Written By : 

Kilaika Anayejali Kwa Baruti

​ Many of us know of someone who is locked away in city jails, state, and federal prisons.  We know that these individuals are there due to a variety of circumstances.  We know also, that although evidence had not fully been submitted or ignored, there are people there that are wrongfully locked away.  We know that there are those that may have committed a crime and given a sentence, but acquired more time because of their struggle for survival in these Prison  Industrial  Complexes.  A man or woman for instance may be given five years and two weeks later have to face a life sentence just for their will to survive, maybe an act of self-defense.  

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There again are many circumstances and realities that we on the outside can imagine, but never truly have a perfectly clear picture or understanding of the life they face in the Prison  Industrial  Complexes.  Although this is so, we should still seek to have a perfectly clear analysis which will serve as our tool that will ensure we will not be disconnected.  The people whom face such conditions are our family, friends, and comrades and even more so, it could be us.  This article was written with the intent to encourage the reader to think in a manner of collective thought and not one adopted with characteristics of individualism.  We must continue encouraging Afrikan people to know that what affects one, affects us all.  Many of our Brothers and Sisters are imprisoned and are undergoing physical, mental, and spiritual abuse in these dungeons.  

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Every day there is a war to remain alive and well, even though they may never see the light of freedom as you and I may see not being confined in the darkness of prison, being held in captivity. They have to battle with abuse from other prisoners and prison guards.  An attempt to fight back results in the reality of being thrown in the hole, solitary confinement, mail being confiscated and even death.  The psychological torture is unimaginable for you and I.  The struggle for survival is one that may result in them committing an act that brings harm to another physically, even if it is just, it could result in more time added to their sentence; a double jeopardy, which is a lose-lose situation.  Can you picture the many scenarios?  Can you picture being a political prisoner, incarcerated because injustice was brought to you and it was your human right to defend yourself or another?  Now you are facing a life sentence and because of your stance and ideas or political ideology, you will always be a threat to the system.  You are given 99 years and at each moment, each second of that 99 years you are viewed as a security threat, as an agitator, as a trouble maker, so the hounds are always at your foot trying to intimidate you.  They will consistently try to break down your will hoping you will lose all sanity and just die and wither away.

This is the case for many people that look like us, people that we love.  Guess what, they can continue to live.  How?  Through us they live on.  What a difference a pen and piece of paper make, what a difference an expression of letting someone know they are not forgotten makes.

The Prison Industrial Complex is merely a modern day slave camp, a place for people who resist particularly, a place for capitalistic ventures.   It is a place to house you and I with the intent of keeping us powerless as a nation.  Believe it or not some of the best in our society are in these places.  It is our duty to keep them alive.  There are many who enter these dungeons with no political or social ideology and given the conditions of their environment, they turn out to be the most astute and profound thinkers the world has seen.  You can find people like George Jackson, people who have created within themselves the utmost discipline.  They have transformed themselves to be the best in society, into revolutionaries that have been produced right there in prison.  However, it makes them more of a threat.  We must protect them.  We must stay connected.  We must let our enemy know we are watching them and make sure they keep their filthy hands where we can see them, keep their paws off of our Sisters and Brothers.  We must demand when it is necessary that they receive medical treatment, we must ensure their rights are not violated.  We must make sure they are not forgotten.  We must make sure that they know they are never forgotten.