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00:00Hi, friends. How are you today? Hi. How are you? I hope you're having a good day so far.
00:05My name is Bailey Sarian, and today is Monday, which means it's Murder, Mystery, and Makeup
00:09Monday. If you're new here, hi. My name is Bailey Sarian, and on Mondays, I sit down and talk about
00:15a true crime story that's been heavy on my login, and I do my makeup at the same time.
00:22If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, I would say subscribe.
00:25If not, that's okay, too. I mean, do whatever you want. You know, live your life. I know it's rough
00:31out there, so just live your life. Do whatever makes you happy, okay? Before we get into today's
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02:32A big thank you to Rocket Money for partnering with me on today's episode. Now, let's get into today's
02:37story. So I was trying to go for, like, a cute, like, librarian hairdo today, but I don't know. I don't know if it's
02:44working for me. So with that being said, I'm going to go for soldiery, librarian look, whatever that
02:50means. I'll make sure to list in the description box what products I'm using, but let me tell you
02:54about today's story. So today we're going to be talking about Joanne Little's story. And her story
03:01begins with a harrowing night that would, like, change everything. A young woman alone in a cold
03:07jail cell, she's faced with a horrifying choice, okay? Submit to unspeakable violence or fight back
03:16against her attacker. Now, what happened next would thrust her into a high-stakes battle for her
03:22freedom, her life, and her humanity, really. This story is kind of, like, wacky and all over the
03:30place, but at the end of the day, it isn't just, like, a story about survival. It's a tale of resilience,
03:34defiance, and, like, the fight to uncover the truth in a case that left the nation on edge.
03:42How did one woman's desperate act of self-defense spark a trial that gripped, gripped the country?
03:51Today we're talking about Joanne Little, a name you might not know, but honestly you should. You
03:57should. I didn't know her story until I started digging around, and I was like, oh my god, she changed
04:02the game. She changed the freaking game. So today's story takes place in Washington, North Carolina in
04:111954. I guess at this time it had, like, that classic sleepy southern charm to it, but, you know,
04:18don't be mistaken, this was a Jim Crow era, so people were just, like, straight up racist, and, like,
04:23period. There's, like, no nice way to say it, but that's just what it was. They were. There was kind
04:28of a spark of hope because that same year the Brown versus Board of Education ruling came down. This
04:34essentially declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. So it was kind of like,
04:39okay, like, again, that kind of glimmer of hope that things are moving forward, but in small towns
04:46like Washington, North Carolina, you know, this whole ruling was only met with resistance and tension.
04:53People didn't give a rat's ass what this ruling said. And, of course, because this is a small town,
05:00you know, communities were very tight, and gossip would spread like crazy. So Washington, North Carolina
05:07is the town that Miss Joanne Little was born on May 9th, 1954. Joan was the oldest, and, like, right after
05:17her, she literally had six younger siblings and then four half-siblings. So do math. Beep, bop, boop.
05:26Ten. Yeah, I liked my delay there. Okay, but yeah, ten. So Joanne, since she's the oldest, she stepped in
05:35as, like, the parent figure to take care of her siblings. And, you know, that's the case with a lot
05:40of families. But she was dealing with a lot. Okay. Her father had left to go to New York. I guess he
05:47had a job offer out there, so he took off. And then Joanne's mom, her name was Jessie. I think
05:54maybe she was on a spiritual journey. I'm not quite sure. But she was known to visit people called
06:01root workers who are, I guess, like, healers in the hoodoo tradition. Now, hoodoo tradition,
06:09tradition, I was like, beep, bop, boop. Let me go on Google and try and figure out what does that
06:13mean. What I learned, essentially, is that hoodoo, it's, like, a spiritual tradition and practice
06:19that originated during the enslavement of African people in the United States. And I guess it blends
06:26African spiritual practices with elements of Christianity, Native American traditions,
06:30and European folklore, I believe. Yes. It combines African practices and elements of indigenous
06:38botanical knowledge. And these root workers mainly work and use plants to help with certain stuff,
06:47potions, prayers, to help people. That's what I read online, so if I'm wrong in the comment section,
06:54you can always let me know. Like, hey girl, actually, no. Anyway, it's not fully clear, like,
07:01why Joanne's mom, Jessie, was with the local root workers all the time. Maybe she was working with
07:08them, helping them. I don't know. But she was spending a lot of time with them. All that to say
07:13that Joanne was the one at home taking care of everyone. And she's a kid herself. On top of all
07:19that, taking care of her family and whatnot, she was also attending school. And then in ninth and tenth
07:24grade, it was said that Joanne, she picked up some different jobs. You know, she had to make money to
07:30take care of the family. Poor thing. She had so much on her plate. So again, she's just a ninth,
07:36tenth grader. She was working as a waitress. She worked in the tobacco industry. And then at some
07:41point, she was working for like a garment factory. But maybe all the pressure of school and work just
07:48like got to her because she kind of like got a reputation for running away a lot. And I don't
07:55blame her, you know. At one point, she had a social worker and the social worker even referred to Joanne
08:02as an escape artist and that she developed a habit for just up and leaving at moment's notice. So her
08:10teenage years got a little rocky. She stopped going to school and she started hanging out with the wrong
08:16crowd. You know how that goes. When the teenagers start hanging out with the wrong crowd.
08:22Yeah, she was hanging out with the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd. And she's getting to like some
08:24like low petty crimes. So to make a long story short, her mother gets involved, tries to send her away
08:31to a school for girls, but it doesn't work out. And then so her mom sends her to Philadelphia to live
08:37with family. And when she's in Philly, actually, Joanne does a lot better. And she's able to graduate high
08:44school. And yeah, that's great. Right. She gets back on track. But then three weeks after the
08:51graduation, Joanne developed a thyroid problem. So she ended up moving back with her her mom and then
09:00getting, you know, the surgery that she needed to get. So now that she's out of school, she's 18. She once
09:08again, kind of just meets the wrong people. She meets this guy, his name is Julius Rogers. And I guess
09:15he was much older than her. I forget how old, but he was older. And he ran the local pool hall. And in
09:23town, people referred to this, this guy as like, he, this Julius guy, he led a fast life.
09:31You know, whatever. Yeah, he's a fast life. He was reckless. Those are the quotes I read about him.
09:39Well, Joanne and this guy, they meet, they seem to hit it off. And Joanne actually ends up like moving
09:46in with him pretty quickly. So at this point in Joanne's life, things kind of progress, you know,
09:52her crime, the crimes and stuff, they get worse. She starts to get into like some serious trouble with
09:57the law. Between December 1973 and January of 1974, Joanne was arrested multiple times for theft.
10:05The guy that she was seeing and hanging out with and dating, I guess, he was essentially like the
10:10ring leader of this group of thieves. And Joanne was included, you know, they would break into homes,
10:17rob them. That's what they did. Now Joanne, she actually got caught a handful of times, like literally
10:25got caught, was arrested, but they would let her go. Reasons unclear, but it was like, girl,
10:33that was a close call. Like, stop, you know? When I was reading it, I was like, girl,
10:39just stop. Just stop now. But she didn't, you know? Joanne would end up getting arrested
10:45and charged with three separate counts of breaking and entering and larceny for driving a car with stolen
10:53plates. So for all of this, in 1974, Joanne Little would be sentenced to 10 years in prison. So Joanne,
11:02she is 20 years old at this point. And mind you, she's, she's very petite. And she's sent to Beaufort
11:08County Jail, where she would be the only woman in there. The jail used a video system to keep the
11:15prisoners under observation, as most do, you know, which meant Joanne was monitored at all times to
11:21make sure that she was not doing anything fishy, right? But to her, it was uncomfortable. Again,
11:28she was the only lady there. And the people who are working, it's an all male staff. So there was one
11:36instance where Joanne tried to like use her bedsheet to cover the camera while she took a shower in her
11:42cell. But quickly they responded and they took all of her bedsheets away as punishment.
11:49No bedsheets for you.
11:50So Joanne has been in prison for about, I think it's like two months at this point.
11:56And at the early hours of three or 4am on August 27th, 1974, one of the guards working that morning
12:05walked the cells as they do to make sure that everything was good. When he gets down the line
12:10to Joanne's cell, he discovers the 62 year old officer, Clarence Ollygood, dead, just laying face down,
12:21dead with no Joanne in sight. Now, according to Joanne, this is what happened that night. Clarence Ollygood
12:31was a jailer working that night. Earlier, he had brought her cigarettes and sandwiches. She said
12:38she had never asked for it and didn't know he was going to come back and ask for quote unquote
12:45payment. She told him no and asked him to leave, but he did not. She said he then came into her cell
12:54holding an ice pick. I know. I was like an ice pick. It's so random. An ice pick? What? Yes,
13:02an ice pick. So the jailers would use the ice pick to like unclog drains and stuff. Yeah,
13:09I did look into it. So I was like, why do they have an ice pick? Unclog drains, you guys. So he,
13:15but he has the ice pick. And according to Joan, he was using the ice pick to threaten her into having
13:21oral sex. So she said she went along with it and then at one point saw an opportunity to snatch the
13:29ice pick out of his hands. So she went for it. I guess at this point, the two had struggled for a
13:35bit, but Joanne was able to get the ice pick out of his hands and then stab Clarence multiple times.
13:43Joanne said that he then fell on the ground. She saw blood on his face. She grabbed some clothes,
13:50the keys off of his chain, and then she got out of there. Joanne said she went to a family member's
13:56home first, like when she escaped, and they wouldn't take her in pretty much because by the
14:02time that Joanne had gotten there, the news was already out. And news had spread really quickly that
14:09she was on the run, okay? And the family didn't want to put themselves in jeopardy.
14:14So then Joanne goes to an older man in her community and he goes by the name Pop Barnes.
14:21And Pop Barnes had lived across the street from her school. And like he would like sit on the porch
14:26every morning and say hello to the kids. Every day he would do that. On top of that, his house wasn't
14:31too far from the jail. And Pop Barnes said that he wanted to help her, so he took her in. Shortly after,
14:37the police came to Pop Barnes' home looking for Joanne. They were just going everywhere in the area,
14:43you know? And Pop Barnes, he would not give the police anything to work with. The police even came
14:50back and offered him a year's salary if he told them where Joanne was, but he still didn't turn her in.
14:58He said he wouldn't do it because he felt that she needed help. So she ends up hiding at Pop Barnes'
15:05home for about six days. Meanwhile, the media got hold of this and people were listening to like,
15:11you know, the evening updates on the radio. So the radio is reporting like black female inmate
15:17escapes from prison, killed white jailer on the run. Just really like sending the town into a frenzy.
15:25They were all getting riled up, obviously. So people are getting all riled up and people are talking,
15:31right? Well, eventually, some allegations about Clarence's past started to come out. Like,
15:38people were like, oh yeah, like talking about Mr. Clarence over here. You see, Clarence Ollygood was a
15:4462-year-old white man working as a prison guard, but he actually had quite the reputation around him.
15:52He was known for giving female prisoners gifts like snacks, magazines, cigarettes, whatever, but only
16:01accepting sexual favors as payment, allegedly. What's gross is that he was known for this,
16:11which to me meant people knew he did this, you know? Clarence had been working at, you know, different
16:22prisons or in jails or whatever. And eventually he was working at Beaufort for about a year
16:28when Joanne came in. So all these allegations are coming out about Clarence. The sheriff who had worked
16:33with Clarence at the jail said that Clarence was the most security-minded man they ever had there and he
16:43had no idea about what was going on, essentially giving a very PR answer. You know how it sounds.
16:52We are shocked and disappointed to hear of the allegations about... You know, it was like that.
16:59And you're just like eye roll. But then one of Clarence's... I gotta do my makeup. I keep forgetting
17:05because I just want to tell you what happened. But then one of Clarence's friends... I don't know
17:10about that, but whatever. He starts talking. He said that him and Clarence would get coffee like pretty
17:17often and this friend was very skeptical about the allegations. He told people and essentially the press
17:28that Clarence was too racist to be with a black woman. So like none of this made sense.
17:33Oh, and then Clarence's wife? Yeah. Surprise. Turns out, married. Six kids. Yeah. So she comes out
17:43and she's like, she ends up agreeing with the friend. She's like, yeah, it's true. Clarence didn't
17:49like black people that much. It's like, what? But that was the defense. I don't... Okay. So at this
17:58point though, you know, Joanne was still hiding and considered a fugitive. A local judge was actually
18:05trying to have Joanne considered an outlaw. It sounds fake, something like not real. During this time,
18:11I don't know what the law is now, but if you were considered an outlaw, it would essentially,
18:16the law would allow anyone to seek and shoot the outlaw down. Anyone. Which is wild. So people were
18:28pushing to like make her an outlaw because then anyone could like seek and shoot her down. Luckily,
18:33this received a lot of backlash and it didn't happen, but like they were pushing really, really hard.
18:39And when I was learning about that law, I was like, this is so scary. They consider you an outlaw.
18:43Just anyone can come and like get you. It's while she's hiding at Pop Barnes that she learns about
18:49Clarence's death. She had no idea that he died. She's, you know, I guess just stabbed him and then got
18:56the hell out of there. It was said that if she had known he had died, she wouldn't have run in the
19:02first place. I don't want to believe her, but I think I would run. Luckily though, she was able to
19:07get connected with a really great lawyer in North Carolina. His name was Jerry Paul. Now,
19:14Jerry Paul was a white male lawyer who did a lot of civil rights work within the state. I guess a
19:21lot of lawyers didn't like him because he handled cases that were considered quote unquote controversial,
19:28like discrimination cases and stuff like that. They're like, that's controversial to stand up for
19:34human rights. That's crazy. Anyway, so he wanted to work with Joanne Little. So they were able to
19:40find like where she was located and they made a plan to sneak her out of Pop Barnes' home. They
19:45needed to have a plan because the police were constantly patrolling the area and they were
19:49looking for her. And if she got arrested right then and there, most likely they knew like she was
19:56probably going to end up dead. People were raging, fuming. They were upset. How dare she? So they came
20:03up with a plan to turn herself in. And on September 4th, 1974, Jerry escorted Joanne to the State Bureau,
20:14the State Bureau of Investigation, where she surrendered. Joanne was charged with first-degree murder,
20:22which in North Carolina at the time was an automatic death sentence. So my first thought was,
20:30oh, they had all those cameras, right? Like in the cell? Well, that probably caught everything
20:35and it's going to be the smoking gun. Well, of course, of course, of course, it wasn't working this
20:43week for the week of the murder. Of course, why would it? That's so, right? When does it ever work?
20:50When does camera security footage ever just work? It's so bizarre. It's just a weird thing. Never
20:56works. So weird. So it wasn't working. Great. Awesome. Before turning herself in, Joanne had like
21:03every opportunity to leave forever. Literally, there are people outside of the country who are like,
21:09hey, you can come stay here. But she refused. She said that she wanted everyone to know what
21:14happened to her and why she did it, and that she wanted everyone to know the truth. So this
21:20case was set to be like pretty groundbreaking because it was intersecting issues of race,
21:25gender, and the right to self-defense. Her argument that she killed her jailer in self-defense against
21:34sexual assault, this actually marked like a significant moment in legal history,
21:39particularly in recognizing a Black woman's right to defend herself against violence. Which sounds like
21:47a no-brainer. But at this time, the conversation was definitely not in this direction. You know what
21:53I mean? All this media and talking in town really grew the case to something so much bigger. She drew
22:01the attention of civil rights advocates, death penalty opponents, and women's rights advocates,
22:07and they all rallied to her defense. Her defense was, he was raping me, and therefore I defended myself,
22:16and it resulted in death. And just in case you weren't clear, there were Joanne little legal defense
22:22committees, and these were like starting to pop up all over the United States, including a local chapter
22:28by Rosa Parks in Detroit. Yeah, if Rosa Parks is involved, they needed to step down. They needed to step
22:34away. But everyone was rallying behind her. It was incredible, just based off of what I was reading.
22:40I wasn't there, obviously. But what I was reading, there was so much support for her. And again, like,
22:45nobody was talking about rape. YouTube hates the word rape. They want me to say like sexual assault
22:52and stuff, but like, it's called rape, right? But back then, it's like, if you were raped, they truly had
22:57the mentality that that wasn't a thing, and you must have brought it upon yourself. I am getting ahead of
23:04myself. Let me continue with the story. So Joanne's trial was to start in July of 1975. There was a
23:10report from North Carolina's Washington Daily News, where they wrote, quote, Clarence Alligood was a
23:16good man who had died in the line of duty. And then the New York Times reported, for many of the whites
23:24in Washington, North Carolina, the most comfortable accommodation to the facts is that Joanne Little is
23:29a bad girl who enticed Alligood, a weak man, into her cell with a premeditated plan of murder and
23:36escape. That's how I imagine they talked. Okay, not funny, because obviously, they're like, um,
23:45trying to drag Miss Joanne. But then there was this one quote from this lady who lived in town,
23:51because you know, a lot of the community members were coming forward and giving their two cents on
23:55everything. And this one lady, her quote had me so confused. She said, quote, even if a girl has
24:03loose morals, she should be able to pick the man she wants to be raped by, end quote.
24:14Is she on our team? Whose team is she on? I can't figure her out. I had follow-up questions with that
24:19one. But I'm just gonna let you marinate on the mindset that's going on back there. That's,
24:25that's really it. So the case was first put before a Beaufort County grand jury. Now most thought this
24:33was just going to be an open and shut case. She murdered a guard and escaped. The end. But of
24:39course, there was a lot more to the story. And most of all, like the scene of the crime. As one officer
24:44put it at the time, he said that Clarence's body was found in like a very, quite odd way. Clarence
24:52was only dressed from the top up. So he had no pants on. He was lying face down on her bed or her
24:59bunk. I also read somewhere that he was laying face down on the floor. But either way, he was laying
25:05face down. Joanne's nightgown was found on the floor of the cell. Her bra was hanging from the cell
25:13door. And then under Clarence's body was a torn woman's bandana. But a huge piece of evidence and
25:21I think and a lot of people thought the most important piece of evidence was actually from
25:27the autopsy. On the autopsy, it showed multiple stab wounds, but also it showed that there was semen
25:35on Clarence's leg. Leg. Leg. Ah, semen. So the medical examiner actually reached out to the courts
25:47and said that he was willing to go before the jury to explain how semen actually showed evidence of
25:56sexual activity. Therefore, she's probably not lying. But for some reason that I could not figure out,
26:03the jury declined to hear from him. I was like, why? I don't know. I don't know. Well,
26:09along with the semen, there was one stab wound that proved to be fatal and the rest were defense
26:15wounds that were located in a way, you know, showing that someone, in this case Joanne,
26:21was fighting back. Like there were signs of a struggle. Defensive wounds. Meanwhile, Joanne's defense
26:27team used social science to get a fair trial because they knew that they were not going to get a fair
26:33trial. Okay. This had been all over the news. People are just discrediting Joanne. So they needed
26:41a new approach to jury selection. And at this time, nobody was really doing this. So again, this is like
26:48groundbreaking on multiple levels. So Joanne's team did surveys comparing the attitudes of white people
26:56towards black people between Beaufort and Pitt counties. Turns out about two thirds of respondents
27:03in both counties believe that black women were more sexual than white women. And also many believed
27:10that black people were just more violent than white people. In the end, the survey results showed that
27:17both counties were pretty racist, but it seems stronger in Beaufort County. So with this data behind
27:25them, Joanne's team, they petitioned to have her trial moved somewhere else where it was,
27:32you know, so she could have a fair, a fair trial. So it ends up getting approved. So Joanne's trial
27:39moved to the state capital, Raleigh. And with this, they felt Joanne would be able to have a fair trial.
27:46So luckily with this, they get their new trial, right? And in Raleigh, the jury was split evenly
27:53between black and white jurors. So this at least is off to a better start. But Joanne's defense team,
28:00they weren't fully focused on the jury. Joanne's case was getting more and more attention. And with
28:07that, her team was also trying to make sure that it, her case was staying like front and center in the
28:13media spotlight and that people were talking about it. The free Joanne campaigns were so successful that
28:20Joanne's defense team were able to get the first degree murder charge reduced to a second degree
28:26murder charge, which essentially meant that the death penalty was now like off the record. Finally,
28:33the proceedings began. The state had brought in like a handful of prosecutors. One specifically was named
28:41Lester Chalmers. He was assigned to this case as a prosecutor. Now, it was said that Lester,
28:49Lester, anyone named Lester, first of all, red flag, but Lester would wear a tie in court that had the
28:56KKK sign on it because he actually represented the KKK. So he was brought in to, you know,
29:06work this case. So it was just like not off to a good start there. Right. But the prosecution's
29:13strategy was to really push this idea that Joanne was a hyper sexual woman and essentially like they
29:20were going to show that she was a slut, a floozy, a hoe. And that was essentially what they were going
29:28to focus on. And they had one theory that they were just going to freaking present to the courts.
29:34Joanne wanted to get out of her cell. So she lured the man in. She stabbed him and then she escaped.
29:42Bada bing, bada boom. They were thinking that's it. That's exactly what it is. It's nothing more
29:47than that. That was her strategy. But during the trial, other women actually came forward to testify
29:52about Clarence's history of sexual assault in prison, which was great for Joanne's team.
30:00You know, so the prosecutors were a little taken off guard with this one. They're like, yeah.
30:04And so what? Joanne took the stand and throughout two days of testimony,
30:11she told the court her side. And it was the same thing. I mean, Clarence was twice her size
30:18and he had come to her cell three times between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. to solicit sex. She told the court
30:27that he threatened her with an ice pick and then forced her to perform oral sex. Joanne testified
30:34that she had been able to grab the ice pick when Clarence orgasmed and he let his guard down.
30:41Yes. I love that. That's when they are the weakest. So he, he jizzed and then like,
30:50and she like grabs it. And I guess then she stabbed him repeatedly and he resisted and tried to wrestle
30:57her, but he fell weak, fell to the ground and Joanne was able to get free. You know, the ice pick,
31:05the weapon that was used to stab Clarence. Originally they could not find the murder weapon.
31:12It took quite some time to locate it because one of the deputies had actually put it in his
31:18locker and essentially pretended he had no idea where it was. When they found it in his locker,
31:24he was like, what? That's crazy. That's so crazy. I didn't know it was there. That's so crazy,
31:31you guys. That's so crazy. So while the prosecution was trying to smear Joanne as a sexual woman,
31:39her team strategy was to show that it was self-defense. She was defending herself.
31:46Now they knew it would be difficult because again, back then, rape wasn't seen as a thing. It was like,
31:53what? That doesn't happen. The blame would always be put on to the victim. You know,
31:59they'd say stuff like, well, they brought it on to themselves. You know, that's the only way
32:03a woman could get raped. What was she wearing? Was she outside? Yeah. Well, that's her fault.
32:09But the autopsy did not lie. It revealed that Joanne's retelling of the incident was true.
32:18Apparently, Clarence, his stab wounds showed clear signs of self-defense and only one stab wound had been
32:25fatal. On top of that, the semen. Well, for the first time, it really seemed like people were
32:34were listening and believing Joanne's story and account to be true. So on August 15th, 1975,
32:44the jury, they had deliberated for just over an hour. Now, the room was tense. People didn't know how
32:50this was going to go. But the jury had returned to the courtroom and handed their verdict to the judge.
32:55Not guilty. Oh, man. I wish I could have been there. I couldn't imagine the cheering. The New
33:02York Times reported that Joanne began crying when the verdict was read aloud. And when she was leaving
33:09the courthouse, she said, quote, it feels good to be free, end quote. Her words like captured the relief
33:17and triumph of that moment. But also they signaled something bigger. Joanne's victory wasn't just hers.
33:25I mean, it showed that even in a dark place, the truth can shine through and justice can win.
33:34I wish I could tell you this ends on a high for Joanne. But, you know, after all of this,
33:41let me get my eyelash on and I'll tell you. So after all this, you know, she still had to serve
33:47time for the original sentence or the charge that she had. So she would spend a few years in prison.
33:54Then in 1977, she broke out of prison. I know. I was like, no, girl, we're rooting for you. We're all
34:03rooting for you. Joanne ends up getting caught like two months later. And of course, like, you know,
34:09she gets time added to her original charge. In a later interview, Joanne said that, look,
34:15she's like, I escaped because she was fed up with how she was being treated in there.
34:21She said she was being treated unfairly and that she had gotten some test results back saying that
34:27she might have TB, but like no one was doing anything about it. She wasn't feeling well,
34:31but there was, she wasn't getting help. So she escaped. So she ran away. She got caught. She had to
34:37like serve out the rest of her sentence, which she did. And she was released in 1979. Now after this,
34:44Joanne was living in New York, but unfortunately she was convicted in 1990 for possession of drugs
34:52with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Now's when I put on lip liner.
34:58Cause I'm like, damn girl. I feel, I felt bad. Well, look, this is a bigger conversation really,
35:08because once you're in the system, it's hard to get out. And then also in the nineties,
35:12that's when the crack versus cocaine thing was going on. Right. So I feel like a lot of people got
35:16really just became a victim, a victim to that. She was officially released in 2002 at the age of 48.
35:23But since then she's really just disappeared from public view. Um, I don't really blame her. I
35:29get, I don't know. That's her choice. Right. But I hope she's, I hope she's doing well. I hope she's
35:34taking care of herself and I hope she's living a good life at the end of the day. You see, Joanne was
35:39the first woman to be acquitted of murder committed in self-defense against sexual assault. Her case
35:47challenged society by like successfully arguing that her actions were a legitimate response to
35:53a sexual assault, which was actually a really crazy legal stance at that time. Her murder trial
36:01put national attention on the issues of a woman's right to defend herself from rape. Joanne's case
36:09even inspired women's rights movements like abroad. There's this group in Denmark called Joanne
36:16Sostrene. Girl, I don't know, which is essentially just translates to the Joanne sisters. I wanted
36:26to do this story because the story of Joanne Little just reminds us that justice, while it's not always
36:32swift, can prevail when people refuse to stay silent. I mean, it's a testament to the strength found in
36:40community, the importance of standing up for what's right, and the change that can happen when voices
36:47unite. And it was such like a groundbreaking case, a pivotal moment that rape is bad, bitch.
36:57But thanks to Joanne Little and standing up and everyone who rallied and supported her, I mean,
37:03things changed. You can now, I don't know, go to court and say like, hey, this dude raped me,
37:09and I was defending myself. What a concept, huh? But we didn't, we couldn't do that before. Anywho,
37:15I would love to hear your guys' thoughts down below. I know there's going to be people in the
37:19comment sections, in the comment section, who's going to be like, oh my god, but she was like a
37:23criminal. She still did all this bad stuff. Shut up. No one is perfect, right? We all have,
37:28no one is black and white. We're all a mix of human, humans reacting, being, and living,
37:33right? So yeah, she may have made some mistakes, got caught up with the wrong people, but she also
37:39had a huge impact on all of us, really. So, fuck yeah. I would love to hear your guys' thoughts
37:48down below. Let me know down in the comment section who you want me to talk about this coming year. I
37:54mean, it's 2025. The world is our oyster, really. But other than that, I hope you have a good day,
38:00you make good choices, you be safe out there, and you take care of yourself too, okay? All right,
38:05I'll be seeing you guys later. Goodbye!
38:24you