Digital Storytelling from a Student Perspective

22 Items | Curated by Rikers Public Memory Project Archive

A mini-docuseries using recurring themes and audio oral history to document, educate, and activate the oppressive legacy of Rikers Island which spans more than 100 years. These videos were made by college students and represent the student's interpretation of the narratives they heard, what they thought about, and their attempt to connect and understand what it might have felt like.

“...there should be a hope system involved in Rikers Island. Because when you leave there, you leave there without a hope. You leave there feeling scared… You go in scared and you leave scared, which is ridiculous.” Karren Jaime
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“Kids fight! You know, kids fight and you get yelled at or whatever, but you don't get put in a box for a long period of time and you just don't never get out.” Kimberly Campbell
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“...you sittin’ in intake, you actually sittin’ in an infirmary room, the infirmary and that's where you kind of see... the aftermath of the torment that goes on on Rikers Island.” Harvey murphy
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(Part 1/2) For 6 painful years, Jairo Pastoressa was held at Rikers Island awaiting a trial he would never be granted. During this time, his mother Anna fought in many different ways to defend her son. It was during this time that she would become co-founder of the Close Rikers Campaign
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(Part 2/2) For 6 painful years, Jairo Pastoressa was held at Rikers Island awaiting a trial he would never be granted. During this time, his mother Anna fought in many different ways to defend her son. It was during this time that she would become co-founder of the Close Rikers Campaign.
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“I was violated too. My daughter was violated when we went there with strip searches and stuff like that, with abusive talk. It was just so shocking.” Anna Pastoressa
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“... if I could survive that shit, I could survive anything. For real, then there's been some days that I wonder, like, how did you – how the hell did you do it?” Natasha White
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We are people. And this is a moment in our whole life, it's a moment can't forget the humanity, that we are people, we have families, we are connected to the outside world in some way, other than what happened, that we were incarcerated. And I think that if we could just keep that mindset with…
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“ I think it should be remembered as a horrible place that people grow from. You know, I think it should be deemed as something you never want to do again.” Natasha White
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Gathering Oral Histories help our ongoing mission to carefully and collectively document what happens at Rikers Island. These memories transmute to more than just stories. Rikers Island history essentially is New York History!
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Rikers Culture touches on the various ways that people who are incarcerated at Rikers engage and interact with each other. Especially, the way that violence and fear/threat of violence dictates what happens on a day to day basis.
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“...somebody’s 16 years old that’s dealing with the same trauma or torment that I had to deal with at the age of 16. And knowing that they’re gonna be 34 years old, still dealing with it, because I’m still dealing with it.” Harvey Murphy
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Overall, there is a severe lack of any kind of sufficient health services or resources inside Rikers. This video highlights the abuse of medication as a “solution” for everything and in the absence of other kinds of treatment, lack of urgency for people who are injured and/or in need of immediate…
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“... the majority of the correction officers that work in there have a ‘Don't care’ attitude. ‘Oh, you're a inmate. You committed a crime, so we're going to treat you like you're nothing.’" Gregory Pierce
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Rikers has been called “Torture Island.” Although many have been physically removed from the site, the trauma and injustice stays with people long after the experience.
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“Rikers Island is a place where... if you're not strong, it will destroy you. Honestly speaking, it will definitely destroy you.” Lorenzo Blakeney
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The Q100, operated by the MTA Transit Authority, is the only bus route that takes visitors to Rikers Island. The route starts at Queens Plaza, runs through Astoria, and crosses a long, narrow bridge to the Department of Corrections receiving room to encounter an uncomfortable, lengthy, and…
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