My name is Spoon Jackson in that New Folsom Prison. And the title of the poem I’m reading is “Go On.”
I cannot go on like this, but I will go on, on and on even when on is off. Something is stirring inside me, my soul wanting to burst out like a hot spring in the desert, wanting to come out, and I don’t know what it is.
In the moment, I hope it’s a poem or a song. Something vast like Euripides, something wise and funny like Aristophanes, something deep like Langston Hughes, so deep in the seas where no light goes. I know what it is. I want to create my way off this lockdown and write my way out of prison. They allowed redemption once, now only condemnation.
I cannot go on, but I will go on, on and on even when on is off. Melancholic and sad, they all letting some lifers go home, some I have known for a lifetime. And that is a good thing. Yet there is no end in sight for me. I don’t know anymore where to go to get strength to go on.
I don’t know where to go to leave this sadness and pain and make my heart sing again and make my spirit sure again. Everywhere I look, there’s a big sign that says no, no forgiveness, no love, no hope, no second chance, no dreams, no romance.
I cannot go on, but I will go on, on and on even when on becomes off. But I have nowhere to go. Nowhere that says yes. Yes, it’s okay to dream for some come true. Yes. It’s okay to hope for freedom for freedom is free. Yes, it’s okay to love, for love can be true
![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
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