Hello. My name is Robert Hinds, and my number is 410196. I’m currently incarcerated at the Michigan Department of Corrections in Chippewa Correctional Facility.
If you are someone that’s fighting for or supporting a loved one, a friend, or advocating against mass incarceration or run for convention, this message is you. I just want to say thank you for the diligence and hard work and all the sacrifice that you may have to make in this fight. I know being there for someone in prison is not easy, and it does take work.
I would like to be a voice of encouragement and let you know that the work that you are doing is valuable. Even when you don’t understand, there’s often a reason or message behind the things your loved one asks you to do. The phone calls you make, the people you are asked to look up on social media, all this can help us. And the people that we may even ask you to write. To all the ladies, the mothers, the daughters, the sisters, the wives, the girlfriends, and all the home girls that have [inaudible] like they was supposed to, or the ones currently doing it, I just want to applaud you and say thank you.
I was share an example. I asked one of my family members to try to obtain a miscellaneous file from the Detroit Police Department. They tried one time and gave up. There was a complete stranger at the time that fought diligently for three years to get the file for me. After three years, she was able to get the file. This file contains all the evidence that can help me prove my innocence that was never turned over to my attorney and me. If she would’ve given up and stopped searching for this file, I would have never learned about this evidence.
So this is an example of continuing to fight, continuing to do. It can pay off. The reason I’m sharing this story is to let you know that it might not be easy, but don’t give up. Use my case and my story as an example of motivation to continue to fight for your loved ones.
Once you see all the evidence for yourself, please share and sign a petition at www.change.org/freeroberthinds. If you have any questions about this, you can feel free to contact me on JPay with the information at the beginning of this message. Thank you.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)