MICHELE EVANS — ADVOCACY & PUBLIC RECORD
A documented collection of advocacy, testimony, published writing, media coverage, creative work and the public record surrounding Michele Evans.
ADVOCACY IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
Michele Evans testified before the New York City Council’s Committee on Criminal Justice jointly with the Committee on Women and Gender Equity about her incarceration at Rikers Island from January 2019 through June 2020. Her testimony described filthy conditions, cockroaches, rats, overcrowded holding cells and the lasting impact of what she experienced there.
Hearing: New York City Council — Committee on Criminal Justice jointly with the Committee on Women and Gender Equity
Date: April 27, 2021
Subject: Women’s experiences in New York City jails and conditions at Rikers Island
“I’m Michele Evans and I was incarcerated in Rikers from the beginning of January 2019 until June of 2020. What I experienced there won’t leave me.”
Her testimony begins around page 136 of the transcript. She describes working in the mess hall killing cockroaches, rats and filthy living conditions, as well as overcrowded Manhattan Supreme Court holding cells where people had to lie on the floor.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT →THE FULLER STORY
80 ITEMS
ADVOCACY & MEDIA
Gothamist / WNYC — “NY prosecutors undermining state law that protects domestic violence survivors in court”. Current DVSJA/survivor-justice article quoting me.
VIEW SOURCE →ADVOCACY & MEDIA
The Times of London — “Creative Rikers Island inmates writing books to pass the time”. Mentions my Rikers Island experience and book.
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The New York Times — “How a Notorious Jail Became a Literary Hotbed”. Article about how Rikers Island became a literary hotbed.
VIEW SOURCE →ADVOCACY & MEDIA
The New York Times opinion — “I Got Covid at Rikers. I’m Still Suffering”. Op-Ed about my time in Rikers Island when Covid hit New York
VIEW SOURCE →ADVOCACY & MEDIA
Hour Children repost/link — “I Got Covid at Rikers. I’m Still Suffering”. Useful secondary link for the NYT Covid/Rikers essay if NYT itself is paywalled or hard to surface.
VIEW SOURCE →ART & EXHIBITIONS
Weeksville Heritage Center — “Torture Island: Past, Present, Future”. Lists my exhibit, "Whispers Unfinished" among the Narrative Change Community Fellows Exhibitions.
VIEW SOURCE →ART & EXHIBITIONS
Prism covers the Rikers Public Memory Project’s “Torture Island: Past, Present, Future” exhibition at Weeksville Heritage Center and lists visual artist Michele Evans among the 2024 Narrative Change Community Fellows whose work was featured in the exhibition.
VIEW SOURCE →ART & EXHIBITIONS
New York Almanack — “Riker’s Island Exhibit Explores ‘Torture Island’s’ Past, Present, Future”. Covers the Weeksville/Rikers Public Memory Project exhibition and lists me as a sculpture fellow.
VIEW SOURCE →ART & EXHIBITIONS
Rikers Public Memory Project — About / Fellows page. Lists me as the Sculpture Cohort.
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ART & EXHIBITIONS
Rikers Public Memory Project Instagram — sculpture reel References me saying I am a Rikers Public Memory Project fellow and working on a sculpture called “Whispers Unfinished” using clay, metal, and chains.
VIEW SOURCE →ART & EXHIBITIONS
Note (Japan) — “Whispers Unfinished” / Rikers Public Memory Project. Japanese arts and oral-history feature showcasing photographs of Michele Evans’s sculpture work, where clay, chains, and fragmented forms transform incarceration, memory, and survival into visual testimony.
VIEW SOURCE →RIKERS & PUBLIC RECORD
The U.S. Sun — “Battered Naked in Shower, Gut-Wrenching Deaths & the ‘Murder Dorm’… Life Inside America’s Most Notorious Jail”. Features Michele Evans discussing trauma experienced at Rikers Island and the lasting psychological impact of incarceration amid broader reporting on violence and conditions inside the jail system.
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