Teil II -- Part II
San Quentin State Prison
California
In keinem anderen amerikanischen Bundesstaat wurden seit der Wiedereinführung der Todesstrafe in den USA so viele Todesurteile ausgesprochen wie in Kalifornien.
Derzeit sind in Kalifornien über 740 Personen zum Tode verurteilt. Die meisten von ihnen sind im San Quentin State Prison inhaftiert.
Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in no other State in the USA so many people were sentenced to death as in California.
Currently more than 740 people are sentenced to death in California. Almost all of them are housed at the San Quentin State Prison.
DANN WEINE ICH...
von Bill Clark
Freiheit genommen
Leben aufgegeben
Gitter aus Stahl
schmerzhafte Narben
psychische Belastungen
Ketten um die Hüfte
Betonwände
R-Gespräche führen
nichts ist fair
schwer zu ertragen
Psychospiele
Spitznamen
Glocke ruft zum Zählappell
Treppenhäuser
maskierte Fremde
ständige Gefahren
klingelnde Schlüssel
zitternde Knie
einsame Stunden
Vertrauen schwindet
Jahre verschwendet
Hoffnung gekostet
Fragen nach dem Warum
dann weine ich …
THEN I CRY...
by Bill Clark
freedom taken
life forsaken
steel bars
painful scars
mental strains
waist chains
concrete walls
collect calls
nothing’s fair
hard to bear
mind games
nick names
count bells
stair wells
masked strangers
constant dangers
jingling keys
trembling knees
lonely hours
faith sours
years wasted
hope tasted
questions why
then l cry …
The Economy of Prisons
by Al Cunningham
Imprisonment is usually justified by appeals to one of two philosophies; protecting the public or rehabilitating the prisoner. By either standard, however, the evidence is overwhelming that prisons do not work. According to the Department of Justice (Just Us), those states that have the highest budget for law enforcement - including courts – do have the highest rates of crime. If there is any empirically established relationship between crime and imprisonment, it is that prisons foster crime.
Contrary to popular belief, the seriousness of a crime is not the most crucial element in predicting who goes to prison and who does not. Prison population can be linked to poverty. In fact, the
U.S. social policies of the 1980s and 1990s caused an unprecedented increase in the number of people living in poverty and widened the gap between the incomes and living standards of the rich and
poor. And throughout this period, prison populations grew rapidly. With budgets slashed for every type of social service, prisons now stand out as the state's principal government program for the
poor. ...
PROPAGANDA:
Die Gesprächsthemen entlarven
von Crandell Ojore McKinnon
“Deathrow, what a brothah know?”- Public Enemy
Einige Tage nach einem kürzlich gefällten Urteil des US-Bezirksgerichts, ergriff der ehemalige Bezirksstaatsanwalt von Los Angeles, Gil Garcetti, die Gelegenheit, um das Urteil zu diskutieren. Während seines Interviews mit Sonali Kolhatkar am 18.07.2014 in einer Radiosendung, welche auf KPFA / KPFK ausgetrahlt wurde, äußerte er sich zu den Lebensbedingungen der Häftlinge im Todesstrakt in Kalifornien. Seine Äußerungen waren verdreht und grenzten an Halbwahrheiten, eine absolute Lüge war auch darunter. Wie bei den meisten „Gesprächsthemen“ von Politikern.
„Sie haben ihre eigenen Zellen und ein Recht auf einen eigenen Fernseher und eigene Computer", sagte Gil Garcetti während seines Interviews. Es war Garcettis Ziel,
San Quentins Todestrakt täuschend darzustellen als das „Comfort Inn" für Gefangene. Entgegen dem Urteil des US-Bezirksrichters Cormac J. Carney (Ernest D. Jones v. Kevin Chappell. Zitat: 2014 WL
3567365 (C.D.Cal.) 16. Juli 2014), der die administrative Fehlfunktion des kalifornischen Systems der Todesstrafe beschreibt. ...
PROPAGANDA:
Debunking the Talking Points
by Crandell Ojore McKinnon
"Deathrow, what a brothah know?"- Public Enemy
Days after a recent United States District Court ruling, former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti took to the airwaves to discuss the ruling. During his interview with Sonali Kolhatkar, on Uprising (7/18/14), a radio program airing on KPFA/KPFK, he made comments concerning the living conditions of California's death row prisoners. His statements of fact were skewed, bordering on half-truths, and an absolute lie. As are most "Talking Points" by politicians.
"They have their own cells, and a right to their own T.V.'s, and their own computers."- Gil Garcetti stated during his
interview. Garcetti's goal was to deceptively imply San Quentin’s death row is "The Comfort Inn" for prisoners. To counter U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney's ruling (Ernest D. Jones v. Kevin
Chappell; Cite: 2014 WL 3567365 (C.D.Cal.) July 16, 2014), detailing the administrative dysfunction of California's death penalty cystem/system. ...
Cell at San Quentin
by Reno
The above diagram is of a typical cell on Death Row here at San Quentin State Prison in California.
The sides and backs of our cells are concrete walls. The cells are painted a light shade of beige. The front of the cell is comprised of steel bars covered by a heavy steel mesh “screen“ with 6mm
by 19mm diamond-shaped openings, and which is securely bolted top and bottom on the outside of the cell bars, both of which bars and “screen” are painted black.
#1 is the cell door. It is approximately 0,60m wide, as is the walking space between the cell wall and the steel bed frame (which is indicated by #3 above). The door is locked and unlocked with a
huge brass key, and the door opens outward. ...
One Foot in the Grave
by Bill Clark
Days of restriction, loss and stagnation
Trying to silence, your pain and frustration
Weeks filled with grief, bedlam and tension
You try to avoid, the grip of dissension
Months framed by heartache, anguish and blight
In spite of your will, defeat is in sight
Years marked by loss, exclusion and panic
In a war with your fears, you realize you're manic
Accessing your future, though scars that grow deeper
Submerged in despair, you face the grim reaper
Desperately clinging, to the life that you crave
It's hard to be hopeful, with a foot in the grave.
Gefängnis-Folter
von Armando Macias und Anja Claudia Pentrop
Prison Torture
by Armando Macias and Anja Claudia Pentrop
DEN TRAUM
WAHR WERDEN LASSEN
von Al Cunningham
In diesem dunklen Todessarg ist es morgens meistens ruhig, denn viele fürchten in einen Alptraum hinein zu erwachen.
Es sind die Nachmittage, die mit einer aggressiven Geräuschkulisse angefüllt ist, weil die Menschen versuchen, die schmerzhafte Realität ihrer bestehenden Inhaftierung zu verdrängen.
Die Nächte werden am meisten ersehnt und geschätzt, weil sie die Freiheit des Schlafes bringen, mit vielen friedlichen, erfüllten Träumen, in denen das Leben sinnvoll und erfolgreich ist und man als ein respektierter funktionierender Teil der Menschheitsfamilie existiert.
Auch ich teile die Lasten, Umstände und das Leben eines Gefangenen, weil ich selbst einer bin. Ich wurde von einer offensichtlich ignoranten Gesellschaft als wertlose Existenz betrachtet, klassifiziert und behandelt: Man hat mich in einem überfüllten Gefängnisregal abgestellt, in dem ich seit über 32 Jahren meines Lebens gelagert bin wie in einem Warenhaus. Aber mein Geist ist ungebrochen geblieben.
Ich weiß, dass ich weiterhin für meine und die Freiheit anderer gegen das zerstörerische Gift von Rassismus und Ungerechtigkeit kämpfen muss, weil diese tödlich sind.
Ich muss kämpfen und die Wahrheiten weiter offenbaren, bis wir alle schließlich in der Realität der Gerechtigkeit erwachen und als Gleichgestellte behandelt werden.
MAKE THE DREAM
REALITY
by Al Cunningham
Within this dark coffin of death, where most mornings are quiet because of the fear of awakening into a nightmare.
It is the afternoons which present an array of abrasive noises from the people trying to avoid the painful reality of their existing incarceration.
The nights are the most anticipated and appreciated, because they present the freedom of sleep with many peaceful fulfilling dreams, where their lives are meaningful, successful and are an existing respectful functioning part of the human family.
I, too, share the burdens, circumstances and life of the prisoner, being one myself. I have been considered as a worthless existence by an obviously ignorant society, who placed me upon an over-crowded prison shelf, where I have been warehoused for over 32 years of my life. But my spirit continuous unbroken.
I know I must continue to struggle and fight for mine and other’s freedom against the poisonous venom of racism and injustice, because they are lethal.
I must fight and continue to reveal the truths until we all eventually awake into the reality of justice and are treated as equals.
I wish I could cry
by Anthony Wade
I wish I could cry but I can’t find da tearz
Some days I wish I could die so my mind could be clear
I wish it would hurt let da pain take control
Somewhere I became numb man my heart turned cold
I got ice in my veinz frosty to da touch
I done seen it all so I don’t scare much
Been thru it all everytime I shook it off
So when dey threw da book at da kid, yeah, I shook it off
Pops said alwayz stay aware of your surroundings surrounded by killaz
Never know when it might pop off, yeah, I’m watchin deez niggaz
Puttin on a face in order to face it all
Ain’t nobody I could turn to who da fucc can I call
Quez said on da real man nuttin feel da same
Jason asked how can I leave my kids he’ll neva feel my pain
Tasha told me I wuz right here you wuz playin gamez
D.O. said I’m out here by myself man deez niggaz strange
I wish I could cry but I can’t find da tearz
Maybe itz da pain I been hiding all deez yearz
Maybe itz da game it forced away my fearz
Or maybe itz my childhood dat left me without peerz
I wish I could cry, lay my head on ya shoulda
Had a feelin it would be like dis one day when I get olda
Now dat time has arrived and as I’m lookin back
Wonder wuz I made for a life of flippin packz
Black told me chill all you gotta do iz rap
He passin up on dealz how I’m supposed to relax
My momma told me she don’t know me no more I’m not lil Anthony
Kiesha said alwayz keep a piece of lil Anthony
Uncle Kevin said you been a asshole since you wuz lil Anthony
All grown up what dey expect from lil Anthony
How dey think I feel couldn’t change it if I tried
Took da stand against myself nigga and I didn’t tell no liez
Sacrificed myself waitin on da state to take my life
Derez nuttin more den dat dat I could eva do to make it right
Wake up every day like fucc me I hate my life
I wake up every day like fucc me I hate my life
Hallo Dunkelheit
von Crandell Ojore McKinnon
Hallo Dunkelheit,
tief starre ich in deine Schatten,
mit weit aufgerissenen Augen und doch blind.
Ausgelöst durch emotionale Betrachtungen,
umarme ich die verschwommene Finsternis
einer Zellendecke, die meine nachdenklich stimmenden Bilder widerspiegelt.
Verloren in meiner Fantasie, bin ich gefangen
von seelischen Ketten und einsamer Trübsal.
Hallo Dunkelheit,
du Leere meiner Pein,
du Ursache meines Verlusts von Mitte, Zeit und Raum.
Du Urheber meines Nachsinnens,
das mich in meine Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft abtauchen lässt,
das mich in den Abgrund meiner Trauer zieht, meiner Reue und meines Bedauerns,
das mich zwingt, mit meinen Entscheidungen zu hadern.
Hallo Dunkelheit,
die du kein Interesse hast, mich zu trösten,
mir Zuflucht zu geben, noch Gnade zu zeigen.
Hallo Dunkelheit,
beim Schließen meiner Augen
sehe ich Bilder meines Lebens vor meinem inneren Auge
vorbeiziehen wie in einem stummen Farbfilm. Die Alpträume von
der Knechtschaft und meiner Flucht vor dem fahlen Pferd,
dessen Reiter der Tod ist.
Hallo Dunkelheit,
denke ich, während ich in freiem Fall in Besinnungslosigkeit sinke. Hinunter in ein Kaninchenloch, das die Seele aus einem verschütteten Leben saugt
und mich in kurzer Zeit ertrinken lässt. Sie umklammert mich in der Trübsal meiner Sinne,
Entbehrung und Demütigung attackieren heimtückisch
meine Menschlichkeit. Weil sie mich dazu zwingen will,
mich jeglichem Schimmer von Licht zu entziehen
oder dem Gedanken an eine Selbsterlösung.
Hallo Sonnenschein,
belebe mich wieder!
Hello Darkness
by Crandell Ojore McKinnon
Hello Darkness
I stare deep into your shadow,
with eyes – wide shut.
Induced by emotional reflections,
I embrace the blurred blackness
of a cell ceiling
that displays my thought-provoking images.
Lost in my imagination,I’m encapsulated by mental bondage and solitary misery.
Hello Darkness
The emptiness of my anguish.
The cause of my loss of focus, time and space.
The enabler of my contemplation,
submerging me in my past,
present and future.
That consumes me into an abyss of grief,
regrets and sorrow,
that forces me to grapple with my decisions.
Hello Darkness
That has no interest in consoling me,
giving me refuge, nor showing mercy.
Hello Darkness
Upon closing my eyes.
I see life projected on eyelids,
playing out as a silent film in color.
The nightmares of subjugation
and my fleeing of the pale horse,
whose rider is death.
Hello Darkness
As I free fall into oblivion.
Down a rabbit-hole
that drains the soul from an entombed life.
And drown me in time.
Cloaking me in the doldrums of sensory,
deprivation and the indignity insidiously attacking
my humanity. Due to its interest in forcing me
to withdraw from any sliver of light
or reflection of self-redemption.
Hello Sunshine
Regenerate Me!
WRITTEN THOUGHTS by OJORE DHORUBA
Learn more about Ojore at: http://crandellmckinnon.wixsite.com/freeojore
REPLACING DESTRUCTION WITH LIFE
by Michael Flinner
State prison administrations typically DO NOT permit prisoners to donate LIVING vital organs and tissues to anyone. The Federal Bureau of Prisons however, permit
organ donation by inmates ONLY when the intended recipient is a member of the inmate donor’s immediate family (parent, siblings, and biological children). There are NO laws against prisoner organ
donation; only a lack thereof, due in-part to certain influences amid transplant experts discouraging the use of prisoner’s organs since the early 1990's due to concerns over prison’s high-risk
environment for infectious diseases. ...
The intended practice of condemned inmates donating organs while alive closely mirrors that of their more general inmate counterparts. Where they differ however is in their virtual inability to
provide organs following their respective executions. Although we know of no law which specifically forbids death row inmates from donating organs postmortem, as of mid-2013, each and every
request by death row inmates and/or their attorneys of record across this nation to donate their organs to an immediate family member in need, pre and post-execution, have been DENIED by their
state of incarceration in question. ...
My Peoples, my Peoples, my Peoples!!!
by Ryan Moore
As the dust of plains kick up,
While the wild bison runs with
the freeness of ease.
While my people stalking from a distance,
As the eagle buzz above chancing off the buzzers
beneath this beautiful horizon.
My peoples once were one with the land,
No longer are my peoples one with their land,
They´ve become fugitive of the land.
We´ve been tracked, poisoned, enslaved and gunned down,
Our mothers, sisters & aunts were raped & murdered.
Then placed on a short plot of uninhabitable land for conservation purposes.
As my peoples rise from the ashes
to maintain some self-worth, we were being stolen
and forced to do their biding.
Being beaten, whipped, chained and even drowned,
With the feeling of being lost,
While being separated from their tribes and country
to be purged upon.
Because we didn´t went the enviable to come to past.
Between my two colonies, we´ve survived the un-survivable,
We have outlived and lasted the white masters in the big white house,
The cowboys hunted down while almost putting the bison into an eternal hibernation.
Soldiers marched us from the east coast through the south,
To the northwestern ice box plains.
(My peoples, My peoples, My peoples)
We had to endure sleeping with the gators,
While the slave hunters tracked us through the swamps,
While stealing our hard-earned land, my peoples have endured
the worst of the white man’s world to flourish.
Regardless how many times we are gunned down by crooked cops,
Or pipelines drill through our secrete gravesites.
We have been battle-tested for 500 hundred plus years.
We will not be compromising our principles and integrity,
Equity shall be ours,
Freedom shall be ours,
Victory shall be ours,
My peoples, My peoples, My Peoples!!!
Wie Kunst die Welt verändern kann
von Armando Macias und Anja Claudia Pentrop
How Art Can Make A Difference
by Armando Macias and Anja Claudia Pentrop
ORTE
von Al Cunningham
Manchmal,
in der Mitte der nächtlichen Dunkelheit,
schließe ich meine Augen
und reise zurück in der Zeit
zu den emotionalen Orten, an denen ich gewesen bin,
und frage mich, warum ich dort hinging.
War es zum Vergnügen,
Weisheit oder Wissen,
Neugier oder Bedürfnis?
Dann ist da die Frage:
Warum habe ich den Ort verlassen?
War es Angst,
war es Zweifel
oder Unzufriedenheit?
Bin ich aufrecht wie ein Mann gegangen
oder davongelaufen wie ein Kind,
verängstigt von den Klängen
in der Nacht.
Was habe ich verlassen?
Vor was bin ich davongelaufen?
War ich das?
...
PLACES
by Al Cunningham
Sometimes
in the midst of the night's darkness
I close my eyes
and travel back in time
to the emotional places I have been
wondering why I had gone there.
Was it for pleasure,
wisdom or knowledge,
curiosity or need?
Then there's the question,
Why did I leave?
Was it fear,
was it doubt,
or dissatisfaction?
Did I walk away as a man
or run away as a child,
frightened by the sounds
in the night.
What did I walk away from?
What did I run from?
Was it me?
...
BREATHE
by Bill Clark
Strangled by boredom,
Stress and restrictions.
This horrible plight,
Will test your convictions.
Gagged by misfortune,
Grief and frustration.
You wheeze from dismay,
And the phlegm of negation.
Smothered by heartache,
Loss and rejection.
With nothing to shield you,
You ache for protection.
Choked by loneliness,
Doubt and despair.
You try to find hope,
While gasping for air.
With all these afflictions,
You try not to seethe.
But it’s hard when you yearn,
For the freedom to breathe.
Christianity and the Death Penalty
by William Proctor
According to the 2016 Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year, “32.9 percent of the population of the world are classified as Christian adherents.” Out of the world of over seven billion people that is close to two and a half billion Christian adherents.
Frequently over the years I’ve observed Brothers and Sisters of the Christian faith genuinely struggle with the validity of
the death penalty. Christians are born into a faith that instructs them to, “love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds; and to love their neighbor as themselves.” As well as to forgive one
another. Nevertheless, as members of some of this world’s societies, they are asked to kill their neighbors for certain crimes. What does God think about the death penalty? How should Christians
of the world view it? ...
Leichenhaus: Kein Zimmer frei
von Crandell Ojore McKinnon
„In der Legislative wird nicht über eine Reform der Todesstrafe gesprochen.“
C.S.Ct. Oberste Richterin
Cantil-Sakauye
Im Jahr 2015 genehmigte die kalifornische Legislative einen speziellen Finanzierungsvorschlag von Gouverneur Jerry Brown, um den Todestrakt um weitere 100 Zellen zu erweitern. Die finanziellen Sondermittel sollen in den Staatshaushalt miteingerechnet werden. Dieser wird auf 113 Milliarden US-Dollar geschätzt, davon werden 3,2 Millionen US-Dollar für die Ausweitung des Todestrakts verwendet.
Ja, meine Damen und Herren, der Todestrakt ist „ausgebucht“.
Das Staatsgefängnis San Quentin in Kalifornien beherbergt alle verurteilten männlichen Gefangenen, dort, wo der Ausbau stattfinden
wird. Dieses bestand bis jetzt aus drei Einheiten: East Block/Block Ost (E/B; Stufe-A-Häftlinge) - 524 Zellen; North Block/Block Nord (Stufe-A privilegierte Unterkunft) - 68 Zellen; und das
Adjustment Center/Disziplinierungszentrum (A/C; Stufe-B Insassen in dem s.g. „Loch“) - 102 Zellen. ...
Charnel House: No Vacancies
by Crandell Ojore McKinnon
“There’s no talk in the Legislature about fixing the death penalty.”
C.S.Ct. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye
In 2015 California’s State Legislatures approved a special funding proposal put forth by Governor Jerry Brown, to expand death row by an additional 100 cells. The special funding is to be included in the state budget, estimated to be $113 billion, $3.2 million will be allocated to expanding death row.
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, death row has “No Vacancies.”
California’s San Quentin State Prison houses all condemned male prisoners, where the expansion will take
place, once comprised of three units: East Block (E/B; Grade-A inmates) - 524 cells; North Block (Grade-A special privilege housing) - 68 cells; and the Adjustment Center (A/C; Grade-B inmates
held in the hole) - 102 cells. ...
More poems written by Bill Clark:
More poems written by Bill Clark - original versions: