Helen "Skip" Skipper

Helen "Skip" Skipper grew up in Queens, New York. Prior to being sent to Rikers, her only knowledge of incarceration was from media representation and books. She details the sights, sounds, and feelings of Rikers: the fear and humilitation, "the dirt, the filth," and sleeping on a bed that "was not made for a human to lay on." Skip says she grew up on Rikers Island, where she worked as a suicide prevention aide, which earned what was considered a high salary—$25/week—along with her job in the mess hall. She talks about building rapport with corrections officers and how her only ask was to be "[treated] as a human." Skip now works as a criminologist, and believes that systems of incarcerated should rehabiltitated and reformed rather than abolished (Summary written by: Carson Stachura).