I call this the Philosopher’s Stone.
When you wake up in prison, you have to generate positivity. At the sunbreak of dawn, you have to be ahead of the day by already having a sensible mind-state. You have got to become a master of your mind-state. You put yourself in a position of choice; it is up to you to choose the positive over the negative. You decide how you feel. We are emotional beings, so we are constantly in our emotions, consciously or subconsciously.m
There’s this great book titled As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. This is the first book you should study while incarcerated, facing a long term and possible isolation, between three hours or more daily. In this cell, you’re alone and left with your mind. I begin each day before the sun even rises and change my mindset. I remove everything that happened before.
Today, out of my soul, I remove all evils in my heart, all violence and hate for the system. I removed it, and I creatively visualize the opposite reality, freedom. I could even fly in these best moments of mindfulness. I have superpowers all of a sudden, when I remove myself from confinement at 4 am in the morning. I drink hot water, imagining it’s nectar purifying my being. I do this breathing exercise impromptu imagining I’m inhaling heaven. Each breath heals my wounds. My head has a crown on top of it. It’s pure electricity twirling as the Earth does.
And now, I attract all riches, beauty, and Nirvana. I guess that [inaudible] theory thing truly exists because I move my blood in electrical currents to all the power systems along my spine. As I stretch and breathe, I even imagine I’m smoking marijuana, and now my face is flushed. After several rounds, I go back to my hot cup of water, drinking my pure therapeutic elixir, and I swear I have found the Philosopher’s Stone.
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)