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Solidarity behind bars: Prison activists reflect on the movement for social justice

Solidarity behind bars: Prison activists reflect on the movement for social justice

January 8, 2021 | No Comments

https://www.knkx.org/post/solidarity-behind-bars-prison-activists-reflect-movement-social-justice?fbclid=IwAR19FUSpfdJktC6vfsAXz5-EItv7_GpJtOM3_j4zwwFWcK-uc1ownEp2ueQ As protests against racism and police brutality raged last summer, one group of activists could only look on from afar. “Of course you want to be there,” Vincent Sherrill told KNKX from the Monroe Correctional Complex in September. “Then, to be truthful, there’s guilt and shame along with that for putting yourself in this situation.” Sherrill is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. He’s also a member of the Black Prisoners Caucus, one of Washington’s oldest prisoner organizations. The Black Prisoners Caucus (BPC) officially began in 1972 at the prison in Monroe. It now has chapters at almost all
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A Strong Mind, by Michael Linear (The Black Lens Spokane | November 2018)

A Strong Mind, by Michael Linear (The Black Lens Spokane | November 2018)

November 3, 2018 | 1 Comment

Black Prisoners’ Caucus Coyote Ridge Chapter The Black Lens Spokane | www.blacklensnews.com | Page 8 November 2018 A Strong Mind By: Michael Linear Prison has made me strong, not weak. Striving in conditions where fathers seldom take responsibility for what they did. My pain is my motivation, and it drives me to a satisfactory type of success. When I lay down at night, I wonder who thinks about me while I’m here. Another year went by with most of my time spent in submission, but I realize that I’m the cause of my own agony. Who can I blame when
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Finding freedom behind bars

Finding freedom behind bars

October 30, 2018 | No Comments

October 24, 2018  By The Buccaneer By Sarah R Baker Originally posted at: http://www.passthebuc.com/2018/10/finding-freedom-behind-bars/ The patterned linoleum tiles, the overhead lights toeing the line between bright and harsh, and the cork boards covered in colorful construction paper and cut-out animals are reminiscent of anyone’s elementary school. The nostalgic smell of finger-paint and gooey cafeteria lunches feel like they might waft in at any second. The courtyard gives off a similar feeling, displaying perfectly trimmed grass and sporadic clusters of flowers and greenery any kid would want to trample or pick for favorite teachers during recess. But this isn’t a school. It’s
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Black Prisoners’ Caucus Youth Summit (Shelton)

Black Prisoners’ Caucus Youth Summit (Shelton)

February 28, 2018 | No Comments

Originally posted at http://www.doc.wa.gov/news/2018/02232018.htm February 23, 2018 By DOC Communications (email) SHELTON – The Black Prisoners Caucus (BPC) at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton hosted a Youth Summit. The panel was comprised of 11 incarcerated men who shared their stories of what led to their incarceration. The men also shared their recommendations for the 125 community partners in attendance on how their work with youth could impact and decrease incarceration rates. The community members included representation from youth detention centers, prosecutors, professors, juvenile advocates, Village of Hope staff, local Boys and Girls Club representatives and legislatures. No youth were
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Creating a college behind bars

Creating a college behind bars

December 18, 2016 | 1 Comment

Originally posted at https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2016/1202/Creating-a-college-behind-bars How inmates in Washington State are trying to improve their lives so they can cope better after they’re released from prison. December 16, 2016 by Ann Scott Tyson CLALLAM BAY, WASH. — Up a lonely road lined with signs warning drivers not to pick up hitchhikers, on a hilltop surrounded by forest, the Clallam Bay Corrections Center at the northwest tip of Washington State feels like the ends of the earth. Yet behind the high walls and concertina wire, inmate Kimonti Carter is spending his 20th year behind bars striving for learning and connection. “We want to
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Chipping Away at the Cultural Wall

Chipping Away at the Cultural Wall

February 28, 2016 | No Comments

Originally posted at http://www.doc.wa.gov/news/2016/02282016.htm February 28, 2016 By Andrew Garber DOC Communications 5 TEACH students (Tim Kelly , DOC Communications) CLALLAM BAY – Behind the concertina wire and concrete walls, dozens of inmates gather in classrooms each day to discuss math, politics, religion, history and even creative writing. While some of the classes are for college credit, most are held just for the sake of learning. And the courses are rapidly growing in popularity among inmates, who credit them not only with increasing their understanding of the world, but also with breaking down racial and cultural barriers. “It’s helping us bridge gaps,” said
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Investing in No Return

Investing in No Return

March 25, 2013 | No Comments

March 23, 2013 by Dan Satterberg, the King County prosecuting attorney.  This report is the work product of people interested in change – some inside the criminal justice system, some from the private sector, and others who were formerly incarcerated. The goal is to increase the discussion around the shared responsibility to help with the reentry transition, and to make practical recommendations for increased government action” (pg. 2). The report contains recommendations to reform Washington’s system of reentry to improve outcomes for men and women released from the State’s prisons, to reduce crime, and to enhance public safety. A report
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School of Second Chances

School of Second Chances

July 4, 2011 | No Comments

Originally posted at http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/beyond-prisons/school-of-second-chances July 01, 2011 by Carol Estes Inmates who get an education are less likely to reoffend when they’re released. So why are prison education programs getting cut? Washington State Reformatory looks like a college, and in one improbable sense, it is. A massive stone temple of a building, it has sat for a hundred years atop a campus of rolling lawn and manicured flower beds, overlooking groves of giant evergreens and pink rhododendrons. Today, as families walk up the wide granite staircase to a University Beyond Bars graduation, the scene is like that at any college—except that
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When you learn, you don’t return

When you learn, you don’t return

September 30, 2010 | No Comments

Originally published in the Monroe Monitor & Valley News, Vol. 120, No. 39 September 28, 2010 by Polly Keary University Beyond Bars celebrates $600,000 grant Most medium security inmates try to earn their wayto minimum security, for thefreedoms that go with it. But such is the freedom that goes with education, some inmates have tried to stay out of minimum security just so theycould keep going to the University Beyond Bars, which is only offered at the medium security part of the Monroe Correctional Complex. “Sometimes they try to get infractions, just so they can stay,” said Carol Estes, founder
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Court decision encourages Monroe prisoners eager for right to vote

Court decision encourages Monroe prisoners eager for right to vote

January 12, 2010 | No Comments

Originally posted at http://www.heraldnet.com/news/court-decision-encourages-monroe-prisoners-eager-for-right-to-vote/ January 10, 2010 by Andy Rathbun MONROE — Bill Pawlyk considered himself a conservative before he went to prison. His political leanings changed after he lost the ability to vote and began serving a life sentence at the Monroe Correctional Complex. “I shifted more toward the center,” said Pawlyk, 68. “You’re a McCain type of fellow,” added Kimonti Carter, 30, a fellow convict serving life at the Monroe Correctional Complex. The men, both found guilty of first-degree murder, are among a group of Washington state prisoners excited by a controversial court decision that could return their right
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