<ul class="summary-list"><li>The latest episode of "<keyword id="12179176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insecure" source="Orion">Insecure</keyword>" focused solely on Condola and Lawrence as they navigate parenthood.</li><li>Insider spoke with <keyword id="12486757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christina-elmore" source="Orion">Christina Elmore</keyword> about the reaction to her character's surprise pregnancy.</li></ul>It's no secret that when Condola revealed she was pregnant with Lawrence's baby last season on "Insecure," fans desperate to see him rekindle his relationship with Issa were very upset.<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/insecure">"Insecure"</a> star Christina Elmore, who plays the character, said some fans' opinionated views of her character is a form of "misogyny.""I was very shocked by some fans' reaction to Condola fighting to keep her pregnancy and to have a baby," Elmore said during a recent interview with Insider."It felt like people weren't mad at Lawrence at all. So then that means that you're not mad that there was a pregnancy, because if you were, then you need to be mad at both of them," she added. "It took two people to make a baby."Condola was first introduced in season three as Issa's (Issa Rae) friend and potential business partner. She later became Lawrence's (<keyword id="12380994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jay-ellis" source="Orion">Jay Ellis</keyword>) brief love interest in season four, using the relationship to get over her recent divorce.<div type="image" title="Jay Ellis Christina Elmore Lawrence Condola Insecure HBO 1" height="961" width="1280" msid="87610925" hostid="261"></div>Many fans of the show were <a href="https://www.insider.com/insecure-lawrence-condola-having-a-baby-natasha-rothwell-2021-10">stunned in the season four finale when Condola told Lawrence she was pregnant with his child and wanted to keep the baby,</a> throwing a wrench into Issa and Lawrence's recently renewed relationship. Lawrence was also shocked by the news that he was going to be a father, especially since he had just landed a dream job in San Francisco.Elmore, who said she's "Team Issa and Lawrence all day," knew fans would be disappointed by the pregnancy and its effect on the main characters' relationship. But she was taken aback by the heat directed to Condola alone."I was just so surprised about the inherent misogyny in being mad at a woman who did not cheat, who did not, in any way, violate Issa or Lawrence's relationships," Elmore said. "She was very honest about the whole thing."<div type="image" title="Christina Elmore as Condola on &quot;Insecure&quot;" height="905" width="1206" msid="87610930" hostid="261"></div>Elmore was bewildered by the lack of support for Condola's choice to have the baby rather than having an abortion, saying viewers would have been mad to see that storyline play out too."It says women are damned if they do and damned if they don't," Elmore said. "I think that anytime someone has sex they need to realize that it could lead to a baby."When asked if Condola and Lawrence should have talked about what their choice would be if an accidental pregnancy happened prior to actually having sex, Elmore said that conversation would have happened in a "perfect world.""It rarely happens," Elmore added. "When we find ourselves in a situation where there is a pregnancy and one partner feels one way and the other feels another way ... I lean towards 'It's Condola's body. It is her choice.'"For more on the layers of Condola's character this season, <a href="https://www.insider.com/insecure-christina-elmore-interview-season-five-motherhood-episode-2021-11">read our deeper dive with Elmore into the newest episode that focuses on co-parenting gone wrong. </a>"Insecure" season five will continue with new episodes each Sunday on <keyword id="11921392" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hbo" source="Orion">HBO</keyword> at 10 p.m. ET.

'Insecure' star Christina Elmore was 'shocked' by fans' reaction to Condola's choice to keep her baby and says it showed 'inherent misogyny'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of HBO's "<keyword id="12179176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insecure" source="Orion">Insecure</keyword>."</li><li>On Sunday's episode, the show focused solely on Condola and Lawrence as they navigate <keyword id="12486758" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="parenthood" source="Orion">parenthood</keyword>.</li></ul>Over the course of the last season of "Insecure," Condola Hayes (played by <keyword id="12486757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christina-elmore" source="Orion">Christina Elmore</keyword>) became an unexpected antagonist in the eyes of many fans. But the newest episode of the fifth and final season of the Emmy Award-winning show changes that narrative. At least that's what the team behind HBO's Emmy-winning comedy series hopes."I think I heard Prentice Penny, our showrunner, say this episode is sort of vindication for Condola," Elmore said, speaking with Insider ahead of the episode's premiere on HBO. "But honestly I hope it's just validation for moms who are out there doing it." We were first introduced to Condola in the third season, and she quickly stole fans hearts while becoming Issa's friend and mentor. At the same time, she became Lawrence's love interest. In season four, Condola's relationship with both Issa and Lawrence fell apart, leaving room for the former exes to finally get back together.Then things got really spicy when Condola reentered the story and told Lawrence they had conceived a baby when they were together - and she intended to keep it.Many fans have spent the year between seasons hating this plot twist. But Sunday's episode of "Insecure" exclusively focused on Lawrence and Condola's co-parenting journey, bringing more nuance and depth to Condola's perspective. <h2>Elmore says the 'Insecure' team's experiences as new parents helped make the episode 'authentic'</h2><div type="image" title="Jay Ellis Christina Elmore Lawrence Condola Insecure HBO 1" height="961" width="1280" msid="87577741" hostid="261"></div>During this episode, we get a contrasting look at the way Condola and Lawrence's lives changed after becoming parents to their newborn baby Elijah.While Lawrence is living in San Francisco (dating, partying, working a new exciting job), Condola is at home in Los Angeles with the newborn (doing dishes, laundry, and tending to the crying baby). Lawrence flies to LA to spend time with Elijah, but starts cancelling these visits last-minute when he's too drained from work.Elmore says the portrayal of parenthood was conjured up by a room full of writers and actors who have real-life experience to bring to the table. She said there were many conversations between herself, costar <keyword id="12380994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jay-ellis" source="Orion">Jay Ellis</keyword> (who is a dad in real life) and director Ava Berkofsky about how each scene should look, helping them tell the story in a way that felt "authentic" to them."I feel like they really did a good job getting a handle on what it feels like in those first few months of new parenting, and that it's a whirlwind in the best case scenario," Elmore said. "And it can be totally overwhelming in a scenario like Condola and Lawrence find themselves in."<div type="image" title="Jay Ellis and Christina Elmore as Lawrence and Condola on &quot;Insecure&quot;" height="1142" width="1523" msid="87577743" hostid="261"></div>Elmore had just given birth to her second child a few weeks before she returned to the set of "Insecure" to shoot her season five scenes. "On the days when I was able to show up on set, I was in a very fragile state," Elmore said. "So Condola felt very close to my heart."In the season four finale, when Condola told Lawrence about her decision to keep their baby, she said he could be as involved as he wanted and she'd be "good" either way. But the reality of single parenting was shown in this latest episode. Elmore says it's "so much harder" than Condola could have imagined."I think that if she could go back and say those words again, she might say something else," Elmore said. "I don't think she realized how difficult it would be doing it alone."<h2>Elmore hopes the episode will be a real example of the 'shock' new motherhood can bring</h2><div type="image" title="Jay Ellis Christina Elmore Lawrence Condola Insecure HBO 1" height="617" width="822" msid="87577744" hostid="261"></div>This episode makes clear the lonliness, anxiety, and postpartum depression that mothers can experience the beginning stages of parenting. In Condola's situation, we see how that escalates with a partner that isn't fully present, or when there's a communication breakdown. "It's such a change - physically, mentally, emotionally - and to be doing that not in the way you saw it happening is so difficult," Elmore said. "And yet it's the reality for so many mothers and so many Black mothers, in particular."She continued: "I was so happy that this show didn't shy away from showing how one-sided it can be, and that even in a happy partnership, there is usually a person who is the primary parent - and that's often the mother who's just given birth and is nursing often or trying to feed this baby through the night and whose boobs are leaking. It's a shock."Elmore says shes "grateful" for the way the team behind "Insecure" decided to showcase the first stages of parenthood, because a lot of TV series she's watched show a character have a baby and then bounce right back to acting like the person they were before the pregnancy. "That's just not how it works," Elmore said. "And so to see a real authentic portrayal of that on TV, and on our show that so many Black mothers watch, I hope for our audience it's really validating."Elmore added that it's not just new moms who need the validations, but the dads, too."Fathers who are out there doing it every day, day in and day out and not getting any recognition," she said. "I hope they know that we see you and we know it's hard and we salute you."<h2>What's next for Condola and Lawrence? Elmore says to expect a 'new plan' to unfold</h2><div type="image" title="Lawrence and Condola during an episode on &quot;Insecure.&quot;" height="836" width="1115" msid="87577745" hostid="261"></div>An intense fight at the end of the episode leads the two to come to terms with the fact that their approach isn't working. Lawrence's "one foot in, one foot out" status causes Condola to not trust him with their baby. "It can be so difficult navigating coparenting," Elmore said. "And I know parents who, up until the kid's 18th birthday, it's acrimonious, it's hard. They don't talk, they meet in the parking lot, passing kids back and forth."She continues: "I just don't want that for Condola and Lawrence but I really don't want it for Elijah."As for what fans can expect for the rest of the season: "I think what we'll see is we'll jump off from there and they're going to try to figure out how they can or cannot make it work. I will say that we get to see them sort of make a new plan.""Insecure" season five will continue with new episodes each Sunday on HBO at 10 p.m. ET.

'Insecure' star Christina Elmore says the latest episode is 'vindication' for Condola, and 'validation' for new mothers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Thousands of Alabama inmates are choosing not to work in an effort to protest the state's prison system.</li><li>Swift Justice, who is incarcerated, argues that ADOC doesn't rehabilitate inmates as it should.</li></ul>Alabama's correctional system is <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/01/alabama-prisons-humanitarian-crisis-523548">known for</a> its egregious conditions and overflow of inmates. And now, thousands of prisoners at each of the 15 Alabama state prisons have decided enough is enough.Inmates have abstained from unpaid labor inside the prisons since September 26, forcing prison staff to take on the work the inmates would normally do.As the <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/10/01/what-an-alabama-prisoners-strike-tells-us-about-prison-labor">Marshall Project</a> notes, inmates can be required to cook, clean, and do laundry — or in some cases, work non-facility-related jobs like call centers.Inmates are demanding that sentencing and parole measures are reconsidered — including nullifying the habitual offender law and establishing and maintaining fair parole criteria. Prison reform organization Both Sides of the Wall organized the strike and they've previously held demonstrations protesting the conditions of inmates inside Alabama prisons. "I'm just a slave. I'm inside the prison system," Swift Justice, an inmate at the Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, a small town bordering Florida, told Insider. Swift says their demands could ease the burden on the system by releasing inmates that have served their time. Approximately 90% of parole requests are denied in Alabama, according to the <a href="https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org/reports/report-parole-denied">state's ACLU</a>, as the presence of new inmates compounds poor conditions in the already crowded prisons. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—ALABAMA PRISONS ARE DEATH CAMPS (@FREEALAMOVEMENT) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1575364787227295746">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote>Swift told Insider that "those who participated in this historical event are tired of being treated as less than animals and are demanding their humanity to be given back." Going to prison in the state is an automatic death sentence, according to Christina McGee, whose husband is incarcerated in an Alabama prison. "These people have no chance of rehabilitation," McGee told Insider. She said it's more likely that inmates "will wind up in a body bag" than get out of the system. "Because Alabama Department of Corrections, no matter what your sentence is, has become a death sentence, automatically. These people have no chance of doing anything and they've given up hope."Diyawn Caldwell, another organizer of the strike whose husband is incarcerated, sent several videos to Insider showing the conditions of some of the prisons. One video depicted guards hitting, chasing, and then beating a handcuffed inmate at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. And another video showed a facility pervaded with trash bags and litter at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore. A third video showed a flooded cell at St. Clair with an inmate saying "second day my shit been like this, man. Goddamn pipe bust."McGee said she connected with Caldwell when her imprisoned husband was stabbed in May. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Eddie Burkhalter (@burkhaltereddie) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1575105330119200768">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote>Swift said some inmates have faced retaliation for not working, including his mentor, <a href="https://www.alreporter.com/2022/09/30/incarcerated-man-alleges-he-was-forced-to-work-against-prison-strike/">Kinetic Justice.</a> Kinetic had been beaten by officers and placed in solitary confinement for his influence on the strike and inmates, Swift said.Swift added that inmates in his facility are being "bird fed" meals twice a day. When combined, both meals don't measure up to 1,000 calories, he added. Other facilities have reported similar circumstances.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Eddie Burkhalter (@burkhaltereddie) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1575105330119200768">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote>"We need to be rehabilitated, and we need to leave out of here differently," Swift said, but argued conditions inside make that impossible. The Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-alabama-unconstitutional-conditions-states">filed a lawsuit in 2020</a> against the State of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Corrections alleging constitutional violations — more specifically, the violation of the eight amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. The Department <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/us/alabama-prisons-doj-investigation.html">found</a> Alabama prisons are at 182% capacity and experience an excessive amount of rape and killings."We are not saying that we have not committed a crime and that we deserve just to walk out, but we are demanding that not only lawmakers, but society, look as human beings and not to consider us thrown away," Swift continued.He said that by protesting peacefully the inmates hope to show society and lawmakers that "we are civilized.""That is the reason why we choose to do what we're doing in a peaceful manner. Because as anybody knows it, we outnumber any staff amount, even if it was fully staffed. We outnumbered that," Swift continued.A spokesperson for Gov. Kay Ivey's office <a href="https://www.waaytv.com/news/iveys-office-responds-to-prison-protest-inmate-demands-are-unreasonable-unwelcomed-in-alabama/article_9f595e1e-3de0-11ed-b16a-bb2d593d26b3.html">said</a> Monday that the prisoners' demands "are unreasonable and would flat out not be welcomed in Alabama" but organizers of the strike say they see no end in sight."Their constitutional rights are being violated daily and no one's doing anything about it. We're standing up and we're letting them know. They're standing up and letting them know 'We will no longer tolerate the system as it is,' Caldwell said."We wanted to fight for everybody behind the wall, men and women, all of them. Because it's not just happening to our husbands, it's happening to everybody," McGee added.Gov. Ivey's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

You Searched For "christina elmore" and got 3 results

'Insecure' star Christina Elmore was 'shocked' by fans' reaction to Condola's choice to keep her baby and says it showed 'inherent misogyny'

Yasmin Garaad

'Insecure' star Christina Elmore says the latest episode is 'vindication' for Condola, and 'validation' for new mothers

Yasmin Garaad

Inmates across Alabama's notoriously macabre prisons are on strike: 'I'm just a slave'

Taiyler Simone Mitchell