Prison to Prison Pipeline” discusses the life of a black female rapper, Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, also known as Isis Tha Savior, who grew up in the system. She was left to fend for herself from a young age after her schizophrenic mother kicked her out during one of her episodes. One day, during the time she was living on the streets, she found a stolen car with a screwdriver in the ignition and decided to take a ride in it which resulted in an accident. After the accident, she was given a choice to either live with her mother or leave with a worker from the Department of Human Services. At the mere age of 11 she made the hard choice to go with the worker in hopes of finding some stability and a somewhat “normal” life. 

However, she learned early on that the system is not really what she expected her life to be. She describes at as “baby jail.” She is not given the same opportunities as other kids her age and that really impacts her life. She decides to go to college to turn her life but drops out during her junior year. Not having a plan B, she decided to sell narcotics to support herself. After being caught, she is accidentally released and stays on the run for five years. During that time, she finds out that she’s pregnant and decides to move in with her baby’s father. The police eventually find her and arrest her and four days later she goes into labor. She delivers a baby boy through emergency C-section who is taken away to live with his father after a couple of days while Mary spends another six days in the hospital. After her delivery she’s taken back to the prison and in hopes of getting postpartum care after a medically traumatic delivery, she requests to go to the medical unit. The medical unit turns out to be more traumatic and in Mary’s words “…the medical unit was essentially solitary confinement.” After serving for another eight months, she is finely freed. She goes back to her son and decides to change her life around to provide better opportunities for him. One of her friends from the system, encourages her to start making music again and that’s how Isis Tha Savior is born. 

Isis refers to the Egyptian goddess of motherhood who was known to be a role model for women and always managed to find a way to save herself and her people. Most of Mary’s struggles came from the fact that she was a black female growing up in the system. She was diagnosed with ODD, oppositional defiant disorder. In the podcast it was mentioned that “Studies have found the Samar behaviors in white kids are more often read as ADHD, while Black and Latino kids are more often diagnosed with ODD.” Being a black female put her at a greater disadvantage of not being able to live her life like most white kids her age. The adults that were in charge of her expected her to process things like an adult which plays a great role in the criminalization of Black girls. One of the moments that stands out from the podcast was when Mary’s seventh grade teacher tried to take her to court for a “dirty look” that Mary gave after an argument. That just goes to show the extent of racism that Mary faced growing up which definitely had an impact on her life decisions. 

After she dropped out of college, Mary felt that the only option she had to support herself was to sell narcotics. She was denied jobs wherever she applied despite being qualified enough, for example, when she applied to McDonalds. She didn’t need a college degree to work at McDonalds yet she was not able to get a job there. Then, when she gave birth to her son, first she was being denied the need to go to a hospital because of lazy prison guards, and when she finally went to the hospital, she was shackled to the bed. She was in labor for 43 hours before getting an emergency C-section because of the complications in her case. She was under too much stress without any family or anyone to support her, the fear of knowing that she wouldn’t be able to live with her baby, and on top of that, not being able to move around because she was literally tied to the bed. In 2007, the U.N. Told the Unites States that the practice of shackling during childbirth was a violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatmennt or Punishment. In the podcast, this was also compared to “relic of the torturous institution of chattel slavery,” which is very true given the circumstances Mary was in. 

After finishing her sentence, Mary returned home to follow her dreams. In order to support her son, she started writing music and rapping. However, she soon realized the challenges that came with this career. She had to overcome the stigma around being a female rapper in a predominantly male industry. Then, she had to establish herself as a black female in the industry especially being an incarcerated artist and the challenges that come with that label. She managed to do all this while going to school and working multiple jobs in order to send her son to a private school and get him the best education. She also uses her art as a medium to promote and push for rights for incarcerated women, and advocating for mothers and children to stay together and connected. “Like the goddess Isis, Mary is able to extend her own healing into the world around her.” She has shared her experiences through music to help people in similar situations to her and create a sense of community who uplift and empower each other.