Theresa Lacey was a highly respected antiracist organizer, advocate and credentialed counselor from New York. Theresa was a subtle but yet steadfast social justice activist for the forgotten and oppression. She received training from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) and became deeply committed to racial equity and criminal justice reform.
Theresa was passionate about addressing the personal, cultural and systemic effects of racism on women of color. She was a tireless organizer and was instrumental in establishing a monthly Women of Color Group and was the lead organizer for an Undoing Racism® & Community Organizing Workshop specifically for women of color that impacted the lives of hundreds. This work led to her to also connecting to Black Lives Matter and Women’s Justice movement. Before her health deteriorated she was pursuing her dream of becoming a trainer for PISAB.
While working at Sing-Sing prison as a counselor she devoted herself to improving the well-being and defending the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and their families. She took risk at work and consistently advocated for important institutional changes that impacted their lives from imprisonment to re-entry.
She started the Christmas Pen Pal program, where she organized folks on the “outside” to write holiday cards to every person at Sing-Sing. This act of service led to the opening of doors for organizers on both sides of the wall to develop relationships.
While off-duty she attended rallies, protests and mentored several young formerly incarcerated men. She was an involved member of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement and Black Law Enforcement Alliance in New York City. Both organizations were on the frontlines seeking justice for people involved with the criminal justice system.
Lastly, Theresa was the epitome of a Black Mother and a voice for the Black Family in America. She was nurturing, protective and fiercely devoted to her children’s development, safety and enrichment. Her husband affectionately called her “Mother Hen.” Although she and her husband only had a middle-class income she was the foster parent, guardian and provider for at least five boys that had been abandoned by their families. She loved and accepted them as her own.
She befriended, embraced, fought for and defended the less fortunate for much of her life. She left her family, friends, community and others with a model of what “LOVE IN ACTION” looks like.
For Black History Month, CBS News did a feature on the TEP Center and the story of the “New Orleans Four”: Ms. Leona Tate, Ms.
Mr. Ronald Chisom, PISAB co-founder and former Executive Director, was honored as one of New Orleans’ Black Hidden Heroes in a celebration on May 26th.
On May 10, a group of anti-racist organizers made a trip from New Orleans to Tchula, Mississippi, reconnecting with the people and a place that
