The great Black activist and artist, Paul Robeson, in 1958, in Carnegie Hall, sang the gospel song, ‘Balm in Gilead’:
♪Therrre is a balmmm in Gileaaad,
♪To make the wounded who–oole!♪….
His full, magnificent baritone filled the Hall with wonder.
These words in song sprang back from over half a century, when the news emerged of a big pharmaceutical, Gilead Sciences, Inc., buying the drug sofosbuvir–and then tripling its preferred price, to treat hundreds of thousands of people, suffering from Hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C is a liver infection (inflammation), which can untreat, lead to immense suffering and death.
Sofosbuvir, sold under the names Harvoni and Sovaldi, is more than a treatment: it is a cure, with healing rates of over 95%. And it now goes for $1,000— as pill.
A full course of treatment?
Over $100,000.
Is there a balm in Gilead?
Yup. There is.
But only a few can afford it.
To quote Paul Robeson, in the words of this cherished Negro spiritual,
♪There is a balm in Gilead,
♪To make the wounded whooole—-♪♪
But if you can’t afford it, you die.
![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)