July 31, 2024
Meet Lucinda Cross, The Black Woman Who Ensures Formerly Incarcerated People Know Their Right To Vote
Activate Your Life and Your Right To Vote
Lucinda Cross is leading the initiative to ensure formerly incarcerated individuals know their voting rights and register to vote.
Cross officially launched her nonprofit, Activate Your Life, in 2015. She helps formerly incarcerated women and youth between the ages of 18 and 24 reenter society. She noticed an alarming trend within this community: people who served time in prison didn’t know they could vote.
“I was constantly hearing, ‘I can’t vote, I’m not allowed to vote, or I have a felony,’” she tells BLACK ENTERPRISE
“Just hearing that individuals weren’t aware that serving time […] I knew I had to do something.”
According to Cross, more than 600,000 people across the United States are released from prison every year, and many are eligible to vote.
“That’s a big piece of the pie that’s missing in the electorate,” she says.
“In some states, you never lose the right, including Washington, D.C., Maine, and Vermont. In other states, your rights are restored right after you serve your time.”
She recognizes states like Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky are more strict about restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated citizens, but her goal is to educate people about how to participate in the democratic process through her nonprofit.
Formerly Incarcerated To Founder and CEO
This mission is personal for Cross. She was sentenced to federal prison for 3.5 years at 19-years-old. By the time she finished her sentence, she had only 30 days to find a job, but her employment options were not promising.
“When coming home, you’re told you have 30 days to get a job or you’re going back,” she recalls.
“There were a few things offered to me. Working in fast food, parenting, cosmetology, or horticulture classes.”
Cross says there’s a lack of programming for formerly incarcerated individuals to rebuild their lives, especially for women who deal with an extra layer of judgment.
“Society already has a label on you, so it’s hard to get housing and the basic support you need with a felony or background,” says Cross. “Many times, you’re forced back into the toxic environment you left. Women suffer silently because they’re often embarrassed or ashamed. As a woman in society, you’re looked at as a person who shouldn’t do anything wrong.”
Cross was fortunate to have a friend working at a telemarketing company because it gave her a different path from what was expected of her. She recognizes that not everyone has someone to fall back on, so she works to fill the gap for women through her nonprofit.
“Women need more than ‘dress for success’ programs. With my nonprofit, we offer programs that focus on life skills and public speaking, working on effective communication to help them get a job confidently,” she says.
“We also have programs on personal branding so they can feel good about themselves, and I share my story.”
Following her role at the telemarketing company, Cross worked at a hospital and then went back to school, where she majored in Organizational Leadership. It took her 10 years after her time in federal prison to build a nonprofit, but she is proof to women that there is life after prison. She has helped over 20,000 women and youth through her nonprofit and the conferences she hosts for people reentering society. Recently, she has expanded her activism in restorative justice and restoring voting rights for convicted felons.
On Oct. 11, 2024 -– the same date she was arrested in 1996 –- she plans to host a voting rally to get people formerly incarcerated registered to vote in Queens, New York.
“The goal is to get individuals to register to vote, understand their rights as a citizen, and to push for restorative justice,” Cross says.
“The main focus is to get them to register to vote.”
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