An ominous email thread among correction officers led to Layleen’s placement in the Restrictive Housing Unit, which politicians and advocates alike agree is just another name for solitary confinement. Inside cell #6, Layleen’s day started like any other on Friday June 7. But as the afternoon unfolded, video footage shows Layleen left unattended by correction officers when she suffered a fatal seizure. The manner of her death was documented as natural, yet it seems anything but.

An ominous email thread among correction officers led to Layleen’s placement in the Restrictive Housing Unit, which politicians and advocates alike agree is just another name for solitary confinement. Inside cell #6, Layleen’s day started like any other on Friday June 7. But as the afternoon unfolded, video footage shows Layleen left unattended by correction officers when she suffered a fatal seizure. The manner of her death was documented as natural, yet it seems anything but.

The life and legacy of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco is at the heart of Afterlives, a podcast about trans lives we’ve lost and the ways their stories have reshaped our world. Known to light up a room, Layleen was an Afro-Latina trans woman in New York City who was sentenced to the city’s notorious jail complex on Rikers Island. She died there in 2019, at the young age of 27.



Hosted by Raquel Willis and inspired by her award-winning work on Out magazine’s Trans Obituaries Project, this 7-episode series celebrates Layleen’s vibrant life through memories from her family of origin and the community she discovered in New York’s famed ballroom scene. The series unpacks the systems that failed Layleen leading up to her death at Rikers through in-depth interviews with activists fighting against the criminalization of sex work, solitary confinement, and the epidemic of anti-trans violence.



Afterlives is the story of Layleen’s life, and the fight that continues in her name today.

The life and legacy of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco is at the heart of Afterlives, a podcast about trans lives we’ve lost and the ways their stories have reshaped our world. Known to light up a room, Layleen was an Afro-Latina trans woman in New York City who was sentenced to the city’s notorious jail complex on Rikers Island. She died there in 2019, at the young age of 27.
 
Hosted by Raquel Willis and inspired by her award-winning work on Out magazine’s Trans Obituaries Project, this 7-episode series celebrates Layleen’s vibrant life through memories from her family of origin and the community she discovered in New York’s famed ballroom scene. The series unpacks the systems that failed Layleen leading up to her death at Rikers through in-depth interviews with activists fighting against the criminalization of sex work, solitary confinement, and the epidemic of anti-trans violence.
 
Afterlives is the story of Layleen’s life, and the fight that continues in her name today.

Afterlives: The Layleen Polanco Story

Episode 4: 41 Minutes

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7d87ba3c-f67c-45a0-9a8b-b0cf014dacf4/transcript

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