By LaVonna Varnado-Brown
Gloria Jean Williams, affectionately known as “Mama Glo,” is Louisiana’s longest serving incarcerated woman prisoner. On May 12, 2019, a clemency campaign was launched to get her released. Postcards have been sent to Gov. Edwards requesting that he use his ability to free this woman from Louisiana’s prison industrial complex.
After 48 years behind bars, Gloria has a pardon hearing, which will take place on July 22, 2019, at 8 am. The request is to give her credit for the time she has served and allow her to return to her family.
“Mama Glo is a confident spirit who uses her wisdom of dealing with a life sentence to encourage other women to not give up,” says Fox Rich, a formerly incarcerated woman who is leading Mama Glo’s clemency campaign. “I know the power of clemency to restore a family. When our system fails us, [actions like] clemency give the system an opportunity to correct its own wrongs.” Fox and her husband Rob, along with Fox Rich Ministries, have been doing the much needed footwork around getting the community both informed and involved in this matter.
Mama Glo left five children orphaned when she was taken into police custody. For almost five decades her children have had to live life without their mother who has nurtured and mentored countless women while incarcerated. There is a record of someone else confessing to the crime for which Mama Glo was jailed. Still, she is in chains. Free Mama Glo and all prisoners who have fallen victim to capitalism’s choking grip via the prison industrial complex.