Convict Activism-where prisoners or inmates take the fight to the system and expres their grievances

Prisoners Take the Lead

Jan 5, 2011

I'm angry. No, I'm furious - and it's been stewing, brewing, and percolating for years. It's not because of deeper cuts in Amerika's already sub-par education, health care, and other social services due in large part to the continuous expansion of the prison system. Not because more and more evidence of rampant prosecutorial abuse surfaces all the time. Not because of the disproportionate application of the death penalty against minorities. Not because of the clear and unequivocal fact that we have two systems of "justice" in this country: one for the rich and one for the poor. Not because the majority of those funneled into our prisons are overwhelmingly from impoverished communities and that they in large portion serve decades for predominantly non-violent/non-sex crimes. Not because private industries which profit from incarceration affect sentencing laws due to their political contributions to lawmakers. Not even because prisoners who survive decades of incarceration and its violence, humiliation, systemic institutional abuses, poor nutrition, counter-productive rehabilitation, isolation, dissolution of the family, lack of medical attention, and increased risk of disease - all sanctioned as "justice" - and then are released onto the streets unhealthy, traumatized, under-educated, and marked with the stigma of Convict ... allegedly as "free" men and women. I loathe all of the above obviously, but who I am truly disgusted with is us.

We, the prisoners, who get out and do absolutely nothing to change the egregious laws which have allowed for the prisonization of America, nor do anything to improve the dehumanizing system of "corrections" that many of us have endured for much of our adult lives. When I entered prison I quickly realized what people meant when they said to me "Stay out of the way." The way most of us prefer to do time is trouble-free with the guards and administration far away from our cells. So, when asked, I always say "Lay down," and I mean stay away from the prison drama and do something positive with the time that you have to serve. In this way, I found that I actually have more to accomplish in prison than I ever had as a free man, and I couldn't achieve all of the goals that I set for myself from segregation - I plan that many of them. I stay out of their faces and I hope that they stay out of mine. I have had to pick my battles carefully with this policy. I know that I will aggravate the warden or the commissioner when they see their names at the top of a lawsuit; therefore I make certain that what I am fighting for is 1) justified, and 2) makes a real difference to those of us serving time.

Of course, not all prisoners sees it this way. They feel they have to take advantage of the weak or perpetually scam those around them. As I see it, this is not your life around. And I'm disappointed with the way to turn those whom limit themselves to chow, cable TV, basketball, and walking the loop every day bumming cigarettes and sharing the same old war stories for years when they could be taking back their lives. It's hard not to impart this without sounding fake or preachy. I try to just do my best through my own life as an example.

Quite separately from all of this, I've grown to resent prisoners whom ingratiate themselves to the prison administration and staff by means of supporting a venal system, whether it's snitching, voting against a prisoner grievance with merit while serving on a "committee," obstructing in any way a prisoner's lawsuit or demand for policy change, or simply being a "Yes-man" to the guards. But these "rats" mean very little in the scheme of things. Those that make me truly furious are those of us who make it home.

"What???" you say Don't get me wrong. I want to see my friends, and even those that I don't like, go home. I have photographs on my locker door of many of my friends that made it out there. The caption emblazoned above them reads "Free at Last!!!" It's sheer insanity how we've acquiesced to having entire communities of people locked-up and my greatest desire is to see that all of the prisons are emptied out, thus putting the guards, caseworkers, and wardens in the unemployment lines. (God knows that they are unfit for any real job.) But the sad truth is the fact that we get out there and do nothing to change the system. Most just keep corning back to this place. When we leave prison behind we seem to focus solely on getting back to our loved ones and finding a little creature comfort. After only a few weeks, it is as if we were never even in prison and that we've gone back in time to a life that looks exactly like the one that brought us to prison in the first place. When we do end up back on the prison yard, it is as if we are experiencing the same bad dream all over again. "Damn, how did I get back here again?"

When I help a buddy carry his property up front, I always hope that I never see him again on this side of the fence. I always want to believe that he has left this craziness behind. He says he has. Unfortunately, it takes only a short time in prison to witness the revolving door phenomenon of prison. I'll admit it. It disheartens me. The same old faces return. The back-slapping, all of the catching up, and the "gotta get my T.V. money together." They are on the basketball court almost as if the returnee only sat out one or two games. Then invariably comes the same old complaints: the disgusting slop they call food; the abusive guards; the ungodly cost of collect calls; how unjust the entire U.S.criminal justice system is; all this time for nothing; the missing the kids; and on and on.

Now, nearly every single state in the union returns one's voting rights upon discharge of parole/probation or serve-out. Only a handful require some filing process and approval. With literally tens of millions of us with felony records, it is undeniable that our vote could change this country for the better. We could easily affect the outcome of local, state, and national elections. With this power, politicians would have to listen to our demands, which don't just include equity in the courts and proportionality in sentencing, but include reform in prisons and sufficient programs in our under-served communities. It came to me as I watched this last election cycle where I heard much explication about the Women's Vote, the Black Vote, the Gay Vote, the Pro-life Vote, the Hispanic Vote, the White Male Vote, the Blue-Collar Vote, the ... and I thought, "Where's the CONVICT VOTE???" Our sheer numbers would seem to necessitate some consideration. Aren't we a formidable political force? No. It is not that we cannot vote, but it is that we do not vote. If as one body we chose to vote to address our very real concerns which come from our valuable life experiences, then we could affect change in this country to correct some of the most dire social ills that have led millions to prison and left them now victims of the most inhumane, abusive system in America today.

So, there you have it. Each of us must immediately register to vote as soon as it is legally possible and recruit all whom share our ideals to do the same, be they convict or family and friends. We must check websites like "house.gov" and "senate.gov" to see whom these so-called representatives are. We must find out what their voting records are and what their views are on the issues that matter the most to us, our communities, and

our friends still locked-down behind concrete walls. Are they just a "Tough on Crime" advocate or do they see the necessity of good public education, quality health care for all, diversion programs, free and effective community drug rehab, sentencing with proportionality, etc.? If they are willing to sacrifice so much good and progress to merely lock-up those whom they perceive as "undesirable" in this growing cancer called The Prison Industrial Complex, then we must fight against them. Our one vote is not enough either. We are called to an activism which demands that we become involved at every level. We show up at town hall meetings and local political rallies.

We write to the editors of our local papers about our concerns. We become fully active with organizations like the National Death Row Assistance Network and the Innocence Project. These and many other organizations have been fighting for us - and now we must fight as well for ourselves - politically. We can change our communities, our laws, and this travesty of prisonization. We can give our kids and grand kids a land that is truly free.

Is this all "Pie in the Sky" thinking? No, it is not. Just read your history. Ancient history. American history. Just look who is in the White House today. That says it all. Change - real change - is possible. If a determined people led by those with a clearness of purpose can affect earth-shaking changes time and time again in the course of history, then so can we, Convict Activists, as long as our will is fortified and our ideals are honorable. I for one crave change. Change in our communities, in our courts, and in our prisons. I will leave these concrete walls in a few years and I won't be coming back except to fight from the outside. I am going to my damnedest to work with others to see that this country looks a little brighter without the blight of mass imprisonment.

One day, social scientists will look back on what the Tough on Crime mania has done with a "Tsk, tsk, what could they have been thinking?" Just as we look back with abhorrence on slavery or a woman's inability to vote.

Yes, get home in one piece, but when prison is behind you, it is time to use the strength found while incarcerated to lift up your voice. Many believe that because you are now marked with the label Felon you must put on sack cloth and ashes, only to lie in a ditch. They believe this is true for a heinous crime as for a lesser offense. Do not believe the lie for either. It is never too late to make a positive difference. You do not have to stay out of the way ever again upon your release. Through your activism and your vote, you can now make a way.

Mass Incarceration is the social justice issue of this era. I am going to become a Convict Activist, and you can also. Start with the following related issues: a crumbling education system, lack of effective and free drug rehab, police corruption, police brutality, racial profiling, criminalization of addiction, unnecessary physical violence against prisoners by guards, stop the building of new prisons and find better uses for old ones, an arbitrary parole system, malicious parole officers, scarcity of diversion programs, the death penalty, a two tier justice system, insane habitual offender laws - the list goes on. Start locally and then move to national forum, but this time do something.

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