writing from Women in Prison. An interview with Vikki Law from New York, United States". Grassroots Feminism. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "Tenacious : writings from women in prison". OCLC. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women, 2nd Edition". PM Press. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "events". Victoria Law. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Volunteer at Books Through Bars". Freebird Books. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "COOKIEPUSS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING". ABC No Rio. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities". PM Press. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ↑ "Girls of Color in Dystopia". Bitch Media. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Search results for '"resistance behind bars"' > 'Victoria Law'". OCLC. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Don't leave your friends behind : concrete ways to support families in social justice movements and communities> 'Victoria Law'". OCLC. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Tenacious : art and writings from women in prison". Barnard College Library/Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "nefarious vikki law". Barnard College Library/Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Search results for 'su:zines au:law' > 'Vikki Law'". OCLC. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "vikki law mamazines". Barnard College/Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Links to Articles about Gender, Incarceration and Resistance". Victoria Law. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Victoria Law". BitchMedia. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Health Behind Bars conference program, Fellows Biographies". truthout. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Health Behind Bars, Fellows Biographies" (PDF). John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "2011 Young Alumna Award - Victoria Law '02". Brooklyn College Alumni. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "2009 PASS Award Winners" (PDF). NCCD National Council on Crime & Delinquency. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
