Kool-Aid reminded me a lot of an uncle I have: older, kind, but also large and gregarious. I used to walk laps around the yard with Kool-Aid, listening to him tell me about his daughter, him asking about my loved ones [...]
Courtesy: Jermon Clark Walking into Receiving and Discharging on my first day in prison, I felt what seemed to be a million butterflies bouncing off the inside of my stomach. Here I was, an 18-year-old first-time offender carrying [...]
Prisoners are some of the loneliest people in the world. Our imprisonment is often a result of our own actions, though not in my case. Still, we are all in the same boat, filled with misery, despair, and loneliness in prison. [...]
With light being shed on police abuse against suspected lawbreakers this summer, I wonder if the public has taken that newfound knowledge a step further. Black lives matter, but do incarcerated lives matter? Have they thought: “If that level of abuse [...]
The antisocial behavior of criminals is a symptom of a deeper illness that is not only the cause of crime but also the driving force behind untreated recidivism. The stated goal of incarceration should be to find programs or treatments [...]
To torture a person is to cause intense suffering to punish or coerce by inflicting severe pain or anguish to the mind or body. I have endured several forms of torture in the Virginia Department of Corrections at the notorious Supermax [...]
I always wanted a boob job. In all my years as a stripper, drug addict and a prostitute, my first big dream was to have my breasts done and really make some money. I mean that’s what life is about, big [...]
BY MUSTAFA ZULU "Pack your panties ladies!" I remember the prison guard yelling, while banging on the cell bars with his baton. "I've got two tickets to hell with your guys’ names on them." "Get your fat, greasy, low-life ass on [...]
"Hey, did you see that kid in the wheelchair today?" "No." I say. "When did he get here?" "I think he just rode in yesterday or today," said Greg. "He break his leg or something?" "No, he's, like, seriously in a [...]
I realize this is obvious as hell, but here's the data. Data confirms that police treat Black Americans with less respect. A Stanford University analysis of police bodycam footage from nearly 1,000 vehicle stops substantiates what Black Americans already know: police [...]
After spending 3 years in a medium security Ohio prison, a friend of mine once asked me if the time spent there had institutionalized me. At the time my idea of what it meant to be institutionalized consisted of simply forming [...]
After spending over five years in solitary confinement, I have finally come to realize that solitary confinement is known torture -- and the prisoners aren’t the only ones who know this. There have been extensive studies that have shown that lengthy [...]
Simple communication could prevent so much trouble in prison. It is my experience that guards do not communicate with inmates effectively or at all. Guards seem to have a mindset that information is a privileged precious commodity and inmates aren’t allowed [...]
