No one that has not been through these experiences can understand what its like being inside a space with other aggressive males where EVERYTHING is concrete and steel. Add to the mix the sadistic, high school drop out, borderline schizophrenic white boys who come to work there because they think they are tough. In my entire time inside I never met one who didn't have a desire to be the “real” police. They are gun nuts, militia members and in a lot of cases members of white supremacist organizations. But that's prison.
White media organizations call RI (Riker's Island) a prison, its not. Any brother from New York will tell you, RI is the equivalent of the County Jails that exist in little white towns in rings around all large cities with large populations of blacks and browns. That's why you see the odd brother in these videos, they are generally good brothers caught up in bad situations. That affects them, they don't come there to beat up prisoners but in their effort to fit in they do. Not all of them, a few. Generally they stay out of bullshit because to them its a job, a way to pay for little Keisha's braces and they know if they in it, they are like the first brother on tv shows, he ALWAYS gets killed, they will be the sacrifice. The white boys are there for the blood sport. The believe the bullshit put out by the media, that we are animals, that we are inherently prone to criminality. No, my friend we are more prone to poverty.
These county jails are essentially concrete and steel holding pens full of frustrated, afraid, confused brothers who have no idea of what's about to happen. They cling to the gang more out of familiarity than out of cowardice or allegiance. These holding pens are all sharp corners and blunt objects. You can get slammed on the table and be killed. You can take a awkward twist while WINNING a fight and kill yourself. Its a brutal existence. These are the unsung brothers, the brothers that didn't kill anyone, the brothers that caught with some weed. The brothers who stole a car. The brothers who, if they existed in a certain unmelaninated state, is going home with probation. These are brothers who can barely read trying to understand a process that is filled with dense, confusing terms. They will come out of these court proceedings with decades of time and they are mixed in with brothers that will get time served. Also of major importance is the fact that in some cases these brothers have been in JAIL for years. This brother had been there for 3 years for something he didn't do. It took you three YEARS to figure out that he didn't steal a damn backpack? There are tens of thousands of brother in this very same situation right now. Los Angeles County has 20,000 inmates, New York has 15,000, Houston has 11,000, Chicago 10,000, Phoenix 10,000 (for the browns), Philly 10,000. I could go on but the point is each of the largest jails in this country are in or around large populations of us and that's what locked up there, us. I'll deal with the finances of such a large population of captive humans in a future article. Suffice it to say, Philly makes 40,000 meals everyday, somebody getting paid to make those donuts.
Inside those jails are two types of prisoner. One is a gang affiliated youngsta, the other is what is called in some places a neutron. He's a brother that came to jail that wasn't in a gang. Because of his status, he is considered fair game for the lower ranking inmates to prove themselves on. Problem is, some of these youngstas can bump. They not in a gang because they can't be FORCED to join. At the outset I said that this video was bullshit. I say that because I've seen what gangs can do when they want to hurt you. This dude was jumped by at least seven people, he came out without a mark and was moving well. I saw a group of young guys jump on a white guy for snitching in the section. They threw a blanket over his head while he was in bed and beat him with socks with padlocks and bars of soap in them. That white boy looked like Frankenstein when he walked out to the bulletproof glass that separates the guards from the prisoners. He collapsed, they came got him and that was that. They weren't really trying to hurt him. When the gang rides in jail, most times you end up either dead or in the hospital.
He got slammed by the brother. Mannnn, I had a homeboy named P-Mo, he was one of those guys, he decided that he had a bigger fight with the system than he had with any other gang so he left the gang. Some didn't like that but P-Mo could fight. 150 pounds of fire in both hands. After knocking out some teeth and punkin heading a couple of guys, they left him alone. He then began a 5 year fight with the police. He was on Segregation where there are no cameras, where there are all white staff. He's in there beating them up sometimes once a week. After about five years of using him as a training aid for new officers on the unit they broke his neck in a “cell extraction.” Where would you be taking someone whose locked in a cell about half the size of the the average bathroom in the hood 23 hours of of the day? That happens everyday in the county. I would be willing to bet its happening as I write this and as you will read it.
If you are concerned with what is happening on the street, how we seem to be targeted by law enforcement, you have to be even MORE concerned about how we are treated behind bars. 97% of these brothers are coming home to you. They will suffer from PTPD (Post-Traumatic Incarceration Disorder). It is similar in nature to PTSD but it is caused by the singularly unique phenomenon of prison. There is conflict all around you. You live in a twilight world stuck between hope and reality. At least in war you can shoot back. In jail/prison your enemy doesn't have a heart to stab, it doesn't have a head to crack. You can't fight it, because we don't even know what “it” is.
Most of us have at least one fairly close family member or friend that is locked up. We haven't thought of them in a while because we have lives. Ask him, and increasingly her, what its like. Let them tell the story of what's behind the walls of those fortresses that you drive by everyday. Post those stories, let the world know that we make a big deal about how violent prisons are in other places yet our jails are no better. In many cases they are worse because they don't have to be that way.
This is JAIL folks, this is BEFORE you get a sentence. This is before the real show begins. This is the skirmish before the real war. This is the Hoosegow, next is the Pokey. .
Next up: Prison
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