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@katiecouric : I’m a bit late but it’s still #Wednesday which means that it’s time to highlight another incredible woman for #WednesdayWomen! Meet Gina Clayton-Johnson, founder and executive director of @essie4justice , a non-profit organization of women with incarcerated loved ones who are taking on the injustices created by mass incarceration. The Essie Justice Group brings women together to heal, build collective power, and drive social change. In her first year as a law student at Harvard, a loved one of Gina’s was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She saw a lack of organizations or groups that addressed criminal justice with a focus on women with incarcerated loved ones, so she started Essie Justice Group (named after her grandmother) in 2014. Together with her team, the Essie Justice Project is organizing women with incarcerated loved ones together to heal and create positive change in a broken system. Today, 2.3 million people are in jail, and incarceration has increased by over 500% in the past forty years. An overlooked effect of mass incarceration is that today an astounding one in four women and nearly one in two Black women has a family member in prison. The sense of loss is painful, acute, and often borne in silence, leading to illness, severe depression, and even suicide. The work Gina is doing is so important - to learn more visit https://essiejusticegroup.org