Iessha Lewis

Iessha Lewis was born in Far Rockaway, Queens. As a child, she excelled at spelling bees, running track, and playing piano, but also struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. After experiencing a miscarriage and subsequent depression as a young woman, her mother committed her to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. Her first experience of Rikers was as a visitor, seeing a boyfriend who was incarcerated there in the 1990s. She later served two terms at Rikers, where she worked on the "house gang," sweeping and mopping the jailhouse and taking the garbage out. (Summary written by: Annie Anderson)