Hey, hey, hey!!! Empresses of the World. Welcome to Unapologetically Caged, my life beyond the bars.
I am a 26-year-old incarcerated mother of two who goes by the name Phoenix Rising. I am UNAPOLOGETICALLY HER AND SHE IS ME. I’m here to dish out raw truth about surviving, thriving, and rising above the statistics of the system. But more than that, I’m here to be the voice that I needed when I was lost, broken, and searching for something—anything—to hold onto when the world felt like it was crumbling beneath my feet.
Why I’m Here, Why This Matters
I’m here to encourage myself and to give all you young ladies encouragement, telling you that it’s okay to be down and out. It’s OK to be from the suburbs or from the hood. You can rise and soar beyond the bullshit called life and hardship, heal from trauma, escape abuse, beat addiction, and become that better sister, daughter, or mother that you dream of becoming.
See, sometimes all we need is that extra push and commitment from someone who needs nothing in return, and that’s what Unapologetically Caged means to me. It’s not about pity or sympathy. It’s not about making excuses or playing victim. It’s about real talk from someone who’s been there, who’s living it, who understands that sometimes the path to finding yourself leads through the darkest places imaginable.
This space—this corner of the internet that I’m claiming from behind these walls—is a haven for the young, lost, and broken souls that are searching for a way out. If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning in your circumstances, if you’ve ever wondered if you’re destined to repeat the cycles that brought you pain, if you’ve ever looked in the mirror and wondered where the hell the person you used to be went—this is for you.
What We’ll Explore Together
Here, we will discuss women’s empowerment, strength, resilience, and the challenges of finding a light in a dark place. But we won’t sugarcoat it. We won’t pretend that inspiration alone is enough to change your life. We’ll get into the nitty-gritty of what it really takes to transform yourself when everything around you is designed to keep you exactly where you are.
We’ll talk about the messy middle of healing—the part they don’t show you in the movies, where progress isn’t linear and some days you feel like you’re back at square one. We’ll discuss what it means to be a mother when you can’t tuck your babies in at night, what it means to be a daughter when your family has written you off, and what it means to be a woman when society has already decided you’re disposable.
It took going to prison for me to learn real discipline and respect for not just authority but for myself, my loved ones, and my children. That’s a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes it takes losing everything to understand what you had. Sometimes it takes being stripped of your freedom to appreciate the choices you once took for granted.
But here’s the thing about rock bottom—it’s solid ground. When you’ve got nowhere to go but up, when you’ve lost everything that you thought defined you, you finally get to discover who you really are underneath all the roles, the expectations, the masks you’ve been wearing.
The Journey We’ll Take
During this journey together, we will laugh, we will cry, we will reflect on past and current situations, but above all, WE WILL ALL RISE ABOVE THE ASHES CALLED LIFE! Because that’s what we do. We rise. We might fall a hundred times, we might get knocked down so hard we forget our own names, but we get back up. It’s in our DNA as women, as survivors, as fighters who refuse to be counted out.
I won’t lie to you and tell you it’s easy. I won’t feed you some fairy-tale nonsense about how everything happens for a reason or how your struggles are just stepping stones to success. Sometimes life is just hard, unfair, and brutal. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and sometimes good people make poor decisions that alter the course of their entire lives.
But I will tell you this: your story isn’t over. Not even close.
The Reality of the System
I don’t want any of you young ladies ever to have to end up behind these steel bars and concrete walls because the judicial system breaks you down. Let me paint you a picture of what it’s really like, because the movies and TV shows get it all wrong.
The system will crush your spirit—not all at once, but slowly, methodically, like water wearing away stone. It will spit on your heart with its indifference, its bureaucracy, its complete disregard for your humanity. It will wipe your tears with your own blood, and you will sleep peacefully knowing another life was stripped of its dignity, its hope, its belief in second chances.
The System is a cage where they expect you to abide by the treatments like a zoo animal. They expect you to stay silent as though you were born without a voice, without opinions, without the basic human need to be seen and heard and acknowledged as more than just a number on a uniform.
But honey, let me tell you something—I RESPECTFULLY threw on my Jumanji gear, strapped my boots, put my rebellious pride to the side, and with that I ROSE as the ZOOKEEPER!
You see, they can cage your body, but they can’t cage your mind. They can control your movements, but they can’t control your thoughts. They can silence your voice in their halls, but they can’t stop you from speaking your truth to the world. When you realize that the real prison is the one in your mind—the one built by trauma, by addiction, by abuse, by all the lies you’ve been told about who you are and what you’re worth—that’s when you become dangerous to the system that wants to keep you down.
The Gems Hidden in Darkness
I also come to share the gems that I’ve uncovered in a place that sought to keep them hidden so that we can thrive as a community. Because here’s what they don’t tell you about hitting rock bottom: sometimes that’s where you find the most precious things. Sometimes the darkest places are where the brightest lights are discovered.
In prison, I’ve learned things about myself that I never would have discovered in the outside world. I’ve learned about resilience I didn’t know I possessed. I’ve learned about the power of sisterhood among women who have nothing left to lose. I’ve learned to find joy in the most minor things—a letter from home, a good book, or a moment of laughter shared with someone who understands your struggles.
I’ve learned that strength isn’t about never falling; it’s about getting back up every single time. I’ve learned that healing isn’t a destination; it’s a daily choice you make to be better than you were yesterday. I’ve learned that your past doesn’t have to dictate your future, but it can inform your wisdom.
These are the gems I want to share with you. Not because I think my pain is special or unique, but because I know that somewhere out there, there’s a young woman who needs to hear that she’s not alone, that her story isn’t over, that she has more power than she realizes.
What You’ll Find Here
Here, you’ll find stories—real stories from real women who’ve been through hell and are fighting their way back. You’ll find poems that bleed truth onto the page, words that refuse to be sanitized or made palatable for mass consumption. You’ll find practical advice on healing, building yourself up from nothing, and breaking cycles that have trapped your family for generations.
And it’s not only going to be sweet—there will also be spice, along with things that aren’t so nice because real life isn’t all motivational quotes and feel-good moments. Sometimes healing hurts. Sometimes growth is uncomfortable. Sometimes, the truth is ugly, harsh, and difficult to swallow.
But that’s where the fundamental transformation happens—not in the pretty moments, but in the messy, complicated, uncomfortable spaces where you have to look at yourself honestly and decide who you want to be.
A Community of Warriors
This isn’t just my story—it’s our story. Every woman who’s ever felt trapped, every mother who’s ever worried she’s failing her children, every daughter who’s ever disappointed her family, every sister who’s ever felt alone in her struggle. We are a community of warriors, and our scars are a testament to our battles, not our defeats.
We’re building something here together. A space where authenticity is valued over perfection, where growth is celebrated over success, where showing up broken is better than not showing up at all. We’re creating a sanctuary for the parts of ourselves that the world told us to hide—the messy parts, the imperfect parts, the parts that are still healing.
In this space, your trauma doesn’t make you damaged goods. Your mistakes don’t make you irredeemable. Your current circumstances don’t define your ultimate destination. Here, you are seen, you are valued, and you are believed in, even when you can’t believe in yourself.
Moving Forward Together
So whether you’re reading this from your bedroom, your car, your office, or even from behind bars like me, know that you belong here. Know that your story matters. Know that your healing journey is valid, even if it doesn’t look like anyone else’s.
We’re going to talk about the hard stuff—addiction, abuse, trauma, loss, failure, disappointment. However, we will also discuss resilience, hope, transformation, and the incredible power that lies dormant within every woman until she chooses to awaken it.
We’re going to challenge the narratives that society writes about women like us. We’re going to redefine what it means to be strong, what it means to be successful, and what it means to be worthy of love, respect, and second chances.
A Warning and an Invitation
Welcome to Unapologetically Caged. Remember, we get real here—proceed with caution, dolls.
This isn’t a space for the faint of heart. This isn’t where you come for pretty platitudes or easy answers. This is where you come when you’re ready to do the hard work of becoming who you were always meant to be. This is where you come when you’re tired of playing small, tired of settling, tired of letting your past dictate your future.
This is where you come when you’re ready to rise.
So, buckle up, empresses. We’ve got work to do, stories to tell, chains to break, and ashes to rise from. And we’re going to do it together, one truth at a time, one story at a time, one victory at a time.
Welcome to your transformation. Welcome to your power. Welcome to your unapologetic self.
Let’s rise.
Phoenix Rising is a 26-year-old mother writing from within the correctional system. Through Unapologetically Caged, she shares her journey of transformation and offers support to women facing similar struggles. Her mission is to create a community where authenticity, healing, and empowerment can flourish even in the darkest circumstances.