Mother’s Day is bittersweet for women inside the Cook County Jail

In the recreation yard at 2700 S. California Avenue on Friday afternoon, there were women of all ages seated at plastic dining tables. There was live music and speeches. There was celebration and contemplation. There were burgers and hot dogs, flowers and pink tablecloths.

What was missing were the kids.

This is the reality of spending Mother’s Day weekend behind bars at the Cook County Jail.

Dr. Mica Battle knows firsthand how difficult the holiday can be; she was once incarcerated at this jail herself. That’s why her faith-based re-entry organization, Bridge to Freedom, held this Mother’s Day event Friday for about 80 people detained in the jail’s women’s division.

“I know what it’s like to be away from my children on Mother’s Day,” said Battle. “They’re grieving because they’re not with their own family during this time.”

But Friday’s event wasn’t a day of mourning. Several parents at the jail saw the upcoming holiday as motivational.

“I’m just learning my lesson now, so I don’t have to miss next year with my children,” said Sonia Rivera, who said she has six kids.

The Vera Institute of Justice estimated in 2021 that nearly 80% of women in local jails had minor children. Incarcerated parents say they stay in touch with their kids through visits, phone calls, art projects, watching cartoons, or even subscribing to the same children’s magazines.

But parenting from afar can take a toll on you, said one mother at the jail, Tanisha Baity.

Baity doesn’t want her 14-year-old to visit her while she’s in handcuffs. “I don’t want her to come here and see me like this,” she said.

Several hours into Friday’s program, some of the incarcerated people gathered at the front of the basketball court for a group prayer. Latonia Gipson emerged with a single tear streaming down her cheek. She’s been in the jail 13 months, but says she’s scheduled to go home Monday.

“I’m not coming back to jail,” said Gipson. “I know I’m not coming back. This is it.”

Gipson says she’s a mother and a grandmother. And she already has plans for her first day on the outside: “Go get my grandkids,” she said. “We’re gonna go out and eat.”

Lauren Frost is WBEZ’s audio engagement producer and the executive producer of Prisoncast!, a radio show made with and for incarcerated Illinoisans and their loved ones.