Highlights of Kathy Boudin’s Accomplishments

Here are some excerpts from a tribute to Kathy written by the Center for Justice at Columbia University, which she cofounded:

In the 1960s, Kathy was radicalized by the anti-war and Black Power movements of the 60s, joining first Students for a Democratic Society, SDS, and then the Weather Underground, a clandestine anti-imperialist organization. In 1981, trying to raise money to support Black revolutionary organizations, Kathy and her partner David Gilbert participated in the robbery of a Brinks truck in Nyack, NY. Though Kathy and David were not armed and did not personally hurt anyone, three men were killed. Kathy and David were arrested and sentenced to decades in prison. Kathy’s and David’s then 14-month-old son, Chesa Boudin, was adopted by friends and fellow activists Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, who raised him in partnership with Kathy and David; she had regular visits with Chesa for the next 22 years, helping to parent him from the distance her incarceration created.

In prison, Kathy underwent a profound transformation, grappling with her crime and its consequences. She became a leading advocate for women in prison, fighting for the reunification of imprisoned women and their children, bringing college courses back to Bedford Hills after the termination of Pell grants, and building a community response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, saving countless lives. She was the first woman to earn a master’s degree while incarcerated in New York State Prison. Her outward-facing initiatives became a path to seeking restorative justice for many, and eventually led to parole and release from prison.

After Kathy was paroled in 2003, she earned a doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College and later co-founded and co-directed the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Among other things, since 2010 the Center for Justice organized an annual movement building conference, “Beyond the Bars” which attracts thousands of activists, organizers, academics, and justice impacted people from down the block and around the world.

Release Aging People in Prison or RAPP, the advocacy group which Kathy cofounded with other formerly incarcerated people in 2008, has written, “Kathy created life-changing programs and organizations in and out of prison. She co-founded not only RAPP but also the Center for Justice at Columbia, was a close advisor to the Parole Preparation Project, and helped lead the National Council for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.”

Finally, in the words of Jihad Abdulmumit, Chair of the National Jericho Movement, “Kathy’s life and involvement in the movement against US imperialism, oppression, and injustice is enshrined in the continued movement of all freedom loving people. Kathy’s name and legacy will never be forgotten and her love, courage, and giving will forever be an inspiration to us all!”

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NOTES ABOUT AIDS COUNSELING AND EDUCATION (ACE)

In 1988, Kathy, her codefendant Judy Clark, and several other incarcerated women at Bedford Hills cofounded the trailblazing peer-led program called AIDS Counseling and Education or ACE, which became a national model. During the over dozen years it operated, ACE was especially important as an estimated 20% of the women incarcerated at Bedford were HIV positive. At its height, ACE had a state-paid coordinator and 40 so-called “walking counselors” giving workshops and providing individual support to incarcerated women. Years later, Kathy recalled, "ACE changed the culture in the prison… because it was about people coming together -- some were HIV-positive, some were not. But we all were saying, 'We have to do something about the crisis where there's a lot of fear. If we don't do it, no one else will do it.'" 

For more on ACE and the similar project that David Gilbert co-organized with colleagues at Auburn Prison after being moved by the 1986 death in prison of his comrade, bisexual Black Liberation Army member Kuwasi Balagoon, I highly recommend this excellent 1998 article: "Organizing Inside: Against all odds, inmates have emerged as their own best AIDS educators and advocates. Why don’t prison wardens, ASOs [AIDS service orgs] and health departments get it?," published in POZ Magazine by Esther Kaplan. It includes quotes from both Kathy and David.

Folks may also want to check out the book called Breaking the Walls of Silence, written by the women of ACE and edited by Kathy, published in 1998 by Overlook Press.

An excellent recent obituary about Kathy's contributions to ACE, by writer Tim Murphy, is at TheBody.com.