There are many, many writers of different genres out there, and I would have to believe that many have some sort of ability, a “power” to do what most cannot. While most of us can write, few can write with power. But there is a power, I say not that it is unique, to the prison writer, that of the Darkvision: the ability to see dark scenarios.
We know by definition that the word “dark” has many meanings, easily verified by your dictionary and thesaurus. But in the context of prison writers, many of these apply. When I write from the prison, it can easily be seen by the many definitions of “dark”.
For example, one definition is “shadows” or “caliginosity”. We know all too well how suppressed information is about prisons, such as federal prisons. So little is known about what happens in American prisons. We may well know more about the moon, or what’s on Mars, than we know about our own prisons.
The word “dark” can also mean “evil” or “infernal”. This is easily defined by the continuous stories of rape, torture and abuse in prisons, much of which I have written about. The word “dark” can also mean “dismal”, “hopeless” or “bleak”. There are many in the prisons that feel that there is no hope, that when the courts sentenced a person to prison, they are pretty much sentencing him to possible death, even if the punishment doesn’t call for it.
And even IF they survive and complete their “debt to society”, there is very little for that person to look forward to back in society, because the prisons refused to prepare that individual for release. Much to be written on this. But in this, I wanted to share the definitions before sharing a scenario where Darkvision has great value.
Years ago, before I was sentenced to a federal prison, I used to write a lot online for various prisoner-support sites. One of the largest was one called PTO, or Prison Talk Online. At the time I was writing for them, they had nearly 100,000 members, and were still growing. Unfortunately, I have heard that the site has gone down; it is sad to hear that, because they were a refuge for thousands who had loved ones incarcerated.
One situation in particular, I was reading some of the threads, and came across an individual who was having problems with her loved one who was in prison. The way she shared on the site, she said her boyfriend was sick, and in prison. She said that they did very little to help him, and simply isolated him in the “hole” (federal prisons call it the SHU,or Special Housing Unit). She said that he sat back there for about a week, with no help, with barely any clothing except a tie-on cloth the length of his body.
When she came to visit him, and he came out, she saw he was very troubled. He sat down quietly in front of her, and began to weep. He felt so awful, and there was nobody to care about him. As she shared this on the site, I felt the pain and the feeling of powerlessness she must have had, not being able to protect her loved one.
I read many of the responses, and while they were all sympathetic, none provided answers. I noticed on that site that an enormous majority of people are those with loved ones in prison, and very, very few were writers that could share content to help them. I was one of the very, very few, reduced further in that I wrote far, far more than most.
I read those posts, and said to myself, “we have to do better than that”. That lady posted that thread because she needed help. Sympathy isn’t enough to solve problems, at some point, someone has to act. So, I posted on the site, asking her to see if she could get the names of some of the staff there, and try to call them, or write them.
The idea wasn’t to threaten staff or bend their arm, it was simply to get them to look at this with compassionate eyes. There is a man in the isolated cells that is sick, hurting, and needs help. The humane thing to do is to get that man some help, find out what the prison can do to at least get him to feel better.
I wrote this because I know these scenarios; I write because I have seen these “dark” scenarios. And in this, the term “dark” goes in numerous ways for that person. He was quite literally in the “dark” of the isolation cells, he was in a hopeless situation, and in the shadows of the prison. In every way, he was in a dark place, and perhaps he felt that no one could help him.
Even his girlfriend must have felt that even she could not do anything, because while she understood his pain, she could not see through all the darkness to DO something. Because I did understand some of it, it allowed me to intervene and share what I could, giving her information that she had not thought about.
She took my advice, and wrote and called the prison, expressing her concern and need for compassion for her loved one. I am not saying it would work, but it was better than doing nothing. As it turned out, she posted about a week or so later, very happy about the next visit.
She made a post about how her boyfriend was in MUCH better spirits, felt much better, and was grateful that she contacted the prison about his condition. She thanked me personally for taking the time to help her, and I felt pretty good about that.
But what it took is having a Darkvision, the ability to understand – and act – on situations in prison that people hear about, but don’t do much about. It’s funny, we understand the term Darkvision in another word, “night vision”. In the military, they have goggles to be able to see into the dark, and see what most cannot see.
Even for gamers, there are people who play Pathfinder, and Dungeons and Dragons. Some of their characters, like gnomes or dwarves, might have a night-vision ability; the power to see in low light, whereas humans cannot. In the same way, I believe prison writers have the same ability; see what most of society cannot see.
We have more people locked up in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Yet American prisons are often the most neglected, by our own federal workers. Thousands and thousands of stories of abuse happen daily, and oftentimes the loved ones of those victims cry for help.
The problem is there are so few that can understand. Odd, considering there are millions of people who have been incarcerated in the past. But many are not writers, and it is that class of individuals that have the capacity of Darkvision. I say again, it is not enough to sympathize, because too many have a lassitude on prison abuse. We solve nothing when we are apathetic to a person being tortured in an American prison, or a female being raped by staff. Yet this happens far too often, and many times, the courts find loopholes to keep that person from the justice they still deserve.
It takes prison writers with the Darkvision to get the message out, but more, it takes people on the outside to share that information. Before I was sentenced to federal time, I had written about 8000 pages on prison for those who have loved ones in prison. Funny, the prosecution never mentioned a single page of how I was trying to save lives; they used only information to condemn me, as if I had no value at all. This, in a nutshell, is how much of the Justice System operates, and why there are so many that are locked up, and dying in prison.
But we can all change this. I think judges and the courts need to take a more compassionate look at what is happening in American prisons. I think prisons need to take a more aggressive stance in rehabilitation. I think those with loved ones in prison need to share more information on social media about what goes on in prisons, to create accountability. If this happens, I believe we can change the stigma of prisons and help thousands that need help.
These individuals are calling for help; their loved ones on the outside are asking for help, but it seems the best help is going to come from the prison writers with the Darkvision, the ability to see, expose and act on the injustices in the prisons. Being sympathetic isn’t enough, such benignancy doesn’t save lives, it merely watches them die.
We can change this, if we all get involved. Until next time.
Prison 101
(Collateral Damage)
Sometimes as prison writers we are faced with issues that, if challenged, will cause repercussions that will affect the innocent. At times like this, there has to be ethical questions made by the writer of how far to push the issue, or to push the issue at all.
I’d like to share one with you, and kinda talk myself through it. I welcome your input, but by the time you read this, I likely would have already made my decision:
Here at USP Tucson, we were approaching the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Note, it is a national holiday, so it is something the entire country has to acknowledge. Whether they like it or not, it is still a holiday.
Usually in prisons like USP Tucson, we have what is called “special” or “holiday meals” where we get something a little special for the general population. During Christmas, New Years Day and other such days, we eat a special meal.
So, I’m sitting in my dorm, and one of my friends comes to the table. He is Caucasian, I am African American. He works in the cafeteria, and tells me about the discussion the current Food Service Administrator had with his inmate workers. (Yeah, I got the Food Administrator’s name).
So, the conversation is between the Food Service Administrator, another staff member, and four inmate workers. None of them were African American; the four inmates were Caucasian, the two staff members, Hispanic. The Food Service Administrator says to them that they will be preparing fried chicken, and will use new oil for the…
“Negro Meal”.
When the Caucasian inmate in my dorm told me this, he got the reaction he knew I would give. I was shocked, and insulted in a fraction of a second. The inmate told me that he felt that he should tell me that, because he felt insulted that this man would say this in front of the inmates (or anyone for that matter).
I told the inmate that “I’ve got to have some of that”, meaning I am NOT taking that insult without some form of challenge. So, I emailed the Associate Warden, to tell her what had transpired. She emails me back telling me that when she comes back to work on Tuesday, she wanted to talk to me and the inmates about this.
The problem here is obvious: retaliation. Only one of the four inmates told me what was going on, the others would not want to put themselves in the middle of a very sensitive and volatile situation. By all rights, those inmates are innocent, because they had nothing to do with the Food Service Administrator’s derogatory remarks. But they know, if they got involved, they would very likely lose their jobs, something they clearly didn’t want to do.
So, the Associate Warden was literally asking me to submit innocent people to be fired. No question, when the Food Service Administrator got wind of the challenge, he would retaliate and find “loopholes” to fire those guys, and possibly retaliate against me. Even if he was dead wrong, USP Tucson has a history of supporting staff, even when they are 100% wrong.
So, I emailed the Associate Warden, and explained the obstacles of this issue, and how sensitive it has now become. I am not letting this idiot get away with insulting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday by reducing his national holiday to a “Negro meal”. It is NOT a meal, it is a holiday we are supposed to be celebrating, or at least respecting. I’m not letting him get away with that.
But I cannot sacrifice the inmates who heard it. It is not fair to them; they didn’t ask to get involved. The one guy that did tell me about it, when I told him the possible issues, he said he would “ride with me” on it, because he assured me, that is what that man said. Still, I didn’t want him to suffer collateral damage. But make no mistake, this issue is going out to somebody.
The Associate Warden, when I emailed her of the possible ramifications, assured me that it would be handled discretely… but this is the same person who is known as the “Lyin Queen”, and I have more than enough proof that what she says, she rarely if ever does.
Should I proceed with this argument the BOP way, via Administrative Remedy, there will, no doubt be retaliation. Don’t believe what the BOP says, they will, and do, retaliate under cover of staff. I remember a line I use well in other essays, “If the enemy offers you a drink, it is probably poison”.
In short, I don’t trust staff to do the right thing. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been insulted, my race has been insulted, and even the BOP program statements forbid it. But, to fight, and to be absolute in my documentation, it would require those witnesses in that room, and I already knew that at least three of those inmates would not (out of fear) want to participate. I also know the other staff member will certainly not side with me. I only had one witness that was willing to challenge the derogatory remark, but I did not want to put him in harm’s way.
If I act, there could be collateral damage; innocent inmates of the situation could be retaliated, in fact I am SURE they will. I made my point to the Associate Warden in my last email to her, and she assured me that this should not happen…
But I KNOW it will, if I do it their way. I cannot let this go, there has to be accountability, but I am sure that the Bureau of Prisons will protect this man, and retaliate against the inmates. It’s what they do.
So, different strategy: normally prisons control the narrative by keeping it under the roof. As long as the public has no knowledge of abuse and unprofessionalism (and discrimination), they will continue to support their staff. BUT, once it hits the public, and they have to answer to people over their heads, it puts the advantage on the inmate. The old adage of “you can’t trust an inmate” has been greatly dispelled on recent issues of police brutality and hundreds of case laws of prison officials brutally beating inmates. The tables are slowly turning, where the public is willing to at least listen to an inmate.
So, that is what I will do. To press the issue with staff gives them time to retaliate, but to send these essays to the public, for publication, to elected officials, to social media, gives me the advantage, and forces the staff to do the right thing, rather than cover for it.
In this, staff has no idea that this is what I am doing. Once it gets out, and has seeded for weeks or months, it is too late to retaliate, and it creates perimeters of defense. Foolproof? No, but it increases the chances for a prison writer to buy time and present the argument to the public. The right person gets in touch with the BOP, or elected officials, or a local radio station, and now that staff member has to answer to them.
This may also create protection for the innocent, because it warns staff that their next move isn’t under the roof anymore, it is in the open. We play this game on my field, not theirs.
Since the email from the Associate Warden, she has done nothing, it has been a week, so I am guessing she is hoping it will die down, and do nothing about it. But that is part of my strategy too, if she does nothing, she is just as guilty for not addressing such a serious and sensitive subject. We document this and show the lack of justice and how staff ultimately do not care about how inmates are treated.
Like I said. I am NOT letting this idiot get away with these remarks, but I have to protect the innocent inmates as much as I can. This seems to be the better way, to take it to the public and shame staff, rather than keep it “in the closet”. We’ll see how it goes… wish me luck.
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