When faced with tragedy or adversity, many people will come together and become a cohesive unit to improve their situation. But the very nature of prison is that the jailer or oppressor introduces the dynamic of alpha rule based on the military rank and file system. The system indoctrinates people behind bars with the belief that only absolute and immediate compliance with all orders, without questioning intent or morality, will ever allow them to rise within the hierarchy. This has led to, until recently, an unchecked system of abuse within both the military and US prison system. This dynamic also intends to ensure that a unified front among prisoners will not develop and undermine the absolute totalitarian authority of those in charge.

Have you never wondered how only a handful of guards are able to control 1000+ prisoners? We do their jobs for them and keep ourselves imprisoned by buying into the dog eat dog, toxic masculine/feminine, everyone for themselves dynamic that has preserved the longevity of the prison machine since its creation. They employ manipulative mental tactics and play us against each other so that an atmosphere of chaos and isolation smothers out any hope of effectively uplifting each other or creating the meaningful change and rehabilitation that leads to successful release and lower recidivism.

Let’s face it…prisons make a lot of money for a lot of people. This stretches from tens of millions of dollars for private corporations generated by profiteering phone, medical, and food service companies to the millions made from the captive workforce by the predatory Virginia Correctional Enterprise Plants all the way down to individual DOC contractors and the facility staff members who collect a paycheck with little effort or actual work being done.

Prisons are the mechanism in which unscrupulous people and politicians funnel tax dollars away from the hardworking lower and middle classes who have been duped through misinformation, racial biases, and prejudicial ultraconservative fear mongering.

The Criminal Justice System and Prisons are the natural result of so few people wanting to become invested and accountable in the future of comprehensive programs that study and implement proactive and meaningful change addressing mental health, substance abuse and behavioral disorders.

As enormous, dark, and bleak as this problem may seem, all is not lost!

We have many ways to combat this unacceptable situation. We just need to tap into our greatest and most valuable resources… OURSELVES!

We can be the change that it is going to take to fix this problem that everyone says or thinks is unfixable. We have to become engaged and take an active interest in our own plight and take advantage of the many tools we have at our disposal.

One of them is to just speak up!

Tell your story to one of the many organizations that advocate for the rights of people behind bars, including The Humanization Project and its allies. It may be that the right person just hasn’t yet been made aware of what you have been going through on your own. Or simply of your full humanity.  

Challenge each other to become more educated about the problems that we all face inside. Put together vision boards or thought bubbles and propose solutions to each other and see which ones might actually be ideas that we can move forward, either inside or outside of the prisons walls.

Prison certainly does not foster an atmosphere of vulnerability or sharing, so make the effort to talk to your friends on the inside. Make a concerted effort to reach as many people as possible with an account of the injustices you have been suffering in silence.

One of the ways that you can advocate for yourselves is to take advantage of the same services that the criminal justice system weaponizes against you. Politicians manipulate the media against you and all too often your first guilty verdict comes from the court of public opinion, in absence of all the facts. This is a double-edged sword, however. Most media outlets are rarely altruistic or loyal to one side or the other completely. They are a business, after all, so whatever headlines bring in the most clicks or generate the most money is what they print. Use your story to make headlines that help.

All of us prisoners have suffered or witnessed others who have suffered offenses or wrongdoings by prison staff and have been at a complete loss as to the availability of resources to help combat the rampant victimization being perpetrated against us as a disadvantaged minority.

Your story matters, no matter how diverse.

Your voice, no matter how isolated, just may be the resounding cry that touches a stranger’s heart and inspires them to share their own story. That in turn might lead to another, and then another, until there is finally an insuppressible outraged roar from within that is too deafening to ignore anymore. That in turn will be the catalyst that affects change.

No one is going to fix this problem for us. Why should they spend time and energy fighting for the one thing that benefits you when you are not willing to fight for it yourself?

Everyone can participate in this movement, if only just by telling one other person your own story.

Remember… A victorious shout can never come from a closed mouth.