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In this episode, for Black History Month, Jill interviews her longtime friend Rashine Curry (Rah Rah), a mother of six from Atlantic City. Rah Rah describes how poverty, racism, and systemic bias shaped her life, including incarceration, untreated mental illness, and medical neglect in prison. She shares major losses: her daughter’s father was murdered when the baby was six months old, her longtime partner and father of her other children was murdered, and she was not allowed to attend his funeral while incarcerated. She also recounts her brother’s murder, being raped in prison, and witnessing incarcerated people die after requests for medical help were ignored. 

Rah Rah talks about how she welcomed a woman, who once sheltered Rah Rah and her children during homelessness, into her home for hospice. Rah Rah provided hands-on care, kept family visitors close, used music meant for hospice patients, and says Ms. Denise died peacefully on December 20. Rah Rah also speaks about her father’s ongoing incarceration: he received a 65-years-to-life sentence for snatching a bag of money from UPS, has been imprisoned about 35 years, is now 75, blind, and showing signs of dementia and being denied clemency despite petitions. 

00:00 From Prison to Peace: Rah’s New Life

00:15 Meet the Host + Black History Month Episode Setup

01:21 How Cathedral Kitchen Opened Jill’s Eyes to Systemic Bias

03:03 Rah Introduces Herself: Atlantic City, Motherhood, and Reentry

06:16 Grief Piled on Grief: Murders, Separation, and Mental Health

11:38 Survival, Crime, and the Inhumanity of Prison

14:29 Paying It Forward: Bringing Her Benefactor Home for Hospice

19:43 The Final Days: Love, Exhaustion, and Letting Her Rest

23:04 After Death: Signs, Spirits, and What Still Lingers at Home

24:01 Spirits at Home: Feeling Ms. Denise Still Around

25:12 Signs & Comfort: When the Spirit Tries to Calm You

26:10 Remembering Ms. Denise: The Life of a Beloved Friend

27:54 Show Up Before It’s Too Late: Visiting Loved Ones at End of Life

31:31 Her Father’s Prison Story: A Final Visit in Handcuffs

34:34 Aging, Dementia & Prison Reform: Why Keep Him Locked Up?

35:52 Clemency Denied & Life Inside Blind: The System’s Failures

39:51 Coping With Grief: Music, Grandkids, and Staying Busy

41:36 Cathedral Kitchen Changed My Life: Certificates, Community, and Purp

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