The Visit That Never Was: The Continued Efforts To Destroy The Bonds Between Prisoners and Their Loved-Ones

By Uhuru B. Rowe
September 25, 2017
E-mail: uhururowe76@yahoo.com

Anyone who has ever served time in a jail, prison, or a detention facility, or has been an inpatient at a hospital, knows the importance of receiving visits from loved-ones. Visits from the people we care about functions as a temporary reprieve from the drudgery of institutional life. They remind us that we are loved, valued, and cared for in a harsh and punitive environment which seeks to strip away every ounce of our humanity and self-esteem. Most importantly, they remind us that, despite being isolated away behind concrete walls, we are still part of a family unit; part of our community. So, when I was called for a visit on Sunday, September 24, 2017, here at Sussex 2 State Prison, I was overjoyed! But this feeling of being overjoyed was short-lived, and was quickly replaced with anger and frustration. Here’s why:

On The Need For United Front Between Prisoners and Working Class People

By Uhuru B. Rowe
October 3, 2017
E-mail: uhururowe76@yahoo.com

“We believe that as presently practiced, mass incarceration under the guise of a war on crime or a war on drugs is actually a war on the working class. Through such a guise, an important fact is often forgotten and hidden in plain sight; the overwhelming majority of individuals who are sent to prison are members of the working class.”– Industrial Workers Organizing Committee