Amid King Holiday Celebrations, D.C. Jail Resident Shameka Hayes Starts Another ANC Term

Over the last couple of years, Shameka Hayes’ life has, in a way, mirrored that of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Like King, Hayes is spending time behind bars, though not for challenging an unjust system. However, in her role as an advisory neighborhood commissioner, she has been channeling King’s energy to improve conditions at D.C. Jail. 

Decades after King criticized his detractors in his letter from Birmingham Jail, Hayes used the written word to secure HVAC repairs, extension of vocational programs and other changes at D.C. Jail. She showed a similar level of intellectual prowess as the member of an award-winning debate team. 

In her second term, Hayes might not have much time to carry out her goals due to her upcoming sentencing and transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). Such circumstances, perhaps, inspired a swearing-in address that sounded like King’s last speech before his 1968 assassination.  

“I’ve been disheartened by the slow pace of progress,” Hayes said on Jan. 16 before a small group of D.C. jail residents, Department of Corrections (DOC) officials, elected officials, and D.C. government employees in the library of DOC’s Central Treatment Facility (CTF). “But change comes with struggle.” 

In her speech, Hayes celebrated her growth as a leader. She also acknowledged her comrades in the ongoing fight for better conditions at D.C. Jail’s CTF and Central Detention Facility.  

“These movements are led by fighters known and unknown,” she said. “Inside these walls are advocates, people who work tirelessly for the same goals. Change may not come quickly, and I might not see the results, but I will fight quickly with hope and determination for a better tomorrow.” 

In 2023, Hayes became the third D.C. jail resident — and first woman — elected as a representative of the facility since the passage of legislation granting incarcerated D.C. residents voting rights. She defeated 10 other special election candidates vying for a seat made vacant when then-Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Leonard Bishop transferred to the federal prison system. Hayes served out the rest of Bishop’s term amid the D.C. Council’s passage of emergency legislation credited with increasing the D.C. Jail population, court docket backups caused by federal court judge vacancies, and a string of resident deaths.   

Last November, Hayes won re-election, accumulating nearly 37% of the vote in her bid against five challengers. She said she will continue to live out King’s legacy as she represents her constituents in Single-Member District 7F08, which also includes Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter.  

“Dr. King fought for peace, so being in this place, I have to fight for peace,” Hayes, a Georgetown University prison scholar, told The Informer. “I use the things I learned in college, not what I learned on the street. I became more diplomatic. This position helped me [after] being impatient in life.” 

The Swearing-In Ceremony that Inspired Those on Both Sides of the Wall 

On Jan. 16, one day after what would have been King’s 96th birthday and four days before the federal holiday made in his honor, Hayes took an oath of office administered by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Fiedrich. She did so, not in a DOC-issued jumpsuit, but a Black dress, black stockings and gold dress shoes. 

During the ceremony, DOC Deputy Director Jacqueline Williams introduced a slew of speakers, including: DOC Director Thomas Faust, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7F Chair Tyrell Holcomb,  Ken Boese of the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, Ward 7 D.C. Council office staffer Louis Sawyer, and Charles Thornton, a special assistant in the D.C. Office of Human Rights.  

Thornton, a returning citizen who also serves as board chair of D.C. Corrections Information Council, recounted his experiences at D.C. Jail in the 1990s, telling the small audience that he takes pride in helping those enduring similar challenges. 

For him, Hayes’ work as advisory neighborhood commissioner paves the way for redemption and rehabilitation. 

“It’s really bigger than your normal advisory neighborhood commissioner. “You’re…raising the issues of men and women up to a level that gets it the attention it needs,” Thornton said on Dec. 16. “The big responsibility is all part of reentry. It’s about preparing people to come back out and be productive members of society.” 

Nathaniel Perkins and Jinmar Fuentes, Hayes’ classmates in the Georgetown Prison Scholars Program, counted among those who celebrated the commissioner’s second swearing-in. Each man said Hayes’ political success further confirms the validity of their career aspirations. 

“I want to do more in relation to our campaign for the people in orange,” Perkins, a CTF resident, said in reference to the District’s other incarcerated residents.  “This is a hands-on situation [so] It’s cool knowing someone in leadership. Shameka is a voice for the men and women, and the in-between for the people that’s outside.”

For Fuentes, Hayes’ presence at Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7F meetings helped him further embrace his civic duty. In 2022, while in pre-trial detention, Fuentes voted for the first time, a milestone he said came about as he yearned for more legal knowledge. 

“People need to hear what’s going on in our surroundings,” Fuentes told The Informer. “Shameka showed me hope, even at our lowest. We’re just trying to work so we’re on the same page with some understanding about the laws.” 

Conversations about the D.C. Jail Construction Project, and a Mother’s Pride

After her 2022 arrest for narcotics-related offenses, Hayes explored opportunities to continue pursuing her education and the advocacy work she embarked on with her mother while a free woman. 

Throughout her first term as advisory neighborhood commissioner, Hayes tuned into meetings virtually to weigh in on several topics, including the construction of a new correctional facility, for which D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) allocated more than $460 million in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. Hayes said her recommendations for the project, slated for completion in the early 2030s, include visiting area restrooms and a fully functioning kitchen in CTF and CDF for easier meal distribution. 

As Holcomb recounted to The Informer, Hayes also expressed concerns about affordable housing and shelter, and insisted that DOC and ANC 7F collaboratively address residents’ rehabilitation and reentry needs. 

“It’s been a focal point coming into 2025, thinking about engagement while learning what’s happening at the jail,” Holcomb said as he delved into the bigger picture. “We can think…before, during and after construction [how] to create opportunities for community members. It puts us in a strong position to uplift the community.” 

Hayes’ mother, Lakia Robinson, had similar reflections about Hayes’ impact, pointing out that her daughter has always been involved in community work. The two of them, she said, continue to gel plans to help residents of D.C. Jail and Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter and their families.

Those efforts, Robinson told The Informer, rose to a new level with her daughter’s election, and re-election, to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7F08 seat. 

“A woman holding a position, no matter the challenge, and breaking barriers from jail is a huge come-up,” Robinson said. “It’s a victory for my daughter to make history and bring change and equal treatment on behalf of D.C. Jail residents.”