Marissa Alexander Talks About Her Release with Melissa Harris-Perry

by Michelle Denise Jackson


On Saturday's episode of Melissa Harris-Perry's weekly show on MSNBC, Harris-Perry talked with Marissa Alexander via satellite, about her release, her future plans, and what it has been like for the mother of three to return home, after being away from her children for so long.

As we know, Alexander was released from jail earlier this week, to serve the remainder of her three-year sentence under "community control," which requires her to remain at home unless going to approved appointments or work.

The video shows footage of Alexander picking up her youngest daughter from school—just one of many things that she was prevented for doing for her children while she was incarcerated for protecting herself from her abusive husband. While speaking on the show about what it was like to parent her children while behind bars, Marissa Alexander told Harris-Perry and viewers:

One of the things I did, I continued to write them. I did call them. I didn't push them to come and visit if they had things they wanted to do. You know, I wanted to make sure that they had some normalcy. But when I got back home, I realized just how much they had missed me… My teenage daughter had all of my clothes that she was wearing while I was gone… because she wanted to feel some type of closeness to me.

Melissa Harris-Perry also spoke with Alexander's defense attorney, Faith Gay, and Joy Reid, MSNBC correspondent and host of The Reid Report. Reid covered the legal proceeding of Alexander's case, and spoke on the excessive measures that prosecutor Angela Corey took in seeking maximum punishment for Alexander, and painting her abuser as the victim.

You can watch part of Marissa Alexander's featured segment on the show below. You can also watch the first part of the segment on MSNBC.com, where Alexander discusses her future plans, now that she's been released.

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