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Karen Olivo & More Read the Words of People in Solitary
Oct 28, 2022
Today, actors and activists with roles in some of Broadway's biggest hits launched a video in which they read the devastating words of people in solitary confinement in New York's prisons. While Broadway is shuttered and as people are struggling with home confinement, New Yorkers are getting just a glimpse of the horrors of solitary confinement.
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0:00
Though it is true that I have never died, and don't know exactly what the experience would entail
0:23
For the life of me, I cannot fathom how dying any death could be harder or more terrible than
0:29
living through what I have had to endure this last quarter century
0:34
Prisoners call it the box. Prison authorities have euphemistically dubbed it the special housing unit, or SHU, for short
0:44
And society is known as solitary confinement. It is a 23-hour-a-day lockdown in a cell smaller than some closets I've seen
0:51
with one hour allotted to recreation, consisting of placement in a concrete enclosed yard by one cell
0:57
or in some prisons, a cage made of steel bars. There's nothing in a shoe yard but air
1:06
No TV. No balls to bounce. No games to play. No other inmates
1:14
Nothing. afraid for my life because I continue to see the same officers involved in the assault
1:33
I have trouble sleeping at night because of the nightmares I having where I keep seeing officers dressed in black But no matter what I never going to be broken I too strong I trying to be safe in here and to do my time
1:52
Meanwhile, I hope that people reading this account take it seriously. The only thing that could help to stop these abuses is to shut this place down
2:03
People are having their rights violated through the prison system. Not just at Southport
2:09
who are active in the protests related to Eric Garner's death and all of the other incidents of police brutality
2:15
need to become active in the campaigns to stop the same brutality happening in here
2:31
Caging animals for years is inhumane and deemed animal cruelty. Yet, It is considered rehabilitation for human beings
2:43
According to whom? When and where did anyone fairly test this theory to assess its impact on people
2:50
And how did we determine it was legal? Such are questions that should find no answers
2:57
More money is spent on prisons that don't work than on programs that do or could work
3:03
And for those organizations that do strive to do the work that true rehabilitation can do
3:07
their greatest opposing forces are DOCCS and politicians. The same people who claim to want to stop crime
3:17
I am enduring. What choice does one have Choice is one half
3:44
I often feel enclosed like the walls are closing in on me, suffocating me
3:50
I'm constantly depressed. I'm paranoid most of the time because of my long stints in the box
3:57
I don't like to be around people. I now find it hard to sleep, and my whole body aches most of the day from sitting in one spot
4:07
I can't speak to my family because the CEOs have taken away my visits, all because I have
4:15
a drug problem. And they don't try to help me with this problem, they just punish and torture me
4:22
If you think being sent to the shoe helps people with drug addiction, you couldn't be more wrong
4:28
Being constantly locked in a tiny room with nothing to do just makes me want to take drugs even more
4:36
In the shoe, there are no rehabilitation programs, which you need to one day receive a conditional release
4:43
Twice since my attempted suicide, my urine came back dirty with pot
4:48
I received an additional 16 months shoe time, another 12 months loss of visits
4:55
and another 12 months loss of good time. After all, I've been through
5:00
when someone offered me pot, is it any wonder that I broke down and said yes
5:07
I a recovering addict who just attempted suicide can see or talk to my family and was locked in a tiny room with nothing to do
5:18
and no access to any type of treatment programs for many years
5:24
Anything would have seemed like a welcome escape. I am truly sorry for what happened
5:46
It is not who I am, nor is it who I was. I was a young, irresponsible kid who did something foolish over almost two decades ago
5:57
It is not an excuse, but it is the reality. If God should condemn us the way we do one another
6:04
what hope would there be for any of us? We need Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to stop this torture and pass the Heart Act now
6:25
Now. Now. Now. Now
#Human Rights & Liberties