Solitary Confinement

Last night I watched just a few minutes of Solitary Nation on PBS before I had to turn away and stop watching. Having said that, I would recommend that everyone watch it as well as Part 2 which will be shown in the next few weeks on Frontline.

Let me share why I had to turn away. As I've shared in posts on this site, I've been involved in various civil rights, anti war activities and other social justice issues throughout my life. Some of those activities got me in trouble with the law. I have spent time in jail, prison and solitary confinement as a result. Some times were short lived while others seemed endless. I don't talk about those experiences very much but they certainly influenced my life and helped me understand the problems with institutional and congregate living. Solitary confinement, "the hole" is the worst time that anyone can spend in jail. It is meant to be destructive to the individual. It is meant to be nothing but punishment and it is meant to be demeaning and to break you.

There are people who will read this or who will see Solitary Nation and say "what's the problem". "These people are getting everything they deserve." That's their opinion but it certainly isn't mine. Watching just a few minutes made me ill and emotionally weakened. Frankly, I'd call it an episode of PTSD in a very real sense. You see I experienced being treated like an animal, being left for hours without light, heat, or human contact other then another caged person screaming in the night. No food utensils, a mattress on the floor with no blanket, no change of clothes, nothing to read, nothing to do, no human contact, nothing. Yelling and screaming in the hallway, clanking of doors and orders from guards were the sounds heard throughout the night and the day.

We need to understand why we do this to each other. We need to resolve what justice means, what rehabilitation means and why we're so cruel to one another

I can't watch it but hope you do - Solitary Nation Part 1 and Part 2.