Orange Is the New Black is leaving a legacy in the form of an initiative to help women incarcerated, with the character named after the most memorable prison dramedy on Netflix, and it’s behind.
Jenji Kohan, the creator of Orange Is the New Black, announced that the seventh and final season will premiere in New York City. The show takes its name from the Washington Poussey Fund, which was previously portrayed by Samira Wiley, who played the character Poussey Washington, an inmate from Litchfield.
Wiley declares in a video introducing the campaign that the system is not meeting the needs of women, both within and beyond the confines of prison. “We have experienced directly that the system is not meeting the needs of women, and it has been a privilege for us to narrate the tales of these individuals. We have witnessed the profound influence of Orange Is the New Black on you and individuals worldwide.”
On July 26, OITNB will release its final 13 episodes, showcasing a fictional adaptation of the Poussey Washington Fund. The storyline served as inspiration for creator Kohan and executive producer Tara Herrmann to create an enhanced version of the fund. In the final season, Danielle Brooks portrays Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson, who strives to provide micro-loans to women transitioning from incarceration.
Kohan states in a declaration, “By means of the Poussey Washington Fund, our characters can persist and continue to have an influence after the series has concluded.” “We perceived no justification as to why we couldn’t inaugurate our own endeavor to have an impact in actuality,” and Taystee acknowledged a chance to bring about a change for her fellow prisoners.
The launch of the fund on Thursday features eight nonprofit organizations that focus on a range of prison and criminal justice reform issues, prompted by the shocking but timely death of Poussey Washington, a hopeful black inmate who was murdered by a white corrections officer — a death that has impacted viewers and motivated them to support the show, which is the winner of the Emmy series.
Kohan clarifies to THR, “those charitable organizations, the foundation recognizes and backs, so that the positive impact they are making is evident in the charities that exist there.”
The organizations listed are the Women’s Prison Association, unPrison Project, The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Freedom for Immigrants, College & Community Fellowship, Anti Recidivism Coalition, and A New Way of Life: Reentry Project. These organizations work towards protecting the rights of immigrants, putting an end to mass incarceration, and providing support to women affected by the prison industrial complex and criminal justice reform. The preexisting advocacy groups have a specific focus on the issues addressed in the groundbreaking series OITNB, which include various organizations and The Poussey Washington Fund.
When speaking to THR, Herrmann said that the organizations they worked with for the final season of OITNB picked actors/activists from the cast, as well as the memoir by Piper Kerman, whose series also helped to identify the right groups and inspired their previous relationships. They turned reality into a fund.
THR informs Kerman, “Moreover, several of these organizations are spearheaded by previously imprisoned women, which holds great significance for all of us affiliated with the fund.” Kerman informs THR, “Among these organizations, two of them dedicate their efforts towards addressing immigrant detention, while the remaining six concentrate on various aspects of women in the criminal justice system.”
The season finale will also feature Taylor Schilling playing Chapman Piper, who will change something about her TV alter ego. Taylor Schilling is an advocate for prison reform and sits on the board of organizations that provide reentry aid services, family housing reunification, and housing assistance. She has been writing since her time in a women’s prison, which inspired her book “My Year of Black: New Is Orange.”
Kerman states, “The Poussey Washington Fund holds the possibility to be truly revolutionary to these organizations and I am confident that the supporters will definitely meet the challenge. Anything that is aiding women and girls in the criminal justice system is rather resourceful and requires all the backing it can receive because there are deserving initiatives occurring all throughout this nation. So I am extremely optimistic that the supporters will utilize their excitement and redirect it to contribute to the fund and/or to make endeavors in their own communities. These are initiatives, to be honest, that ought to be duplicated in every state in the nation.”
“[Jenji] desires individuals to be unable to shake this off.” Wiley expressed her hope at the time that the storyline would generate. “There are individuals who are watching television who may not have a personal connection with Black Lives Matter, but they are familiar with Poussey,” The beloved character was eliminated from the show in a thought-provoking episode that invoked the Black Lives Matter movement; Poussey perishes when an untrained guard accidentally suffocates her while restraining her with his knee, and he subsequently faces no consequences for her death. Wiley personally witnessed the impact of the OITNB platform after Poussey’s demise.
She says that in the room, one could have heard a “pin drop,” and the testimony shown from the first season’s clip was evidence during her plea. She recently witnessed the impact of stories from OITNB when Kerman urged lawmakers to pass criminal justice reforms in order to improve conditions for female inmates.
In that chamber, one could have heard a needle fall. The series has portrayed that in a manner that individuals can truly comprehend on an emotional level — whether the show has been dramatizing concerns surrounding pregnancy and reproductive justice, or this separation of families, which has been occurring in this nation for decades ever since the incarceration rate for women began to skyrocket. So it’s extremely emotionally impactful, there’s practically no conversation but it’s a brief clip; the committee chose to showcase the scene when Maria Ruiz [portrayed by Jessica Pimentel] is returned to Litchfield immediately after giving birth [in season one],” Kerman recalls to THR of the July 16 hearing. “I testified on Capitol Hill for a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on women and girls in the criminal justice system.”
During the premiere event, Kohan and Herrmann revealed that Wiley and other members of the OITNB cast were featured in a touching video announcing the Poussey Washington Fund, which pleasantly surprised a multitude of fans who shared relatable anecdotes.
Save THR.Com/OITNB to stay updated on the ongoing seventh season of Orange Is the New Black, currently available for streaming on Netflix.