Parchman
Today we went to Parchman, the most infamous prison in Mississippi. This was one of the days I was looking forward to the most, and it certainly did not disappoint. It was completely different from all the others days of the trip, and very interesting. The first thing we had to do this morning was adhere to the dress code, which meant no shoulders or anything else showing for the girls, no open toed shoes, boys had to be sure to wear a belt, and nobody could have any money of any sort. We also had to make sure we locked up all electronics and valuables underneath the bus. Making sure we followed all these rules further built up the anticipation for me; it was really like we were going to another world.
We started off the day in the visitor’s center, where we were greeted by Raphael, an inmate who has been imprisoned for nearly 15 years. Raphael was a very personable man, who had been a college basketball player and was in jail for dealing crack. One of the things that was reiterated today was that Mississippi is extremely tough on drug dealers, as is exemplified by the fact that Raphael was given a 30 year sentence for his first offense. He will be eligible for parole after fifteen years, and is therefore hoping to be out relatively soon. During his talk, he spoke about what it is like to have your freedom taken away and live in the harshest of environments for such a long time. He mentioned the brutality of prison life and how quickly he learned to sleep with his eyes open and with a weapon in his hand. It is hard to imagine always having to be on your guard, knowing that anyone could attack you for almost no reason whatsoever.
After Raphael and Linda from the visitor’s center spoke to us, we moved onto the building that housed the surveillance cameras. I found this to be one of the most interesting parts of the visit because we got to see firsthand what it is like inside the prisons. First of all, there was a murder in the prison last week, so things were on a bit more of a heightened security. One of the first things they showed us inside this building was a lance-like weapon that was very similar to the murder weapon. It was very creepy to see this thing that was made from a piece of the toilet and a broom stick, and demonstrated how smart and resourceful the prisoners are. When we walked into the room showing live surveillance on six different screens, the first thing I noticed was a huge puddle of red liquid in one of the hallways. It took someone asking what it was for all of our fears to be confirmed, as the workers told us it was blood from an inmate cutting his wrists. They were very nonchalant about the whole situation, saying that if he was trying to kill himself he would have done it in a different manner, and explaining how prisoners will often do things like this to go to the hospital where they will experience relative freedom and might even be able to get a cigarette. After this, we got the man working in surveillance to bring up some footage of an attack on a guard a couple weeks ago. It was UNBELIEVABLE to see a handcuffed prisoner attack a guard, throw him down on the floor, and stomp on his face until the guard just lay on the floor as the convict ran down the hallway. This was certainly the most shocking part of the day for me. I had always heard about and seen in movies the brutality that exists in prison, but to see it with my own eyes was something completely different.
The next really interesting thing we did within Parchman was go into one of the buildings that houses prisoners who are not a huge threat and are soon to be released. We all went into a room surrounded by windows that looked down into the living quarters of the inmates. It was interesting to see communal area where they sleep, hang out, and live. It became increasingly difficult to focus on the two people who spoke to us (one who dealt drugs, one who killed someone in self-defense) because it was so hot in there. There is no air conditioning in these quarters, and it was difficult to sit there for 30 minutes or so, I can’t even imagine having to live there on days when it gets to be 110 degrees. This issue with the heat is also important because of the work outside and in the fields that the convicts do. Parchman is more than just a prison, it is a huge farm with the buildings scattered around it, and the prisoners are depended on for a lot of work on this farm. It is hard to think about doing manual labor all day during the heat of the summer, and then returning to a cell where the heat just smothers you. Pretty much everything about prison life was difficult to take in, because there is not one aspect of it that is comfortable. Oh yea, and they often find bugs and eyes and more in their food! Yummy.
After our time in prison was done, we hit the road and drove up to the Gold Strike Casino. I’m happy with my winnings from our last stay at a casino, and therefore think I will try to avoid the roulette table and slot machines tonight, but we’ll see. I’ll probably be busy writing a paper all night anyways, so oh well.