A New Way of Life
Their mission
A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides housing, case management, pro bono legal services, advocacy and leadership development for women rebuilding their lives after prison.
Collaboration
In 2005, Setsu Shigematsu began volunteering at A New Way of Life (ANWOL) teaching self-defense workshops for the ANWOL residents—formerly incarcerated women and women on parole. After teaching feminist self-defense workshops, Setsu continued working with Susan Burton as part of the LEAD program, a partnership with the Los Angeles Chapter of Critical Resistance, a prison industrial complex abolition organization co-founded by Angela Y. Davis. As depicted in the film Visions of Abolition, the LEAD program provided free political education about the racist history of the prison industrial complex and workshops for healing and holistic wellness for women residents, who were survivors of sexual and domestic violence and the gender violence of the prison system. Setsu commuted to Watts from her home in Riverside, CA as a volunteer activist educator for eight years (2005-2013), sometimes bringing her young and infant children.
Setsu’s experience at a New Way of Life led to making the film Visions of Abolition.
In their own words
This short film, created in collaboration with Setsu Shigematsu, Kris Parker and other UCR students, tells the story of how Susan Burton founded A New Way of Life and features the powerful testimonies of various ANWOL residents.