My name is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey. I am an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility here in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Commentary is about the COVID-19. About four days ago, I started feeling sick. I woke up and I was sneezing. And then it progressed from sneezing to sneezing and coughing. And the third day it went from sneezing, coughing, to sneezing, coughing, a headache, puffy eyes, and a swollen throat.
And on the fourth day, right after I had went to breakfast, I came back to my cell and I threw up twice. And I happened to [inaudible] in the cell house. And the cell-house porter cleaning up the cell house. And I had came out for work and I started feeling dizzy. So I asked the guard to call the nurse for me. And the nurse came [inaudible].
She did my-she did my temperature, which at the time was only 98.5. She did a oxygen check on me and my oxygen levels were good and everything. And she did blood pressure and the blood pressure was good. However, being that I had the symptoms she gave-she got permission to do what they call a rapid COVID testing, which gives results in like 15 minutes.
And she gave me the COVID testing. And I tested positive. So after testing positive, I had put in a sit call and requested to be- they had me in my cell, in my cell house, quarantined in my cell. But I requested to be moved to the clinic and as it stands now, I am now in a isolation cell in the infirmary. Until I-until I have no longer symptoms. After 10 days, if I do continue to show symptoms, then I will have to stay in the clinic for the full 14 days. Until-then I will be able to go back to population.
Once again, this is Bilal Abdul-Salam Bey, known as Johnny Hughes. Number 96576. Hutchinson Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 1568. Hutchinson, Kansas 67504. Thank you for your time, effort, and energy.
(Sound of a cell door closing.) These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of 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)