Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, also known by her hip-hop name “Isis Tha Saviour,” is a Philadelphia artist who creates socially conscious music through an autobiographical lens. Ms. Baxter is an art and design graduate of the Community College of Philadelphia who recently received her second degree in behavioral health. She is a single mother, entrepreneur, and prison reform advocate.
Although it has been a decade since her release from a Pennsylvania prison, Mary’s time spent on the inside continues to shape the direction of her music and film work. Her entertaining but poignant works offer a critical perspective on the particular challenges women of color face when they become immersed in the criminal justice system.
In 2017, Mary’s lyrically raw and unflinching examination of giving birth while shackled in prison earned her a “Right of Return” fellowship for formerly incarcerated artists. She has since partnered with Van Jones’s Cut50 and Senator Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Dick Durbin to support the national “Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act,” seeking to end the shackling of pregnant women while incarcerated. Mary has also spoken at numerous universities across the country, most recently at Harvard University’s Center for Bioethics.
Read about Mary’s activism as a returning citizen and formerly homeless and parenting student.