What Happens In Jail Doesn’t Stay In Jail!

“Help, We Matter2”

A handwritten sign posted in one of the windows at Cook County Jail by beloveds in custody stating, “HELP, WE MATTER2.”  This was from early April, 2020 (Jim Vondruska/Reuters/New York Times).

Inmates bringing attention to inhumane conditions inside a jail hung this sign in the window begging for help in response to two inmates who contracted COVID-19 at Cook County Jail and “were placed in ISOLATION CELLS after testing positive.”  

Isolation cells? For contracting a virus that kills, came in from the outside, and needs constant medical attention? These precious lives matter just like yours and mine.

Because these prisoners contracted COVID-19 and officials felt isolating them in cells of hell instead of adequately taking medical measures would somehow keep this beast of a disease from spreading! 

Makes no sense, I know.

Our detention facilities are reservoirs of infection.

According to data compiled by The New York Times, Cook County Jail is now “the nation’s largest-known source of coronavirus infections.” 

Dehumanizing living, breathing life is no way to treat sick incarcerated beloveds, and this is often what our prisoners are subjected to.

Fighting to improve conditions along with bringing awareness to our nation’s prisons, detention centers and jails reflect what is happening inside and impacts society while lifting up the voices of those silenced.  

Every life matters!  Mass incarceration is not the answer and neither is isolation.  Prioritizing equality of empathy should be our number one focus. 

From prison to community!

What happens in our jails doesn’t stay in jail. Cesspool of infection. We have to pray for and pay attention to all the health needs of our detained beloveds and our correctional staff; otherwise, we will become haunted like Southern California. 

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As the virus gets in our detention centers and prisons, it doesn’t discriminate and wipes out our ability to control it while claiming lives. This pandemic cannot be ignored because our prisons are filled with beloveds whose lives matter too, and they are part of our community.

According to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reporting as of May 13, 2020, California Institution for Men (CIM) is reported as having 324 confirmed cases of incarcerated beloveds contracting COVID, 50 staff members infected, and now 5 deaths, totaling 379 and still increasing; and California State Prison, Los Angeles County (LAC) is reported with having 94 incarcerated infected along with 42 staff members infected totaling 136. 

These are just the leading two of many cesspool prisons in Southern California and increasing daily. 

As a medical expert announced, “Part of our mistake is to think that these places, jails and prisons, aren’t part of the community.”

The lives of our incarcerated and our correctional staff matter and they are just as important as yours and mine. 

Wouldn’t you agree?

Just because the prison I’m affiliated with, Folsom State Prison, has done an amazing job containing this beast of infection with the infected staff doesn’t mean other prisons aren’t suffering.  The numbers state quite the contrary.

Our communities mean all lives matter!

#WeMatter2!

Until next time…