9 Grams

9 Grams is the story of Maisha Yearwood’s imprisonment in Bakirkoy Prison in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2009. Maisha was living in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was returning to New York City to attend her uncle’s funeral and her 15-year college reunion. She had a layover in Istanbul when nine grams of hashish was found in her pocket; she was arrested. She was then put into solitary confinement because she is an out lesbian, and the warden didn’t want her to be “disruptive” to the other prisoners. She lived in a 9×10-foot cell from May 23-August 23, 2009.