Daughters

[CM-BlueButterfly]

Netflix documentary that premieres Aug 14 2024

Quote

A moving portrait of empathy and forgiveness, Daughters traces an eight-year documentary journey by filmmaker Natalie Rae and social change advocate Angela Patton. The film intimately follows Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana as they prepare for a momentous Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers. Speaking openly about their aspirations, dreams, and the emotional toll of their fathers’ absence, compounded by the constraints of virtual visits, these girls reveal a profound wisdom and resilience beyond their years. As they navigate heartbreak, anger, and uncertainty, they seize a precious opportunity to forge connections. Daughters sheds light on the complexities of familial bonds strained by the unforgiving barriers of the criminal justice system and emphasizes that the foundation of community healing lies within the family unit.

 

[Bastet]

This was good, and I'm glad it brought attention to the Date With Dad program.  The fact that 95% of men who participated have not been re-incarcerated reminds me of every single prison program where inmates are given the opportunity to care for a shelter dog or cat and prepare them for adoption into a home -- same thing, it brings the recidivism rate down to almost nothing.  So why don't these things exist in every single jail and prison across the country?  Because a private, for-profit system depends on mass incarceration, so wants a punitive system, not one focused on rehabilitation and reintegration.

I was touched by the number of men who asked if the girls' mothers were going to be there, not because they didn't want them there due to any interpersonal drama, but because they worried that their daughters would be uncomfortable or even scared without them there, given how long it had been since they'd seen their dads (it is absolutely shameful how few touch visits are allowed).

I also appreciated the older girls who were comfortable sharing their anger along with their other emotions, especially Santana, born to teen parents who while only ten was having to help raise her younger siblings.  And the change from the bubbly five-year-old Aubrey to her eight-year-old self, knowing she has seven more years to go of this ... heartbreaking.

There were some profound moments, from the girls certainly, but also the fathers -- one saying that for those six hours, he didn't feel incarcerated, so much so that it was actually jarring to him at the end of the night when he had to get back into his jail clothes and cell rather than going home with his daughter.  Another saying the streets don't love us or want us - we thought they did, and that's how we wound up here - but our kids do. 

I wish the best for these families, and wish so many more of them could benefit from this program.