INTERACTION WITH PRISONERS + STAFF
Can you describe your daily engagement with other prisoners ?
Since the day I entered prison, I have spent time talking to younger and older prisoners. More importantly, I have listened to them and learned about their lives and experiences. Over the years I have mentored young prisoners, educated them, and helped them transform their lives to become better people. I have been there to both offer encouragement and to discourage them when they were embarking on a dark journey (i.e.: considering harming themselves or others, making counterproductive choices, etc).
Along the way, I tutored many young people when I was a teacher’s aide to help them earn their GED. We have shared music, played sports together, and spent time walking and talking on the yard. I have also offered spiritual guidance to young people and taught them the value of education, identity, and culture. At different prisons we have participated in creative writing workshops together, established book clubs, and worked together to create programs and events for the prisoner population.
Interacting with young prisoners has kept me informed about their trends, the things on their minds, and how they are viewing the world and the people in it. This is important because it helps me understand them more and remain connected to their lives. They value when older people can relate to their lives and treat them as equals. Too often, young people feel misunderstood and not respected by older people which creates a gulf between them and diminishes opportunities to find common ground.
Rather than be judgmental of young people and make them feel inadequate or rebellious, I introduce them to new ideas, information, and outcomes to consider. They enjoy learning critical thinking skills which help them gain confidence and fortify their sense of self-worth. I then carefully guide them in a positive direction allowing them to make their own decisions by using the skills I teach them. It requires patience and continually being involved in their lives so they embrace me as an insider and not an outsider.
My shared experiences with young prisoners have resulted in us forging friendships at prisons across the state and becoming agents of change. I earn their respect by being a person of integrity that they can trust based on a perpetually growing body of positive work. My influence with them has grown exponentially as the years have passed and my interactions with them have remained consistent. This goes a long way.
These are invaluable experiences that would help me be an important asset to youth in communities when I am released. I know I have the ability to relate with young people because I do it every day. It isn’t an aspiration I have, it is something I have successfully done for many years with some of the most troubled youth from every walk of life. I have been on the side of what their lives can look like or become if they make terrible mistakes and I can share real, firsthand experiences with them.
Another thing that is meaningful to young people is that my involvement in their lives is a choice, not an obligation. I view youth as a work in progress with enormous potential to change. I have not abandoned them or deemed them incorrigible like so many people do, as a consequence of disappointments, growing frustrations, and mounting tensions with them. I have never viewed the lives of youth as being disposable.
Can you describe some of the most memorable moments you have had with other prisoners?
Moments that have impacted me the most have been when I prevented prisoners from committing suicide or harming themselves. I have met people who found themselves trapped in really dark places in their lives in prison who were desperate for help and prepared to end their lives. Some wanted to overdose with drugs, some wanted to hang themselves, and others wanted to cut one or more of their arteries.
Had I not spoken with these men, they could have ended their lives leaving behind their families and friends. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with them or take a walk with them on the yard and help transform their despair into hope. I listened to their painful stories with compassion and empathy and did my best to offer them encouragement. I refused to end the conversation until I was confident we reached a positive resolution.
With each experience, I have learned more about how much people struggle in prison and how frequently their pleas for help go unnoticed or unanswered — even before their incarceration. I am also better at recognizing the signs that people were experiencing problems. I eventually began researching different mental health issues to help me understand them more and develop additional skills that could help them. Some studies show that suicides can be halved by simply asking a person if they are feeling suicidal. There are so many prisoners grappling with depression, anxiety, and other symptoms. Many prisoners are afraid to seek help for fear of being stigmatized as being weak. I tell these men that it takes more courage to seek help than to remain silent, and I convince them to consider helpful alternatives.
It is important for people, particularly men, not to be discouraged from embarking on a path to healing in fear of being considered “mentally ill”. As a society we need to have more conversations about mental health and transform it from an embarrassing or uncomfortable subject to one that is empowering and can enrich their lives. No one should ever be ashamed of advocating for their wellness.
Can you share a couple experiences you have had with prisoners that have impacted how you view life or have lived your life in prison?
One experience involves meeting the prisoner who had served the most time in Michigan prison. His name was Oliver. When I met him, he had already served 60 years behind bars since he was a teenager. He was frail and a person of few words. The highlight of his day was going out to feed chipmunks and birds during his morning walks around the prison yard.
Having been locked up for so long, Oliver didn’t have money or outside support, and the personal belongings he possessed mostly came from things that other prisoners and staff donated to him. When I made attempts to buy him food from commissary, he would only accept trail mix (i.e., mixed nuts and raisins) from me. I soon discovered the only reason he agreed to accept it, was so that he could feed it to the birds and chipmunks. I was fine with that though. If that was the only thing that made him feel good each day, it was worth it.
When I met Oliver, the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet made its ruling banning mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles. Lawyers were actively working on it though. I would sit and talk with Oliver and try to convince him that change was coming and he might be able to be released one day. He was very stubborn and he had no interest in hearing my thoughts about change. He had been told that he may get out after 60 years, but since it never happened, he lost hope. He was resigned to dying in prison and never going home. He told me he had no family anymore and no place to go and said that in prison at least he had a place to live and food to eat each day. It bothered me a lot that Oliver didn’t have hope and wouldn’t at least consider the possibility that change could happen. I knew that anything was possible and I wanted him to know that too. I worked hard to keep Oliver’s spirits up and prayed that the magic of my hope reservoir would somehow rub off on him. But it never did.
Oliver’s health deteriorated to the point that he needed a walker and was transferred to another prison that had a geriatric unit. Oliver died a couple years later and did not live long enough to witness the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, banning mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Even though I could never convince Oliver to come around, I had the opportunity to spend many hours with him talking and learning important lessons about life and struggle. It made me realize how brutal and cruel life without parole sentences can be on a human being and how it can destroy all sense of hope. It also demonstrated how indomitable the human spirit can be at surviving the worst conditions a human being can endure.
This topic of survival reminds me of another prisoner who impacted me deeply, named Richard. I met Richard at the Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility in 2010. When I met him I learned that he already spent over 30 years in solitary confinement for committing a murder in prison. He has spent more time in solitary confinement than any other prisoner in the state of Michigan.
With the exception of suffering from serious vision loss, Richard was surprisingly still in good spirits. He was very talkative and enjoyed reading. This was incredible to me knowing the suffocating, brutal, and mentally exhausting conditions of solitary confinement where prisoners remain locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day. They are only released for a five minute shower three times a week in a cage and for yard one hour per day five times per week in a cage. All visits with people who visit a prisoner in solitary confinement must be in a non-contact booth with a glass dividing the prisoner from his visitors.
These conditions have made many prisoners lose their sanity in just a matter of weeks, let alone months or years. It isn’t uncommon for prisoners to attempt suicide after spending months in solitary confinement. Some of them are successful too. Being alone in a cell with no one to talk to except during yard or shower times can also be overwhelming and cause psychosis.
Richard has not received visits in years and he has not been able to hug or kiss anyone the entire time he has been in solitary confinement. He has been told by prison staff he will die in solitary confinement and he will never be released. Despite this, he had not given up and was still taking things a day at a time. When I last asked someone to look him up, he was still living and has spent over 40 years in solitary confinement now.
Meeting people like Oliver and Richard will change any person and make them reflect about the value of life. It will also make them appreciate their freedom in ways they didn’t before. They are lessons about just how bad your life can become if you make bad choices. It also illustrates how inhumane and unrelenting our criminal justice system can be.
No matter what side of Oliver’s and Richard’s circumstances a person stands on, any reasonable person knows this punishment is cruel, extreme, and inordinate. It is unconscionable to observe inhumane treatment and human suffering with indifference. When the torture of human beings does not evoke mercy or compassion, it is sadistic and deplorable.
It is this reason that Dostoyevsky wrote years ago that the degree of civilization of a society can be judged by entering its carceral system and observing how it treats its prisoners. There is much to be said about a society that silently ignores the (mis)treatment and abuse of one of its most vulnerable populations. Silence is complicity which empowers wrongdoers to continue their behavior with impunity.
What is it like to develop connections with other prisoners knowing that you will likely separate and may never have contact again?
It is difficult. I have met some great people in prison — both prisoners and staff. Though I have met undesirables on both sides, I haven’t allowed that to discourage me from engaging with people who are genuinely trying to do the right thing. I am mindful to treat others as I would like to be treated. I don’t allow rumors or stereotypes to color my communication with people.
Regardless of our station in life we have a responsibility to reciprocate to the universe the gifts that we receive in life. We shouldn’t judge others and deny them gifts that they may need or deserve. That’s not our role in life. When we choke off growth opportunities for others, we can’t complain when the same events occur in our own lives. The universe will deliver to us the same energy we emanate. Even though we may know that people we befriend may only be in our lives a short time, we should still strive to make the most out of each experience. The Bible says that to whom much is given, much is expected. If we receive gifts that can empower the lives of others, we have a duty to ensure that we share them. We can all be vessels of change if we choose to be. But we can’t withhold helping others because we want to be selfish or intractable. We become obstacles to growth when we espouse a counterproductive approach to life.
How do prisoners resolve conflicts with one another?
Whenever possible, prisoners seek to resolve problems on their own. It is not popular among the prisoner population to go to staff to involve them to resolve conflicts between prisoners. Conflicts between cellmates are more frequently mediated and resolved by other prisoners who know one or both the prisoners who are having the conflict than by staff. This is the case in a lot of situations in prison.
Another alternative to prisoners resolving conflicts amongst themselves is having their family members contact the Warden’s office. They can notify him/her that their loved one is having irreconcilable differences with a cellmate, which could result in physical harm. Once the Warden’s office has been notified and nothing is done to remedy the problem, if there is a physical altercation and a prisoner is harmed the facility becomes negligent and legally liable. Most times when a Warden becomes aware of a conflict by a member of the public, they order the separation of the prisoners in the conflict by moving one of them into a different cell. Wardens know ignoring such a problem can become a serious issue for them legally and compromise their employment.
STAFF
What is your relationship like with prison staff?
Contrary to popular belief, prisoners do not hold a negative view of all staff members. Most staff members are decent hardworking people who do their job responsibly. The staff members who write unnecessary misconduct reports, harass prisoners, and believe the purpose of their job is to punish prisoners are in the minority.
It is easy to blur the line between the two when you are on the receiving end of mistreatment. Even though some staff may disagree with the improprieties committed by their colleagues, most will not speak out against it in fear of being viewed negatively by their colleagues or violating the officer code. This is where the problem lies. If staff feared that other staff would report their improprieties, it would deter their recurrence.
I have met some really good people who work in prisons. Some have even contacted me after they retired or left to begin another job. Some have offered me counseling and encouraged projects I was working on. But, I have also met some very troubled people working in prisons who betray MDOC policies and woefully fail in their role as civil servants.
In every workplace, there are bad apples and room for change. The MDOC is no exception to this. They can and should do better. When rogue staff violate the rules they perpetuate a hostile environment for all involved which creates a vicious cycle of problems. Unfortunately, it results in staff and prisoners alike falling prey to their lack of professionalism and abuse of authority. Staff members cannot fulfill their role as corrections professionals under these conditions.
Are prisoners treated differently by other prisoners and/or prison staff based on the crimes they were convicted of?
Yes, both prisoners and prison staff treat prisoners differently based on their crimes. The prisoners who are treated the worst are those convicted of sex crimes, especially crimes against children. Sex offenders have a higher rate of being sexually assaulted, robbed, and extorted by prisoners. They also have a higher rate of being verbally abused and disrespected by both prisoners and prison staff. In some cases, I have observed prison staff purposely assign sex offenders to live in cells with a prisoner they knew would harass them or they would have a conflict with.
Despite my vehement opposition to sex crimes I try to discourage people from mistreating prisoners regardless of their crimes. This is partly due to never knowing if a person is actually guilty of their crime and also not knowing the circumstances. Most sex offenders were also victims of sexual assault themselves growing up and raised in abusive homes. This is the embodiment of the adage that hurt people hurt people. And though these facts certainly don’t justify their actions, they are still factors that cannot be ignored.
The other thing is that some people have been convicted of crimes as a result of a custody dispute where a spouse wanted custody of a child and manipulated a child into lying. Some prisoners have been convicted because they had consensual sex with a person who lied about their age and a parent reported it. There are also cases of misidentification and children making false accusations because they were angry at the accused person.
Though I believe that most people accused of crimes are guilty, I also know there are many people who are innocent and have been wrongly convicted. Some experts estimate that number to be as high as 10% of the prison population. The bottom line for me, is that it is simply wrong to mistreat people. We are all implicated when we allow others to be mistreated and remain silent. When we do that we normalize and perpetuate a cycle of abuse. It is counterproductive and creates angry, resentful people who take it out on innocent victims later on and a sure way to endanger the community. Abusing and mistreating prisoners are among the worst things we can do to destroy their sense of self-worth.
Prisons undermine the efforts of prisoners to foster empathy — a key factor that can impact whether they successfully reenter society or recidivate. Rather than abuse prisoners, we should try to encourage them to seek therapy and treatment while incarcerated so they don’t return to their communities and reoffend. 90% of prisons will return to society one day and we should invest energy and resources into rehabilitating them, not demonizing them and treating them as pariahs. It is cruel, inhumane, and serves no legitimate penological interest.
