SOAW–West News for July, 2003
1) Prisoners, Film Event, Legislation and more.
2) Letters from Prisoners; Sept. 23 - Religious Lobby Day in DC.
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
July 4, 2003
Ft. Benning, GA Vigil is Nov. 21-23, 2003San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.orgItems. Summaries and Articles follow.PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE NEWSSummaries:
FILM EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO
TV SHOWING
SAN FRANCISCO MEETING - THURSDAY, AUG. 7
LEGISLATION - HR 1258
HONOR FOR BILL QUIGLEY, SOA WATCH LAWYER
PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE NEWS
Derrlyn Tom surrendered on her report date of June 10. She has been held in the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin. Derrlyn has been in touch with SOA Watch lawyer Bob Phares and succeeded in getting a copy of her pre-sentencing investigation papers sent to Dublin. Her case manager is recommending that she be transferred to the Federal Prison Camp, where other SOA Watch activists are serving their prison terms. Derrlyn requests that everyone urge his/her Representative to co-sponsor and/or give strong support to HR 1258 (See item #5 in this email.) She will be glad to hear about what you are doing to close SOA/WHINSEC. Write to:
Derrlyn Tom
#91362-020
Federal Correctional Institution
5701 S. 8th Street Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568
Don Haselfeld has had visits with family and friends these past few weekends. He has room for more names on his visiting list. If you will be able to travel to Lompoc on a Sat. or Sun. in August or September, please ask Don to send you a Visitor Form. Write:Don Haselfeld
#91381-020 Beta Qtrs.
Federal Prison Camp
3705 W. Farm Road
Lompoc, CA 93436-2756
A Letter from Laura Slattery is printed below.FILM EVENT - Your attendance is needed so that the film will be scheduled to show for a week!Friday July 11, 8:00 pm
New documentary, "Hidden in Plain Sight"
Castro Theatre, Castro Street at Market Street, San Francisco
Tickets: $12 advance (www.hiddeninplainsight.org), $15 at the door
Post-screening discussion with filmmakers John Smihula and Viví Letsou and representatives of Global Exchange (Medea Benjamin and Michael Parenti), Amnesty International, SOA Watch.
The evening is a benefit for both the film and the Film Arts Foundation.NEW! An excellent interview with the producer, John Smihula, with thanks to SOAW-Los Angeles: Hidden Interview
TV SHOWING"Discovering Dominga"Discovering Dominga is the story of Dominga Sic Ruiz/Denise Becker, a survivor of the 1982 Rio Negro Massacre in Guatemala. Just after the Massacre, at age 11, she was adopted by a couple from the US and raised in Iowa. The film is the story of her discovery at age 29 that she was a survivor, her return to Guatemala, the struggle to find the remains of her parents and her increasing political awareness.
Tuesday, July 8, 10:00 pm on PBS (P.O.V. selection for KQED Channel 9 in Bay Area)The documentary was produced by Patricia Flynn with Mary Jo McConahay of Pacific News Service, San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO MEETINGThursday, August 7, 7:00 pmLEGISLATION - Need for contacts with Thompson, Tauscher, Pelosi, Lantos, Honda, Eshoo, asking each to co-sponsor HR 1258. Phone and fax numbers are given below.
SOA Watch Meeting in San Francisco
Unitarian Universalist Church, Franklin at Geary
Contact Dolores
Students and teachers from Richmond High School will make a presentation on their efforts to produce a video showing the development of young college students into committed social activists, using the SOA protest in Georgia as the focus.
HR 1258, a House bill, has 80 cosponsors. The bill has the official title, "The Latin American Military Training Review Act of 2003." It would repeal the authority for SOA/ WHINSEC and states that no successor school can be opened for at least 10 months. It also demands the establishment of a joint congressional task force to assess U.S. training of Latin American military.HONOR for William ("Bill") Quigley, SOA Watch lawyer.
Bill Quigley has been awarded the 2003 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award. Quigley is acknowledged for his legal work with SOA Watch and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center in New Orleans. See below for the full announcement.The letter from Laura Slattery begins with a poem from "my Aunt Mike."
"Bars are meantDay 56 or June 23, 2003
for children to climb-
for vines to spread.
They are of no interest
to butterflies."
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings once again from Dublin FPC where I have spent the last 56 days. I find it interesting to think about all of the places you all may have traveled during that time, and am kind of enjoying the not rushing from place to place that characterizes my life "on the outside."
So, a couple of weeks ago my 'federally funded retreat'/health spa experience officially (in my eyes, anyway) ended. Things began to get tough. My living and work situations quickly deteriorated. In the dorm, the younger women run the pod/whole upper C-4 South (about 40 women). They call the dorm "the ghetto" and refer to themselves as the "bad kids." They have been staying up till 12, 12:30, talking loudly and laughing. They intimidated the inmates who were in charge of the lights (off at 10pm, on at 6am) and the lights weren't going out till after 11, and then usually only at my request. (As an aside- even when the lights go out, one of the gals who sleeps all day and leads the group at night has a night light that she keeps on which could easily qualify as a search-and-rescue light with what I'm sure is a 200+ watt bulb.) My attempts at asking them to speak more softly were met with rebuffs ("This is prison," "Get some ear plus" etc.) and being made fun of the next day.
At work, the two women with whom I work most closely were nice to me one minute, and cold to me the next. This went on for several weeks despite my efforts to bridge the gap: ask for assistance with how to be faster on the job; try to figure out what was wrong; win them over with humor. Then the coldness toward me spread to not only the rest of the PM kitchen crew, but to the AM crew as well. I ended up eating by myself a couple of times and feeling like I was reliving being the odd kid out in 7th grade all over again.
At the lowest point of the last couple of weeks, in the midst of all the frustration, I found myself standing up to several of the women (almost getting in their face, really) and raising my voice to match that of several guards. It is amazing to me how quickly my Army training kicks in even after years of practicing and experimenting with nonviolence. I felt like I was back in the Army trying to straighten out a couple of young punks- in this case the young women who think they are 'bad' and boss the other women around; or defend myself from folks who are rude and demeaning- in this case, the guards.
It was too easy for me to name them 'punks' or 'jerks' and act back in kind. I forgot, in the words of John Dear, who I am - who we are - brothers and sisters. I wish I could have responded differently to their threats and mistreatment, though all the frustration and 'getting in peoples' faces has really helped me to see how important it is to remain grounded. I'd gotten lax in my spiritual practice here, forgot why I was here and got sucked up in the politics and gossip, and started reading popular novels just to pass the time (instead of the spiritual / intellectual reading I was doing). How easy it was for me to get ungrounded here and fall into the attitudes and behaviors that surround me. (Maybe it is always that easy for me - maybe I am always that impressionable. But usually I am surrounded by my friends at Pace e Bene and others with very similar values, so that the impact is positive and not negative).
I am on the upswing now, and don't foresee getting so far off track in my mere 30 days remaining. The kitchen situation has improved, I'm staying out of the dorm as much as possible; and I've returned to my daily prayer and spiritual reading (I just finished John Dear's "Jesus the Rebel").
On the other fronts, the softball team is doing great! I was so proud of our victory on Saturday - everyone got a hit (my mantra "plant your back foot" is paying off) and there was no bickering among themselves or with the other team (this is a huge success!). We have only 1 more game, but there is talk of an all-star game against the FCI (the folks across the street behind the barbed wire). Some of the gals were talking about it a couple of days ago and were saying how lucky we are that this year there is a female guard who is willing to strip search us so that we can play. (Last year the officer-in-charge didn't want to so they couldn't play). Hmm- sometimes, I just don't even know how to react or to respond?
Nothing, it seems, came out of my request for an investigation into my counselor's behavior nor the training practices. The camp administrator called me into her office and said that she was very concerned about it and that an investigation would happen and that I wasn't to worry because there would be no retaliation. If I had been more grounded at the time I might have questioned her need to add the part about retaliation -- is retaliation the normal response/procedure for inmates who file requests that shed unfavorable light on camp officers?
Rachel is good. She has volunteered to feed the feral cats that hang around the camp 3 days a week. It's funny how no matter where we are our interests are our interests (Rachel with animals; me with sport). Rachel was moved last Thursday to C-1 (3 buildings over) where she lives in a 4 person room and is very content. Derrlyn Tom, the 5th and final SOAW protester to be assigned to Dublin self-reported on the 10th of June. Apparently there has been some problem (I've heard both that they lost her paperwork and/or they think she is a flight risk) and so she has been kept over behind the barbed wire and we've yet to see her or communicate with her.
The continuous struggle here is to find some place quiet to read and write (my apologies for not writing - it seems my life here has become busier than my life on the outside - I work 5 days a week and now have commitments 6 days/wk). I will, however, be trying to return letters soon.
OK, that's it for now. I count it as a blessing, though difficult at times, to really put to the test my desire to live a nonviolent life and love all people.Peace and all good,
Laura Slattery
# 91364-020
Federal Prison Camp
5675 8th Street
Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568Representatives to contact requesting cosponsorship of HR 1258.Rep. NANCY PELOSI
Phone: 415.556.4862
Fax: 415.861.1670Rep. TOM LANTOS
Phone: 650.342.0300
Fax: 650.375.8270Rep. ELLEN TAUSCHER
Phone: (925) 932-8899
Fax: (925) 932-8159Rep. MIKE HONDA
Phone: (408) 244-8085
Fax: (408) 244-8086Rep. MIKE THOMSPON
Phone: (707) 226.9898
Fax: (707) 251.9800Rep. ANNA ESHOO
Phone: (650) 323-2984
Fax: (650) 323-3498
These Representatives are among the 80 cosponsors of HR 1258 and can be thanked.Barbara LeePress Release by Pax Christi
Zoe Lofgren
Robert Matsui
George Miller
Pete Stark
Lynn WoolseyWilliam Quigley, a founding member of Pax Christi New Orleans and lead attorney for the School of the Americas Watch movement, was awarded the 2003 Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award. The Pax Christi USA
National Council unanimously gave the award to Quigley, citing his dedication and
enthusiastic service in his work with SOA Watch, anti-death penalty efforts, and living wage legislation.
Judith Kelly, an SOA prisoner of conscience and a former client of Quigley, said that his unfailing encouragement and sensitive care to people of all ages, backgrounds and faith perspectives is highly appreciated, and that his compassion for nonviolent resistors is prophetic. "Civil disobedience, especially for people risking three to six months in prison, is never to be undertaken lightly," Kelly said. "However, given the excellent care by defense attorney William Quigley, it is clear that more and more people will come forward to speak truth to power."
Kevin Cahalan, a member of Pax Christi New Orleans, said that as a professor and dean of the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University, Quigley is continually challenging his students, colleagues and administrators by his example. "As a lawyer, he is forever on call and offering his services to defend the otherwise defenseless, such as the SOA Watch defendants, Loyola students cited for feeding the homeless, and sundry other victims of an uncaring society," Cahalan said.
Quigley has also been instrumental in anti-death penalty efforts and anti-war efforts. He is a current board member of The Moratorium Project and has accompanied Sr. Helen Prejean on her visits to death row inmates. In September 2002, Quigley also traveled to Iraq with a Voices in the Wilderness delegation and spoke throughout the United States on his experience. "From helping people on death row to visiting the besieged people of Iraq, Bill has demonstrated and shared his commitment to true justice, weaving his beliefs with his occupation and activities," said Shannon McManimon, a program associate at Pax Christi USA and a former SOA defendant. "As one of his 'clients,' I witnessed this firsthand, from his support of decisions that were outside the 'rules' of the courtroom to a reassuring hand on the shoulder as someone faced the judge. Throughout our trial, Bill proved to be not only our lawyer, but our friend. I am grateful for his example of conscience."
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
July 31, 2003
Ft. Benning, GA Vigil is Nov. 21-23, 2003San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.org
1) On July 24, Laura Slattery was released from Federal Prison Camp in Dublin and J C Orton was released from the Prison Camp in Atwater. SOA Watch West deeply appreciates the commitment of these nonviolent activists to closing the SOA. Rachel Montgomery, Don Haselfeld, and Derrlyn Tom remain in prison. Below are letters from Rachel, Derrlyn, and Laura. Addresses are reprinted below for your convenience.2) SOA Watch San Francisco Meeting
Thursday, August 7, 7:00 PM
Unitarian Universalist Church
Franklin at Geary
Contact Dolores Priem, doloresmp@aol.com
Agenda: Preview of Documentary on High School and College Students involved in SOA Watch. The Video is a project of Richmond High School students and staff.3) SOA Watch Oakland Meeting
Wednesday, August 20, 7:00 PM
Contact Bob Nixon, robertnixon@mindspring.com4) Religious Lobby Day to close the SOA/WHINSEC
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Washington, DC
The national SOA Watch office is planning a Religious Lobby Day in DC on September 23, with dozens of religious groups, orders, and communities, converging in Washington DC, to lobby Members of Congress to close down the SOA/WHISC.
The plan is to have a press event/Congressional briefing in the mid-morning and also a prayer vigil in the early evening. Lobbying visits to Congressional offices will take place all day Tuesday the 23rd, with an opening reception the evening before. If you are a member of a religious community, or know members of religious communities, please consider "crossing the line" to DC to add your voice and body to the efforts in the halls of Congress. So far, sponsors include the Leadership Conference on Women Religious, NETWORK, Pax Christi, the Maryknoll Office on Global Concerns, Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Agnes, the 8th Day Center for Justice, Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, and more.WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
1. Send a letter of endorsement to religious communities that you know, and ask them to sign on. (Prototype/copy available from DC Office, 202.234.3440)LOCAL CONTACT:
2. Get in touch with former Prisoners of Conscience to see if they are able to come. Help them arrange meetings with their Members of Congress if they need assistance.
3. Come to DC yourself! There are lots of support tasks that need to be done, whether you are a Religious or not!
Therese Cameranesi.SPECIAL NOTE: Oakland to Washington DC/Dulles airfares are currently $99 each way. Check the web - jetblue.com or call 1.888.jetblue
Prisoner AddressesDonald Haselfeld
#91381-020 Beta Qtrs.
Federal Prison Camp
3705 W. Farm Road
Lompoc, CA 93436-2756Rachel Montgomery -- #91367-020
Federal Prison Camp - Dublin
5675 8th Street - Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568Derrlyn Tom -- #91362-020
Federal Correctional Institution - Dublin
5701 8th Street - Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568
Hi, to Derrlyn's support network!Hello everyone! The weeks are coming and going with less and less trepidation. I've established a routine (or one that has been imposed on me) that I actually enjoy. I'm working in the kitchen as a dishwasher - the perfect job for me! I work 2 days, then get 2 days off, work 2 days, get 2 off, etc. With 8 other women, I wash dishes for all 3 meals, feeding 1,200 women per meal. It's hard physical work but I'm always keeping in mind that I have students who work or their parents that do this kind of work every day. The hot scalding water can cause some pain in my hands but I think the worst are still the blisters on my feet, ouch!(This introduction was written by Karen Zapata)
I received a letter last week (July 20) with the following update to go out to you all. I know Derrlyn had a full weekend of visitors this past weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing her next weekend. As you'll read, Derrlyn is still being held in maximum security, and we're still working on her move, but there are a series of bureaucratic hurdles that are there. Regardless, you'll read that she's doing well.
My only choice for comfortable shoes are Nikes - I will not buy Nikes and so continue my afternoon trek around the dirt track in my steel toed boots. So one day of working and walking leaves me exhausted, but, like I said, it's good for me, I'm enjoying the routine. On my days off I meditate, wash clothes, get a pedicure (ha-ha!) Within these last 5 weeks here in maximum security, I've seen and met many women who've come and gone. New women come in (so many that are so young, they can't be older than 25) and others that leave either because their sentence is over or they are transported to SeaTac (Seattle/Tacoma airport), a facility in Washington state that actually readies the women for deportation. The ones being deported are whisked away in the middle of the night, no time to even say goodbye. The ones being released count the days until they leave from the same gate we all entered. I'm afraid my roommates will be taken away in the middle of the night - 2 are from Mexico, 1 from Colombia.
This Sunday is independence day in Colombia and my roommate Susy (from Colombia) said there's a dance to celebrate. I asked her if she ever goes and she said "No, it's too sad for me." I'm so pained at these women's suffering and how much they do to keep it together. So you see, my situation is nothing! My situation is minor compared to the other women here and they're the ones who keep my spirits up -- along with your cards and letters.
I also want to thank everyone for your books as well, but please remember, with each of you sending me books, I can't keep up. I will be overburdened with stuff, even though I don't really have any other big items or possessions. I only have 1 small locker to store my things. I keep all your letters, photos, books with my toothbrush, shampoo, underwear, towels and shirts. I'll definitely donate many of the books to the library but also remember the majority of the women don't read English or don't read political non-fiction. I will gladly keep those books, but again, I just can't keep up. Can I simply ask for a time-out with all your generosity?
The other item: please don't send stamps in the mail! I also get scolded and given a copy of the "unauthorized contraband" form. If you're not sure what to send, please don't send anything. Remember, they need to make their money off me, not have you send me stuff.
I lastly want to thank those of you who went to see the movie "Hidden in Plain Sight" last Friday (July 11) at the Castro. Judy Liteky from SOA Watch said the turnout was good. Sending me gifts only helps me, educating others about the School of the Americas and its closure helps many. With 81 co-signers on the bill HR 1258, speak to friends and family to urge their congresspeople to sign (sponsor) this bill today! This has to be a nationwide effort. Thank you! Let's do all we can for peace, Derrlyn
Letter from Rachel dated July 17, 2003
Dear Friends and Family:
Greetings once again from Dublin, California.
Since I last wrote, I have moved up in the prison camp world . . . in mid-June I was moved from "C-4," the crowded, noisy dorm -- often referred to as the "ghetto" -- to "C-1," a dorm which has much more of a college dorm feel to it. I now share a room about the same size as my old pod, only now I share the space with 3 women as opposed to 7. My roommates are all great women who also work early like I do, so there is no more conflict over when the lights go out or when to be quiet at night. To top it all off, the room has real mattresses (as real as they can be in prison . . . I would actually prefer the floor!) on the beds, a door, a table and chairs and a big window facing the park -- all great luxuries here!
I continue to struggle with my heart and conscience on the job. I have come to enjoy the relative solitude it affords me, as well as the chance to watch and learn from the many birds and other animals in the area. There is an area called the "trenchline" which is actually a long, narrow marsh across the street from the camp, and I've spent many an hour pretending to work in order to watch the herons, killdeer, turkey vultures, red-winged blackbirds and squirrels who live there. Unfortunately, as a landscaper, I am expected to weedwhack the marsh down to the ground on a weekly basis. Normally, I am able to avoid cutting the actual marsh grass and cattails and just go around it. But thanks to a visit last Friday by the national director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, everything was to be in "perfect" shape last week, and I was sent to weedwhack the "trenchline." As I approached the marsh, trying to figure out what to do, I noticed a pair of killdeer (a bird often mistaken for a sandpiper) acting nervous at my approach and calling loudly and urgently. As I stood there watching and wondering why they weren't flying away, a tiny baby killdeer ran up out of the marsh to join its anxious parents. After a few minutes of wrestling with my conscience and my job duties, I laid down my weedwhacker and went to my boss and asked him to give me some other kind of work to do, as I could not weedwhack the marsh. Maybe thinking I was squeamish about getting wet or dirty, he told me to put rubber boots on and get to work. After I told him four or five times that there was a nest there, and that I would not do what he was asking, he finally relented and allowed me to work along the fence line away from the marsh, while my two partners continued to weedwhack the marsh. It feels like a small victory, knowing that the marsh will most likely continue to be cut down whether or not I am the one doing it, but I've taken some comfort in the fact that I was able to stand my ground on this matter. It's a very difficult thing for me to daily be in the belly of the beast, and to see the attitudes and arrogance of Western society literally played out in the way that this small, yet very beautiful and diverse plot of land is treated. It is very apparent to me that it is a microcosm of our planet and all the disrespect we show our Mother Earth in exchange for her unconditional love and abundance.
Today we had a reminder that we are in fact in prison, and subject to the whims of the powers that be. It came in the middle of one of my favorite parts of the week -- Thursday after lunch, when I am able to leave work to join others in meditation with local Zen Buddhist priest volunteers. It is probably the most peaceful hour and a half of my week, and helps bring a bit of the outside world to me - a comforting, refreshing thing after a long week of work in the heat. Today, just as I had managed to quiet my mind, I heard the sound of keys as an officer approached and entered the chapel. (In here, one quickly trains the ears to the distinct sound of keys, lest you be caught with contraband or in a place you aren't supposed to be.) We were told to go to the park for an all-camp fire drill. Once there, we had to line up to be pat-down searched by female staff, and we quickly learned that in fact it was not a fire drill, but a camp-wide shakedown. Lieutenants and other staff from the FCI across the street were in the camp, going through our lockers in all the dorms searching for contraband. As always, rumors began to fly -- someone must have a curling iron, or liquor, or a cell phone. Two and a half hours later, we were allowed back in our units, and one woman was sent to the SHU ("Special Housing Unit" = the hole = solitary confinement) for some as yet unknown contraband.
Three months ago, I would have been appalled at all this, as I'm guessing some of you reading this are. But somehow, even after only 3 months of imprisonment, there are certain things you become accustomed to that you would never expect. I've quickly learned that it is important to choose your battles here if you value your sanity or want to be effective at all. Sadly, most of the women are resigned to all the indignities as being inevitable, and are quite disempowered, with few exceptions. The unfortunate outcome of this seems to be a general attitude of self-preservation -- often at the expense of others -- resulting in petty divisions, jealousies and back stabbing. It is quite a contrast for me after coming from a Catholic Worker community in which we may have had personal differences, but were committed to a common goal and common values which allowed us to see our differences as opportunities rather than barriers. At times it is so disheartening to see a community of women who could be so strong and benefit the whole if the women realized what amazing potential and power they have and didn't allow the system's divide and conquer strategy to work as it does.
On a more exciting note, the four of us "rebels" (my 3 SOA co-defendants and I) have managed to facilitate a series of "From Violence to Wholeness" nonviolence workshops. I feel I have learned far more than we have been able to teach, and it has really helped to open my eyes to the assumptions I make and the ways to relate to people with such diverse backgrounds and understandings of violence and nonviolence.
Active nonviolence will continue to be my focus as I begin a course on nonviolence with the co-founder of the Peace and Conflict Studies Department at UC-Berkeley, Michael Nagler. I am thrilled to finally have the time to study, and this will hopefully nudge me back to school to finish my B.A. after my release.
I have been fortunate to be incarcerated close to home, so I have had many wonderful visitors, including Bay area supporters, supporters of the Oakland Catholic Worker, and good friends, one of whom has recently returned from her peace work in Israel/Palestine. All the mail has been so encouraging as well -- thanks to all of you who have written!
I am already looking forward to November, when I hope to see many of you down in Columbus to call with one big voice for the closing of the SOA/WHISC and an end to U.S. militarism. I am excited to join once again with the community which has become like an extended family for me, and to witness the strength we have despite the "punishment" that has been handed to us. Even if you can't make it to Georgia this November, I encourage all of you to call or write your representatives and Senators to encourage them to sign on to House Bill HR 1258 and create a companion bill in the Senate to call for the closing and independent investigation of SOA/ WHISC. My imprisonment will have very little meaning of those of you with the freedom to do so don't make your voices heard in the halls of Congress. Check out www.soaw.org or call 202-234-3440 for information on HR 1258 or for accommodation and travel information for the protest and vigil November 21-23 in Columbus, Georgia.
Thanks again to all of you for all your prayers, letters and visits -- I truly could not be here if it weren't for all of you on the "outside!"
Peace and Love to all of you.
Rachel"We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into Peace." ~ Michael
Franti (Spearhead)
Letter from Laura dated July 17, 2003Dear friends and family,
Latest poem postcard from Aunt Mike:
"When I learned marigolds wereHi again! At the writing of this letter I've only 6 and a butt day (as we used to say at West Point - here they say 6 and 'a wake up'); and by the time you read this, I may be 'out and about' in the world once again.
the eyes of the earth
- I wondered-
Are ours those of heaven?"I am filled with gratitude for all your prayers and support these past 3 months (hick, for a lot of you, these past 5, 10, 30 years!)
So, the news from here:
I mentioned in my last update (Day 56) that things were on the upswing. They have continued to go well. It seems that change is the word for the month. The situation in the kitchen changed for the better for me for a couple of reasons. One was that the gal I was having difficulty with was place in the Special Housing Unit, the SHU ("thrown in the hole" in prison - movie lingo). The crime - a cell phone was found in her 4-person room. She was gone for 2 weeks and when she returned asked, and was granted, a transfer to maintenance so that she could be close to her girlfriend. (A book could be written on the dating/sexual ethics of being in a woman's prison). As an aside (to my "How Things Got Better in the Kitchen" narrative), although that gal whose cell phone it was immediately confessed, they kept the other three in the SHU for 2 weeks and then finally released them with no disciplinary report (they had not used the phone; I don't even know if they knew their roommate had one) and, of course, no apology).Back to the kitchen - another reason for the ease of tensions is that the camp Is in a lot of transition at this point. A 'drug class' just graduated and so many of the women left. A lot of old workers left the kitchen, and the new ones came in. The other day only 4 of us were around (others were at class, etc) and I was the most senior (at 1 1/2 months). When I arrived the camp population was around 280, it is now 217, and about 20 women are supposed to be bussed down to Victorville next week.
As far as the situation in the pod goes, things are better there as well. Some of the louder women transferred to C-1 (the building with 4 person rooms) and I am taking advantage of the fact that I am in a camp and not locked down at night. I have been going to the dining hall after evening count, which is around 9:30, 10:00 and stay there writing letters or playing chess until the mid-night count. This usually makes for some tired days but I can usually find enough time during the day to catch up on missed sleep. Definitely worth it for the amount of frustration I save; this way I can be more present to the folks in the pod.
Otherwise all is going along as it should I suppose. Rachel and I continue to spend most of our time together when we are not working. We do yoga, write letters, and walk the track. (As I write this I'm reminded of the time early in our stay when we strolled around the track munching on popcorn and "taking in the sights." Several of the inmates remarked "we've never seen this before," the "this" being 2 inmates out enjoying themselves on an evening stroll on the track which is reserved I suppose for Getting-in-Shape. I still smile at the memory).
I'm currently reading Henri Nouwen's "The Genesee Diary," his daily journal entries from his 7-month stay at the Trappist monastery in Genesee, NY. Very honest, probing, and inspirational. I feel like it would have been a good book to read at the beginning of my stay. (Maybe I'll recommend it to the folks who will cross the line to close the SOA this year if they end up having to do time).
Speaking (writing?) of the SOA, the SOA Watch received an invitation from Amnesty International to send a speaker to the Annual Human Rights dinner in Washington DC in Dec. SOAW asked me if I'd be that person and after some dialogue (the majority of which consisted of me trying to get clear if I was the best person for this. For there seems to me to be many more knowledgeable persons than myself in the SOAW movement who have done a lot more than I have in their efforts to close the school) I accepted. I am excited to hear this year's guest speaker, Sr. Diana Ortiz. She is the author of "The Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth," which tells of her experience of being tortured at the hands of the Guatemala military and her subsequent investigations into the role the US (CIA) played in her torture and in the torture of others in Guatemala. (There was an American present during her torture that was apparently "calling the shots"). She is a good reminder of why so many of us are trying to change US foreign policy as it relates to Latin America. I can't wait to meet her in person.
So my time is definitively winding down. I can't help but feel that I'm not totally leaving on Thursday, when Cile comes to whisk me away to a 4-day beach vacation. I will still be accompanying in whatever way I can, Rachel who still has 3 months left to go. I think I will carry the women with me for quite some time. Oh, and I've promised lunch to 4 women who have left and will be at Halfway Houses in Oakland and SF. It will be interesting to see them "on the outside."
Thanks again for your support. May we all go out and do something (big or small) to try to make a change in our society: to make it a slightly better place - because we can and because that's what it's all about, no?
Much love - Laura
[For archived news from previous posting,
click on: June.]
