- Chillicothe, OH
August - September 1973
There are multiple prison programs associated with Ohio State University (OSU) and Ohio prisons in the period when Umi was a student at OSU. There was a student organization called Prison Solidarity Committee, which came out of a nationwide effort by US Marxists, and OSU began a prisoner education program called New Gate where persons who were incarcerated could take classes from within the prison and accrue credits and graduate with degrees.
Umi participated in programs like these, something I learned after her passing from her college partner and comrade, Jefferson Guinn. He explained they were both part of a program organized by the University’s Black Studies Department and the University College:
“... and it began primarily at the maximum security institution in Mansfield, Ohio. And that's when your mother got me involved in getting…[going into the prison and] signing inmates out, bringing them down to campus for an orientation and testing, and then a lunch [and] then conclusion of activities, and then taking them back to Mansfield facility...From that, the dancers...and some people in drama started performing at Mansfield and at Chillicothe Correctional Institute...they just started doing an outreach and they found a way to get into the prison, especially Chillicothe...and they may have done something...I don't have any documentation of it, at the women's reformatory in Marysville, Ohio…
Those are the three places I sort of remember your mom going to, they would travel as a group...they would have vans and cars and they would go down as the troupe and they would have set times to perform. It had to be obviously approved by the prison administration. They had to go in and perform and then they came back. But it did, it inspired a lot of people. I know there were two young men in particular who were, who did get into Ohio State and were still enrolled at the time I parted company with OSU.
...Your mother really, she took it upon herself to befriend some guys and correspond with them...It was a great thing to do...keeping people inspired and keeping their faith going while they're incarcerated is difficult enough. Anything you can do to help lift somebody up above that is good.”