LaTorie “Torie” Marshall

The co-founder of National Expungement Week on post-conviction care, barriers to entry, and voting locally.

AS TOLD TO GOSSAMER

I’m a product of 1980s Reaganomics in D.C. I’m also one of 19 children. My parents moved us from D.C. to a place called Mount Rainier, Maryland. As I get older, I always remind them that we didn’t move far enough. I lost 25 friends who were all under the age of 25, before I even turned 25. PTSD is real where I come from.

I’m a second-generation grower. My mom used to grow. It was absolutely illegal at the time and that’s eventually why she stopped. I come from a home that wasn’t always the best, where we sometimes had to call 911 for our safety. And if you’re a Black family that has to call 911, you probably don’t want to have weed in your house. But they were trying to figure out the best way to survive and make it and care for this big family that they had. They were trying to bring money in when all the other avenues had been closed to them.

This is the reality I grew up in.