PULSE writes ‘Letters to Incarcerated Women’

Korean studies. She emphasized the racial implications of social injustice within the legal system and the obstacles put in place to prevent people from corresponding with those incarcerated in Broome County.

Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate (PULSE) held a letter writing event in support of incarcerated women.

On Tuesday, March 7, PULSE — a community organization that works to empower women with a focus on intersectionality — hosted “Letters to Incarcerated Women” in the Binghamton University Union.

Participants had the opportunity to write messages to women currently incarcerated in Broome County in order to “remind incarcerated women of their value and encourage them to look forward to life outside the system,” according to an Instagram post by the organization. This event was part of their larger PULSE month initiative, which aims to “empower women of color” throughout March — International Women’s Month.

The event began with a speech from Karen Alburquerque, the vice president of PULSE and a senior double-majoring in biology and

“Broome County itself has the highest incarceration rate in New York state with its disproportionate outcomes affecting the Black community and other communities of color including women,” Alburquerque said. “The institution of Broome County’s carceral system has left us unable to send letters to these women without jumping through hoops, so we hope to work with an organization in the area that works with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women from the prison system.”

In 2021, The Vera Institute — a nonprofit that researches solutions to end mass incarceration — released a report on the size and demographics of Broome County’s jail population. The report stated that, in 2020, “among New York City and the 57 counties outside the city, Broome County had the second highest incarceration rate.

BTV6 and CSB combine to form new club