CeCe McDonald: Rebuilding her Life after Prison

CeCe McDonald served 19 months in prison and has become the face for victims of anti-transgender discrimination. Why? McDonald braves it all and uses the spotlight to tell her story, the real story...

"I never expected that people would look up to me," she says. "In prison, I got lots of letters of support. It showed that people cared. I never thought that people were actually seeing me as this leader or a role model. It's really amazing that it got to this level, and I'm glad that I have this platform so I can get the word out about the prison-industrial complex, trans women, African-American trans women, people of color."

This is a story of survival, of a woman let down by the exact system that should of been protecting her! The system betrayed her and prosecuted her, when in reality, McDonald and four of her friends were the victims of a brutal verbal and physical assault!

In 2011, the fight escalated when a verbal confrontation turned into a physical one when Molly Flaherty smashed a glass on McDonald's face, slicing her skin and creating a gash that would eventually need to be sewn shut with 11 stitches. Flaherty later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.

Dean Schmitz (Flaherty's ex boyfriend) then pushed McDonald to the ground. As Schmitz approached her with his hands balled into fists, McDonald grabbed a pair of scissors she had been carrying. McDonald stabbed Schmitz with the scissors, inflicting a mortal wound. The 47-year-old Schmitz died at the scene.

McDonald was charged with second-degree murder, though McDonald's lawyer argued that what had transpired was an act of self-defense. With the possibility of a 25-year prison sentence looming, McDonald accepted a deal, pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter, which resulted in a 41-month sentence. Despite initial hopes that she’d be placed with other women, it was determined that McDonald would serve her time in a men's correctional facility, where she stayed until her release in January.

Finally out, McDonald has spent her time speaking out against the prison-industrial complex. "I felt like they wanted me to hate myself as a trans woman,” she said, adding, "Prisons aren't safe for anyone, and that's the key issue."

Usually transgender women are placed in men's prisons. This is dangerous as they are at a significantly higher risk of getting sexually assaulted or abused compared to their fellow inmates!

Some have argued that trans women should be placed in solitary confinement as a means to reduce their exposure to physical harm, though this has the unwanted effect of inflicting emotional and mental stress on the individual.

"A lot of time people don't know the circumstances that come along with trans women in prison."

McDonald has been working on a documentary titled Free CeCe. It’s her hope that the film will help give a face and a voice to trans inmates, humanizing them: "In the documentary you'll see me as a person, with my family and friends; seeing the personality and the humor, and the life that I have and share with others."

That first qualifier — "person" — speaks to the tragic state of public understanding of trans people. Many trans individuals have frequently said they tend to be teated as a type of aberration or atrocity, as opposed to recognizing their humanity.

The man who attacked McDonald had a symbol of hated, a swastika, tattooed on his chest, also symbolic of what happens when the world fears those who are different. In a fair world— one without institutionalized racism, sexism, and bigotry — maybe he wouldn’t have felt the need to harass a complete stranger, and his friend wouldn’t find it appropriate to physically assault that woman. In a fair world, McDonald wouldn’t have sensed a need to protect herself from imminent harm the way she did.

Sadly, this isn't a fair world. McDonald went to prison and Schmitz died. But McDonald hopes her story and others can help change that.

"I feel like, at first, I wasn't ready for this type of leadership, this type of position," McDonald says of her status as a role model. "But there's no one out there who's really saying it."

McDonald says it's most important to forge unity between all people to come together in an effort to fight deeply ingrained negative societal assumptions.

"If I need to take this position, to use this platform to get this word out, then I will," she says. "I want to see some type of change. We need to be more collective, have an initiative to change the hate, discrimination, and injustices for the LGBTQI community."

What the world does have, however, is hope. Because McDonald had to endure this event and because she had to experience firsthand how society’s biases can be used against her, she has become uniquely qualified to lead a conversation moving forward, taking on the considerable task of chipping away at the world’s evils.

NICRO is committed to turning lives around - We encourage all South Africans not to stand back, but become involved either by donating a monthly amount, a once-off donation or look at the NICRO wish list for support in kind for around the country and see how you can assist.

Do Prisons Really Make Offenders Worse?

A lot of people think that prison is a place where crimes sits and breeds, the idea is that if you put people in prison they will get worse. Is it really unavoidable? Will offenders really turn into even more of a corrupt and violent person when they leave prison?

The main conversation topics among prisoners is generally crime, drugs and gossip about who did what and to who. They often brag about what they have done and even team up with other criminals in jail and hatch new plans and schemes. Some carefully engineer crimes that are committed by other people outside prison. These inmates are often gang leaders who can influence people outside the prison walls.

A number of offenders were recently interviewed in numerous institutions about whether or not jail really makes someone worse than they were before.

Their answers may be surprising! Inmates emphasize that choices are continually made about how time is served. Some aspire to be prison kingpins.

Confinement is just one more arena in which to conduct criminal operations. Others, however, have an entirely different view and make choices in an entirely different decision. They adhere to the prison rules and policies while remaining out of the "action." Fed up with how they have lived, they desire to change or, at the very least, not risk incurring new charges which will extend their time in prison. They participate in programs and try to get along with other inmates and with institutional staff.

Inmates who abstain from criminal activities in prison remain cordial, to other inmates. Not wanting to be tagged as "snitches" or informants, they participate in a variety of activities that do not violate the rules. And they have no interest in committing new crimes. Some develop disgust (that they do not express publicly) with their fellow inmates who are perpetually devising new schemes, con games, and manipulative maneuvers. They report that others leave them alone and do not try to pressure them into involvement in more violations and crimes. They have found that, usually, the other inmates respect them.

In short, just as he did in the free world, an inmate chooses the people with whom he develops close associations. He makes decisions about the type of person he wants to be. He decides what temptations he will resist.

By no means is it inevitable that he will become a more hardened criminal or a more dangerous person because he is serving a sentence in a correctional institution. In fact, spending time in prison marks a turning point toward a positive direction.  A prison expression is to make time serve you not just you serving time.

NICRO is committed to turning lives around - We encourage all South Africans not to stand back, but become involved either by donatinga monthly amount, a once-off donation or look at the NICRO wish list for support in kind for around the country and see how you can assist.