Ashley C. Ford on Growing Up With an Incarcerated Parent
![Ashley C. Ford wears beige sweater.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/08/Blog-Ashley-C.-Ford-800x533.jpg)
![Ashley C. Ford wears beige sweater.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/08/Blog-Ashley-C.-Ford-800x533.jpg)
One in 12 American children — more than 5.7 million kids — have experienced parental incarceration at some point during their lives. Black Americans are 50 percent more likely than white Americans to have a family member who is formerly or currently incarcerated. At the ACLU, we are working to to significantly reduce the footprint of the criminal legal system in the United States, because we know the ramifications of incarceration are broad, complex and damaging.
Incarceration doesn’t just impact the person incarcerated: its ripple effect can be felt throughout the families and communities — particularly communities of color. Our guest on At Liberty this week understands all of this on a visceral level.
Ashley C. Ford is a writer, podcaster, and educator who deals with topics including race, sexuality, and body image. This June, Ford released her debut memoir, Somebody’s Daughter, which details her experience growing up with a single mom and an incarcerated dad as a Black kid in Indiana. When released, Somebody’s Daughter became an instant New York Times bestseller. Ashley joins us on the podcast to talk about her book, mass incarceration, and what justice means to her from where she stands today.