REST IN PEACE SISTER

Virginia Resner: 1946-2007

It is with deep sorrow that I inform you that our dear friend and colleague, Virginia Resner, passed away this morning. We are calling it her "liberation" day as she is now released from her body and the suffering from her 5 1/2 year battle with breast cancer.


A great activist who worked to put a human face on the atrocities of the Drug War, Virginia worked tirelessly until it became too much for this strong woman. Virginia was a great advocate for the prisoners of the Drug War, first as the California FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) representative, and then as partners with Mikki Norris and Chris Conrad in their Human Rights and the Drug War exhibit project. Together, they co-authored the acclaimed book, Shattered Lives: Portraits from America's Drug War, for which she received a Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen Action from the Lindesmith Center/Drug Policy Foundation in 2001. Most recently, Virginia was intricately involved with the Ed Rosenthal case as president of Green Aid: Medical Marijuana Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.


Her energy, her compassion, her efforts, and her selfless and loving friendship will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Please light a candle, burn some sage, and pray for peace (which is what she wanted above all) in her honor.


More details to come regarding Virgnia's life and plans for memorial services.


We are truly blessed to have known her and to have had her in our lives.


-- Mikki Norris