Prison
Outpost
Biography of Jessie W. "Ma" Houston
Jessie W. "Ma" Houston was born in Blackmun, Louisiana, October 4, 1899. She
died January 5, 1980.
"Ma" had come to Chicago as a result of her own son's death in
a southern prison. He had died and been buried without the
authorities ever notifying his family. Full of pain and fear
for her remaining family, "Ma" left her home.
Her personal prison
ministry began as early as 1945. During the war, slightly
disabled, unable to walk or get around well, she would sit on her
porch and write to the soldiers, who in turn, became not only her
pen pals, but her sons. After the war, many of them came
to Chicago where "Ma" often provided them with temporary housing.
When
the war ended, "Ma" was left without her letters to write. Being
the kind and faithful listener she was, "Ma" had become involved
on the behalf of a young man who had been arrested for presumably
taking a letter containing $5.00, from a mailbox. She visited
him with some difficulty, at Cook County Jail. During one
of those visits, the young man asked her why she had not come with
the church people who came regularly, and had no problem getting
in to make their visits. That had not occurred to her before
that time. After that, "Ma" began going to the jail on
a regular basis and became acquainted with others from various
missionary groups who did the same. Eventually, this became
her major mission, not only on Sundays, but throughout the week.
"Ma" often
did not have carfare to get home, but would wait in the hallway
for a ride from one of the guards who might have lived nearby. When
she visited, "Ma" would never ask the men why they were there.
She always said that her only mission was to take them the word
of God and let them know that God loved them in spite of their
situation, and, that the solution to their problems could be found
in the surrender to the Will of God.
Many of the men she visited
did accept her words and made a commitment to Christ. "Ma" took
her ministry even farther. She visited neighbors and friends,
and asked for contributions of soap, toothbrushes, and other daily
necessities for her men. They began to call her "the Angel of Death
Row", and as difficult as it may have been for both of them, "Ma" would
walk the last mile with those who had to go. Some of the men dedicated
their Bibles to her. She became their family. These
were her "sons".
These times were not trouble free. She had
differences with the Cook County jail director who disapproved
of her and of her mission. He ordered that she be excluded
from the list of jail visitors, and would not allow her to return. Unable
to return to Cook County, "Ma" took her mission to the State institutions. She
went to the prisons every Sunday, saying that was her church even
though she was a member of St. Paul C.M.E. church, and a lifetime
CME Minister.
"Ma" Houston became involved not only in prisoner
advocacy, but she became involved in the Civil Rights movement,
and her work took on a National scope. She became very
prominent in the movement and developed lasting friendships with
people like Dick Gregory and many significant others. She
marched and fought for rights with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Reverend Jackson, and all of the strong men and women who birthed
that movement. "Ma" was a founding board
member of Operation Breadbasket under the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson,
Sr.
Even though "Ma" only had a third grade education, she wrote
a regular column for the historic Chicago Courier newspaper. Of
necessity, she became an entrepreneur\businesswoman, too. To
earn money, she began to carry a little wooden picnic basket. From
this basket she would sell candy, pickles and other little goodies
she had purchased wholesale. She also sold the newspapers
in which her articles would appear. Everywhere she went,
people would buy from her. Soon, there were those who
would give her $5 for a candy bar or $10 for a bag of potato chips. "Ma" would
use her profits not only to run her daily expenses, but to purchase things
her "sons" needed in the jails and prisons. Eventually,
some of the African American business community gave her a brand
new station wagon that was presented to her with a big red bow,
her name on the sides and back, and with her chosen scripture; Matthew
25: I was in prison and ye visited me not.
With community grant money, Reverend Kwame John Porter and others supplied "Ma" with
gas for a year, a chauffeur and a secretary. Prior to that, "Ma" had done
her own scheduling of appointment, contacts and speaking engagements. She
had also hand-written her own letters, to which she always added scriptures.
"Ma" was
eventually welcomed back to visits at Cook County Jail. After her appointment
by Governor Richard Ogilvie as a volunteer on the Prisoner's Grievance Hearing
Board, she served in that capacity under three Illinois governors. She
was originally nominated to that Board by then Representative Peggy Smith Martin.
The
Jessie W. "Ma" Houston Community Correctional Center, named in her honor by the
Illinois Department of Corrections, under the directorship of Gayle Franzen,
for the service and lifetime commitment she gave, is located at 712 N. Dearborn
in Chicago, IL. Presently a move is in progress. A new facility that
will house 500 women is being built and it will bear the name of Jessie W. "Ma" Houston.
"Ma" Houston's
memory has also been honored by the placement of a star at the gateway to the
Bronzeville neighborhood, at 33rd and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, in
Chicago, IL, and in that same city, a park has been dedicated in her name. That
park is located at 50th and Cottage Grove.
The prison work and legacy of "Ma" Houston
continues through her daughter, Reverend Helen E. Sinclair, a Chaplain for the
Illinois Department of Corrections, and her granddaughter, Fahmeeda Newman-Veal. They
are the leaders of the Jessie W. "Ma" Houston Prison Outpost of the RainbowPUSH Coalition. |
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