God Is In Prison, Too
A letter we received from LeVar Aikens who's incarcerated at ERDCC in Bonne Terre.
"God
is in prison too.
There
is this misinformation that the D.O.C. has put out there, that
prisons are "correctional centers" and "rehabilitation"
is available. They even give us little booklets when we first come
here---decades ago---trying to make us believe the lie.
This
place tries to, or does, destroy every part of you and takes away
everything you love. It's rules are the exact opposite of society,
and if you do something that is good or normal in society you will
receive a conduct violation. Then they tell you they are preparing
you for society. All the while staff bring in fentanyl that causes
overdoses, death, and creates an even more dangerous environment. If
any of prison was good for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical
wellness, and was a place of rehabilitation then why are we
dehumanized, why are we being maced and put in the hole for/while
praying, why not provide adequate medical care, why is every real
tool for rehabilitation and betterment unavailable to us, why are the
rules and conduct expected in here the exact opposite of what goes on
in society, why can a guard say they are so frustrated they feel like
punching a coworker but if I say that same thing I receive a conduct
violation for a threat, why does it take 30 to 35 years to overturn a
wrongful conviction, and what good does doing 25 years of abuse do?
How does being in an environment with no love, hope, peace, kindness,
commonsense, fairness, or anything good help me, or any one in here?
It doesn't. Paying a debt to society is one thing, being abused and
dehumanized is something else.
The
truth is needed. Let's stop the whole false narrative of prisons
being "correctional centers" or that "rehabilitation"
is provided, or that "staff are better than the people they
dehumanize" because staff are committing crimes bringing drugs
into prisons, staff lie about events and incidents, and staff assault
inmates-----that's exactly what getting maced and tackled while
praying is, an assault. And it's not all staff who do these horrible,
inhumane things, but there is no equality or humanity in what takes
place and how one is viewed versus the other. Because you literally
have staff who have been caught abusing children, and some who
haven't been caught. But because they are staff, it makes it
okay.
Let's
just call prisons what they are, places of dehumanization, trauma,
and abuse. Yes, they do take child molesters, rapists, and people who
have killed off the street. But not all of us is a serial rapist or
murderer. And to be clear, as someone who was abused as a child, I
have to work to contain the disgust and hate I have towards child
molesters and abusers of women. And while they should be locked up
for there crimes, what about the little boy who was molested who
never got any help and became an abuser himself? Not excusing what
he/she did, but some of these guys NEED abuse and trauma treatment
and help. Some of these guys, with real rehabilitation, are/would be
great people.
The
same goes for the abused kid who killed someone. What good does this
environment do for anyone who needs help, or anyone that naturally
matures and grows with age? Because no one makes the same ignorant
decisions they made as a kid, when they are 30 or 40 years old. What
good does this place serve for someone who made one mistake in life?
And we won't even get into all the people in here who 30 plus years
later, it comes out they were innocent or a corrupt prosecutor
withheld evidence. What good does this place serve for any of them?
None.
God
is in society, in nature, and in every man, woman, and child. But God
is in prison too.
God
Bless,
LeVar
Aikens
#532829"
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