This is Amy Buckley from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, Mississippi.
Everyone has heard the statement, “United, we stand, divided, we fall.” The women in the Mississippi prison system are a prime example of how true this statement is. These women are divided on every front, and because of this division, they cannot stand. They are unwilling to unite so they can fight for changes to the system, changes to laws and for their freedom. Instead, they choose to stand against one another. They are filled with anger, hurt, and hatred, unwilling to take responsibility for the problems in their lives and not wanting to change. They gripe and complain about the living conditions, their time, the unfairness of the system, and everything else. But when someone mentions joining together to get things done, they back down. We scream about women’s lib, wanting to be considered equal with men, so shouldn’t we take a lesson from the men and learn to work together, instead of always tearing each other down?
Seven years, three different facilities, and things are always the same. The women, because of their actions and attitudes, always get left behind. Through the years, I’ve watched as the women held captive by the state of Mississippi, consistently serve more time than the men. The men in Mississippi prisons have more programs and earn more time off their sentences than women. Why? Men know how to stick together, writing letters, filing petitions, and fighting to get what they want. Women, on the other hand, want to fight amongst themselves and hate on each other. It is time we stop the insanity, follow the example of the men, and work together.
The women I’m surrounded by spend all of their time wanting what the next person has, and if they can’t get it, they write letters and snitch, causing the other person to get shook down unnecessarily. Shakedowns are so frequent now that you can never let your guard down. Fights are also more prevalent these days because the women have so much hatred towards each other. I overheard a captain saying that the women here are way more violent and out of control than the men. Sadly, I wasn’t surprised by this comment. We have failed to learn the importance of power and unity. The men seem to have learned this long ago. Numerous times, I’ve talked to different women about coming together and discussing changes that need to be made to prison systems. All were unwilling to sit down together.
Most recently, I mentioned us writing letters to get the blowers in our zone fixed. Everyone is complaining about how hot it is, but I’m the only one who wrote a letter. These women refused to write a simple letter about a small thing, and certainly will not write a letter concerning attaining their freedom or the freedom of others. Their attitude is, “I don’t care if so and so goes home, as long as I go home one day.” We should desire freedom, not only for ourselves, but for others as well. The majority of these women, especially the younger group, have the attitude that prison is a life. So many times I’ve heard someone say, “This is cool. I don’t have to work, pay rent, cook, or even pay bills.” Every time I hear this comment, it leaves me dumbfounded and angry. I cannot begin to comprehend their mindset. When did it become cool to accept unjust treatment and oppression? Can they not see that this is not cool and that they should want more for themselves? If only I could open their eyes and change their desires.
I can’t speak on women in prisons in other states, but in Mississippi, drug use and addiction are real problems. There are more drugs in the prison than I ever imagined possible. These women are enslaved by the system and by their addiction. Women go for days on end with no sleep, running the floors all day and night in search of their next hit. Everywhere you look, people are strung out, and on occasion, some overdose. Unfortunately, as long as they have money, they’ll have drugs. This group of women seem to have the highest rate of recidivism because they get out, continue to get high, and fail a drug test when reporting to their probation officer. Within months, they are back to serve out the remainder of their sentence.
When will we, as women, lay aside our differences and work together to change our situation? When will we learn to utilize power we have as a group, and use our brains for important work rather than for petty BS? As long as we sin against one another, we will remain at the bottom of the totem pole. The men are fighting their way to the top every day, and they are getting things done. What is more important, our hatred for one another or gaining our freedom? In Mississippi, hatred has won, hands down.
I live by the motto, “If you dare to be different, you can make a difference.” Choosing to not be defined by my situation, but with rise above it, leaves me alone in my fight for freedom, justice, and change. Too often, I’m viewed as a radical because I refuse to sit back and accept the ways of the prison system. Life is too short to just give up. No matter how many times my ideas are rejected or how many times I’m shunned for trying to unite these women, I will not stop. I will continue to speak on the importance of unity and the power we have as a group to change the system. I will continue to reach out to the women around me, because I know that one day, someone will listen. Women, we want to be considered equal with the men. We fight for stupid things like getting a woman’s face on money, so why can we not fight for our freedom?
Mississippi is still in the dark ages in many ways. Women are still expected to be homemakers, barefoot and pregnant. This is the reality in the state we live in. When a woman commits a crime here, it’s like committing a cardinal sin. We can stand before the judge and get our time, then when we get to prison, we whine and complain; we argue, fight and snitch on one another, but we can’t, for the life of us, come together and work out a way to sustain our freedom.
The women in the Mississippi prison system stand divided on a daily basis, and on a daily basis, many fall. They fall victim to the prison life, catch new charges while here, and have more time added to their sentences. They are their own worst enemy, because they hate themselves and each other. We will never get ahead as long as we are seemingly satisfied with the way things are and are willing to say, enough is enough. It is time we stop fighting against one another and join forces today to bring about changes for tomorrow. There is power in unity. Together, we can change not only the prison system, but the world as well. This is Amy Buckley from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, Mississippi.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
