PRISONERS ARE PEOPLE AND HUMAN TOO
by Jami Naturalite

We are taught as children, teenagers, college students, and adults that prison and prisoners are something bad, feared, and even hated. We overlook the fact and reality that prisoners are people and human too. A prisoner is someone's child, grandchild, niece, nephew, sister, brother, relative, friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, parent, aunt, uncle, etc. Her/his body has the components of anyone else. Prisoners feel, think, have hopes, dreams and aspirations. No prisoner, as a child, wanted or aspired to become a prisoner. Like Job (3:1ff) and Jeremiah (20:14) understood long ago, prisoners never asked to be born.

For whatever reason, something in a prisoner's life did not evolve like the life of a non-prisoner. In a lot of ways, prison can be seen as housing society's rejects. There are but a few "harden criminals," if any, when compared with the two million individuals in American prisons. In fact, I have never met a "harden criminal" since November 6, 1986. I have met a bunch of confused, wayward, and unguided prisoners. But, never a "harden criminal."

Life in prison is very much like it is in any community. The only difference is that prison is a controlled environment, usually of the same sex. Prison is something like living in a homeless shelter or on a college campus without the liberty that homeless people or students enjoy; if not taken for granted. Prison can be described as something like a communist country (where you have to ask for permission to do whatever), but with greater limitations and restrictions on what can be done when.

Many prisoners have routine work assignments. Some which include porters (like janitors); clerks (who perform various tasks in support of Classification, Recreation, Special Activities Directors, School Secretaries, Food Service, and other staff members); general and law library aides; grounds maintenance; teacher's aides; newspaper staff; building maintenance; legal writers; factory workers; food service; gate pass; public works; etc. Without the prisoner work force, the State's cost to operate prisons would be astronomical. There are far more prisoners working in prison (and doing much of the grunt work) than staff members.

Many prisoners attend a variety of religious programming; some which includes Christian, Judaism, Islamic, Buddhism, Native American, etc. These prisoners go to church, worship services, bible studies, take correspondence courses, and even volunteer to lead services in the absence of outside volunteers.

Many prisoners participate in various prisoner initiated programming such Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Free Spirit Running Club, Hebrew Culture Club, Hispanic Americans Striving Towards Achievement (HASTA), Michigan Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Lifer's Association (NLA), Vietnam Veteran's of America (VVA), etc. Many prisoners attend academic school towards getting their GED; vocational training to learn a marketable trade; pre-release courses; etc.

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