At 66, student Mrs. Dee Dee is using her experience and her education to change the incarceration system

Prison has always cast a shadow on Lorraine Haw’s life, even before she was old enough to understand what a prison was. Lorraine, who is known as Mrs. Dee Dee by her friends and family, grew up on Corinthian Avenue in Philadelphia—literally across the street from Eastern State Penitentiary. 

“I used to see guards up there,” Mrs. Dee Dee said. “I never knew they were guards. I just thought they were men with sticks. It wasn’t until I was older, until I came to comprehend, they were guards with guns.”

Today, the Eastern State Penitentiary is a historic site and haunted house attraction, but it was still a functioning prison when Mrs. Dee Dee was growing up. Reminiscing, she said, “We used to ride our homemade scooters and skates on a little hill back there.”

At the age of 66, Mrs. Dee Dee is a current student at Community College of Philadelphia pursuing her associate degree in Criminal Justice. She is part of the College’s I Am More reentry program, which provides case management, tutoring and social support to students who have been incarcerated—Mrs. Dee Dee was in prison on drug charges from 1989 to 1990.

She also serves as an organizer with The Coalition to Abolish Death by Incarceration, a collective of human rights organizations working to stop life imprisonment sentences. On top of that, she has volunteered during record expungement and pardoning clinics organized by the City of Philadelphia and hosted at the College.

She said she’s doing it all for her son, Phillip Ocampo. Phillip has been in prison for nearly 30 years. He was convicted of second-degree murder at the age of 18, a charge that carries a life sentence with no possibility of parole.

“I’m going to keep fighting even when my baby comes home,” Mrs. Dee Dee said. “I’m going to keep fighting because we’re not free until we’re all free.”

Sharing the motivation

When Mrs. Dee Dee started classes at the College in 2022, she was hesitant to tell anyone. At the age of 65, she became the first of her 11 siblings to go to college.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to do it,” Mrs. Dee Dee said, “but I told my son, and he was so happy and so proud that he told the world! He told my family and now it motivates me.”

That motivation goes both ways. She sees the encouraging effect that her education has on her son. 

“When I talk with him, the way he glows because he’s so proud of what I’m doing, it blows my mind,” she said.

Mrs. Dee Dee dropped out of high school in 1976 and gave birth to Phillip when she was 18. In her late 20s, her younger brother was shot and killed, which started her down a path of heavy drug use. Even so, she earned her GED in 1989.

That same year, she was arrested on a series of drug charges and went to prison until 1990. She continued using drugs throughout much of the ‘90s. During that time, her son became involved in an armed robbery that resulted in a shooting death. Philip wasn’t the gunman, but at the age of 18, he was sentenced to life in prison.

“If I hadn’t been an addict…” she said, taking a pause. “I should have given him the life that he needed and he wouldn’t be in this predicament. I’ve always taken that blame for what happened to him.”

She continued using drugs until Oct. 18, 1998. She found the strength to get sober in her son. 

“I reached the point I was tired of being tired,” Mrs. Dee Dee said. “My kid was incarcerated while I was in the streets worried about my next fix. I knew my kid needed me.”

She celebrated 25 years of sobriety this year. And in 2021, she began the process of getting her criminal record expunged and receiving a pardon. Having already volunteered at a couple expungement and pardoning clinics, she decided to go through the process herself.

“I wanted to have another chance at life,” she said, “starting over with a clean slate.”

She received her pardon in 2022 and her expungement in 2023, effectively wiping her record clear.

Mrs. Dee Dee is on track to graduate with her associate degree in Criminal Justice in 2024 and she plans to use her education and degree to continue advocating for her son and everyone who is incarcerated.

“I know it’s hard and you might feel ashamed if you have a loved who has been incarcerated,” Mrs. Dee Dee said. “But I’m here to let you know you have nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, let’s learn so we can fight this system and make things change.”

She admits that talking publicly about her son is hard, but she wants to do it because she believes stories like hers and her son’s can change the incarceration system that unjustly targets Black and brown people.

“I do it because I want my son to know that no matter what he goes through in life, we can be somebody,” she said. “We don’t have to be the title they give us.”