Narrator: Tahtianna Fermin
Summary: Tahtianna Fermin lives in New Jersey and works as a recovery coach and group facilitator. While she was never incarcerated at Rikers, she is close to many individuals who were detained there: her brother, her husband, and many friends, including a close friend who died there. As a transgender woman, Fermin recounts the poor treatment she received during visits to Rikers to see her partner. After her visit, her partner was harassed by staff and other incarcerated people for his relationship with her. She recalls these visits as embarrassing, degrading, and dehumanizing. (Summary written by: Annie Anderson)
Interview Date: 7/23/20
Partner Organization: Planned Interviews
Interviewer: Tamika Graham
Tags: Rikers Island, Incarceration, Prison abolition, New York City, Oral history, Rikers Public Memory Project, RPMP, Visitation Process, Emotional impact of visitation, Impact on outside relationships, Prison facilities, Covid at Rikers, Close Rikers, Solitary confinement, Threats and fears, Social interactions in prison, Violence in prison, Violence normalization, Impact on communities
To read the transcript of this interview, click here