by Richard Wembe Johnson
In recent times there has been an avalanche of misrepresentations, deceit, cover-ups and outright lies waged against the truth as it relates to prisoners and what is really going on out of the eyesight of the public. The blitz of misinformation that has been occupying the internet and various news outlets is designed to hide and distort the truth from those not truly abreast and informed on the politics of prison expansion, control and the misuse of taxpayer dollars for maximum security and protection.
The most blatant abuse concerns Security Housing Units, better known as SHUs, pronounced like shoes. Supposedly the most vile and dangerous prisoners with blood on their hands are housed in these settings, away from all other prisoners who aren’t seen as dangerous predators.
By claiming that most if not all in SHU are murderous individuals with heavy ties to prison or street gangs, the administration seeks to avert the real from the people. Not everyone in SHU is a gangster, murderer or so violent that he must be held in such inhumane conditions, physically and emotionally tortured as the only way to keep order and control. CDCR, aka California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, has built a monstrous temple of lies that is beginning to show cracks in its structure.
Falsehood can only be sustained for so long before the truth will begin to take shape. Now the SHU class is uniting to say enough with the deception and untruth, enough of the cruel and unjust treatment at the hands of corrupt administrators working to maintain this profitable system adverse to human life.
Our only way to show the world what is happening in these prisons that are being paid for and funded by the people is to come together in unity and put our health at further dire risk, with the potential of death via starvation. We come together as one with the desire that someone would take heed and listen to our words of defiance regarding the mistreatment of prisoners being subdued with overcrowding, failed health services, persecution and the vicious conditions that we’re forced to endure in SHU.
It’s understandable that if you commit a rule infraction you’ll be disciplined. What isn’t widely known is that everyone believed to either be a gang member or associate can, with no due process, be indefinitely locked up in solitary confinement until you snitch, parole or die. It’s referred to as administrative justice, not based on behavior or conduct. Those held in SHU are labeled as vile, murderous gang members, who must be kept locked up 22 1/2 hours a day in a tiny cell, so everyone else will be safe.
Not everyone in SHU is a gangster, murderer or so violent that he must be held in such inhumane conditions, physically and emotionally tortured as the only way to keep order and control.
Prison overseers have worked feverishly in their campaign of deception, but nothing lasts forever. The sheets are coming down and eyes are being opened. No longer can they hide behind the cloak of so called security necessary to protect others, when the truth is the only thing that needs to be protected.
In the last couple of years there’s been a real awakening as to the innate corruption at CDCR as they cling to the illusion of invincible power. The people aren’t so naïve, nor are they blind.
It has taken several painful hunger strikes to bring attention to this shameful system. There can be no turning back. Lives have been lost; irrevocable harm has been done.
The only direction from here is up. We’ve come too far to vacillate or relinquish our insistence that CDCR leadership must be held to the task of fixing all that’s wrong, even if it means falling on the sword themselves.
The head of the Department of Corrections, Jeffrey Beard, must either stop lying and start fixing the problems or face the power of the people by being replaced. Gov. Jerry Brown, who has enjoyed support from a wide range of constituents, now has to face the possibility of defeat in his upcoming bid for re-election or give up any future plans in politics.
It has taken several painful hunger strikes to bring attention to this shameful system. There can be no turning back. Lives have been lost; irrevocable harm has been done.
These two men working together can rectify the broken system. To begin, Jeffrey Beard can stop his fear mongering – lying to people by way of news media about how everyone held in SHU is a vicious gang member and if let out will kill everyone in sight. He knows better and is counting on the people to accept these untruths in order to maintain disorder.
Gov. Jerry Brown is the most powerful man in California. Obviously he has become intoxicated with power and has forgotten how he got that position. He was elected to office by the people, and if need be he’ll be removed by the people of the state come election time.
He may think that he owes a debt of loyalty to named and unnamed sponsors; however, his responsibility is to the people who put him in office to serve and represent them, not the backdoor donors looking for favors. Gov. Brown needs to stop pandering to the powerful unions and be a governor to everyone.
Stop being a politician for once and start governing the people of California with esteem and respect plus integrity. Whenever you become indecisive, the truth will guide you in the right direction, as truth is infinite and immeasurable.
Send our brother some love and light: Richard Wembe Johnson, K-53293, PBSP SHU D2-218, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95532.