While working on my doctorate work, I’m watching the Martha Stewart Documentary in the background. Like most people with ADHD, I work better with a little noise. I expected it to be on the lighter side; something to listen to but not invest in too much. I was very wrong, because I was immediately sucked in.
Thankfully, Director RJ Cutler used this as an opportunity to chronicle our nation’s broken justice system. The message is clear: yes, the system is adversarial, it’s undoubtedly politically motivated, and once it wants you, it’s going to get its hooks in one way or another.
And as a woman who has also worked her butt off, survived misconduct doled out by the criminal justice system, and crafts like it’s no one’s business, I couldn’t help but relate and feel kinship.
The Federal Criminal Justice System
A significant portion of the documentary discusses her Federal Case, and the documentary especially details how unscrupulous prosecutors will paint you as a monster for their benefit. Martha describes being treated like a “trophy by these idiots in the US Attorney’s Office.”
Remember Jim Comey? Yeah…that schmuck. He was the US Attorney on her case.
Martha was found guilty, even though she had done nothing wrong. People in power were looking to make an example, and when they couldn’t find her guilty of Insider Trading, they wanted to find another way to “get her.” They succeeded and they made a media circus out of it.
She nearly lost everything she had worked for.
Prison and Advocacy
She spent time in solitary confinement. She saw fights. She struggled with her mental health. In speaking about the depression, she said she knew she “had to get out of that fucking hole.”
Another reason I love Martha; out there dropping F Bombs with a manicure and her head held high, like the boss she is.
Rather than let the system defeat her spirit, she got to work. She cultivated relationships around her. She recognized the hidden talents of incarcerated women. Upon release, she wore a sweater a friend made for her.
She began speaking out about how prison does nothing to “rehabilitate” or “educate,” she set out to make people aware of what’s really happening behind the barbed wire. Even though she served a short sentence over 20 years ago, her experience and retelling demonstrates two things:
- Little has changed in the prison system and there is still so much work to be done.
- Life marches on after a prison sentence and what you make of it, is up to you.
Of Martha’s prison sentence, Isolde Motley, editor of Martha Stewart Living said, “She had lived before that being worried about what people thought of her. And then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. And she survived it.”
She made it out of the worst moment of her life, played out a worldwide scale. She came out alright.
Better than alright.
Reinventing Martha
Martha says, “when you’re through changing something, you’re through.” She knew she had to adapt and grow. She could remain stagnant, or she could do something new.
So she reinvented herself. She said yes to projects she may not have in the past. She became best friends with Snoop Dog. She reminded everyone she’s still a thirst trap:
Love her or hate her, I applaud Martha for her candidness in sharing her story.
Further, I applaud all of the other women who rebuild themselves and do not have the same platform and resources. Who still tell their stories even if the world isn’t hanging on their every word. We as advocates have an ethical responsibility to make sure their voices are lifted, too.
Reinventing Ourselves
More importantly, the documentary plants an important seed: why shouldn’t the same be true for any of us? Why does the system have to destroy everything that a person works for at all? Especially if someone does not have the resources and platform to regain their bearings and rebuild from the ashes.
May we all be so lucky to land safely on our feet.
May we help others get to the other side safely.
But most importantly, may we not be idiots like Jim Comey.
Thank you, Martha, for climbing out of “that fucking hole.” Your documentary was everything I didn’t know I needed today.
I can assure you, it was a good thing.
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