Today marks the fourth anniversary of a horrible fire that killed seven young women in a juvenile detention facility. Armadale was its name, and these young women, along with 16 others, had been “locked down” for three weeks in conditions not even fit for an animal. The girls tried to escape one night, and in an attempt to stop the commotion, an officer threw a tear gas canister in the room, which ignited the fire. Click this link to read a first-person account from a young woman named Krystal.

These young women, deemed “uncontrollable,” had been placed in detention for various crimes. Twenty-three girls had to share seven bunk beds; they only had access to one toilet during the daytime; they were served cold food with no utensils; they could not leave the room and they received no education. They were also witness to abuses of fellow detainees and were treated with disrespect by the wardresses.

In commemoration of the Armadale fire, dub poet and performer Randy McLaren has produced this brilliant and powerful documentary. Please watch it and take a minute to think of these young women and how we must never let this happen again.