re-becoming mohagany

Re-Becoming Mohagany

Mohagany Foster was released from New Hanover Correctional Center in Wilmington, N.C. on November 8, 2022 after a year-long sentence. As a trans woman, the county housed her in a men’s facility against her wishes because of gender laws in the United States prison system. Finally released, Mohagany is now working toward reclaiming her female identity in the real world. With support from the Durham LGBTQ+ community, she has found housing in northern Durham and is applying for jobs as a social justice advocate for the trans and Black community.

Mohagany speaks with her parole officer on the phone while waiting outside her office for their appointment. Her parole officer was half an hour late to the meeting. Mohagany is on parole for nine months with a 7pm curfew every night and has to meet with her officer every week to make sure she’s on track.

Ash Johnson, one of Mohagany’s primary advocates helping her post-release, helps Mohagany bring inside pillows and other items she got from the LGBTQ+ Center of Durham to help furnish her new apartment. When Mohagany was released from prison, she found that one of the women in her halfway house stole all of her possessions, leaving her to completely start her life over at age 44.

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