Letters from Inside: Covid-19 and the Carceral State #11

This is part of our series Letters from Inside: COVID-19 and the Carceral State, centered on amplifying the voices of incarcerated people in Ohio. Below is a transcript of an electronic letter sent to us on 5/6/2020 by ‘Aziyz, published with his permission and edited minimally for clarity.

FACTOLOGY v. MCI LIES; Part 5

During the Governor’s [Ohio Governor Mike DeWine] 5–4–2020 COVID-19 TV Briefing he announced that Ohio is MILLIONS of dollars in debt. He further stated that to augment this debt he intends to cut funding from schools, hospitals and health care. Then someone asked him (QUOTE): “Why don’t you cut funding to these over crowded prisons instead of schools and health care?”;… to which the Governor was literally “STUCK’ like a deer in headlights for an evident 4.7 seconds, and then mumbled a non-preformatted response by saying, “I… ah,.. have,.. ah,.. a responsibility to protect the public.”,…WOW!! we know the phrase ‘Follow The Money’, and now we know where the hundreds of millions of dollars mysteriously disappeared to that Congress slotted for Ohio citizens, small business pay rolls, etc. before it even got here! There’s no doubt the Governor’s plan will focus on the people whose communities lack resources and influence to put up a fight (FIRST AND FOREMOST Black folks, then Red folks, Brown folks, Yellow folks, and poor White folks). That’s right people,… the ‘Prison Industrial Complex’ for much of Ohio and many of its cities (like Lancaster, Mansfield, Allen, and Marion, etc.), are “Prison Based Economies”, thus, these prisons are literal ‘Cash Cows’ raking in literally hundreds of millions, if not BILLIONS of dollars,… so, the Governor will mitigate his megalithic fiscal mismanagement by cutting from the very things the people need most,… it’s ‘Business As Usual”.

As I stated at the end of ‘Part 2',… I’m trying to figure out why the MCI staff are upset about and complaining about Warden Wainwrights’ ‘Non-Affirmative Factor-X’ style of management??,… yes, I and several other Prisoners overheard a very loud and rambunctious conversation in the MCI hallways between a Unit Manager, a White-shirt Sgt. and other staff members. The Unit Manager stated (in a very hostile and condescending tone), (QUOTE): “The F@!*ing warden has only showed her face around here TWICE ever since this sh*#t started!! She wasn’t even here to greet the National Guard,…. real PATRIOTIC of her!! She’s left us here to deal with all this bullsh*#t and these f@!*ing inmates, while she hides behind her 7 year old son!! Does she think she’s the ONLY f@!*ing single mother around here!?!?,… and I’m sure as hell tired of working for these f@!*ing inmates!!!”,… All staff agreed with her sentiments.

Yeh,.. I know that sounds shocking to free world people, but we hear them talking like this, and worse, on a constant and daily basis. We overheard this vitriolic venting as we were standing in the hallways waiting to pick-up our food trays,… and for those who doubt the accuracy of my witness,… ask yourself,… How could I possibly know that Warden Wainwright is the single Mother of a 7 year old son??,… I don’t have any knowledge of her personal life,… obviously my witness is true. In my analysis of Warden Wainwright, she’s an EXTREMELY intelligent and PROLIFICALLY fierce/focused Black woman,… she could never be anything less,… how else could she have smashed through the ‘Glass Ceiling” of both racial and gender inequality to become the virtual ‘Commander And Chief’ as Warden of MCI?? (FACT): Don’t get it twisted and rock yourself to sleep,… in America Black people MUST be 5 times greater to be treated equal and even 10 times more to win. These bigotted devils LOVE her management style as she acquiesces in their unconstitutional treatment of Prisoners,… they’ve never seen her comin’,… there’s a ‘Great Gulf Fixed’ in comprehension between ‘Those Whom MAN Has APPOINTED’ (them), and ‘Those whom GOD Has ANOINTED’ (Warden Wainwright). Evenso, God don’t like ugly,… even the Bible warns that “The righteousness of a righteous man (or woman), will not save him (or her), in his day of sin.” God hears the righteous outcries of the down-trodden, and raises up from AMONG them a Light-Bearer to expose their wickedness, while showing the way to those who are aware (the Mentally Resurrected). Thus, it’s a two edged sword. Two of the greatest human beings to ever exist said it this way; … the 1st edge is for all of us striving against injustice:

“True peace is not the absence of conflict in life,… it’s the presence of Justice. Where there’s no Justice, there can be no peace.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And the 2nd edge is for the complaining MCI staff:

“The chickens have come home to roost.” El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

FROM THE FRONT LINES,… I AM ‘AZIYZ

This letter was published by members of the Community Freedom Coalition, a central Ohio based group working to end all forms of state-sanctioned violence and build a world without police or prisons. Follow our work on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. #FreeThemAll