survivors
manual
S U R V I V A L

I N

S O L I T A R Y

A manual written by and for people
living in control units

Survivors Manual: Surviving In Solitary
A manual written by and for people living in control units
The federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois went on permanent
lockdown in 1983, creating the first “control unit.” Forced isolation
and psychological abuse were used to ostracize and torture human
beings, often for racial and political reasons.
In 1994 the Bureau of Prisons opened a new maximum security
prison in Florence, Colorado. Modeled after Marion, the administrative maximum unit prison (ADEX) in Florence intensified the repressive techniques of isolation and sensory deprivation used in other
control units. Although there are currently very few prisons with formally designated “control units,” the use of isolation as a method of
abuse and control has exploded throughout the US prison system.
Aside from super-max prisons, the US uses “special housing
units” for the mentally ill; “security threat group management units”
for purported gang members; “communications management units”
for people of Islamic faith deemed as suspected terrorists; voluntary
and involuntary protective custody units; and administrative segregation punishment units to isolate and psychologically crippled inmates
that the system deems undesirable. The use of these isolation units
amounts to what we call “no touch torture” — a means of inflicting
pain and suffering without resorting to physical violence.
These conditions violate the United Nations Convention against
Torture (CAT), which forbids any punishment intentionally designed
to inflict severe physical or mental pain and suffering. The use of isolation in US prisons also violates the UN’s International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (CPR) and International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). In the following pages, people who are captives in these cells write about what
goes on and how one can survive.
Dedicated to those who have contributed to this manual, to all
courageous people living in prisons, and to the memory and example
of those who have died in these isolation cages.
Compiled and edited by Bonnie Kerness
Coordinator, Prison Watch Project
American Friends Service Committee
89 Market Street, 6th Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
bkerness@afsc.org

Fifth printing
June 2012
Cover art by Todd Tarselli

Contents
I.	 Introduction: A powerful community
	
of resistance				1
II.	 Letters from prisoners:
	
Life in a control unit			

8

III.	 Letters from prisoners: Survival		

21

IV.	 Poetry from solitary			

62

V.	 Past times: Long ago, but not
	
so far away				

66

VI.	 The community outside			

71

VII.	 Acknowledgments	
	
	

86

		

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who
are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian
service. Our Healing Justice Program challenges the morality and effectiveness of the “tough on crime” mentality. The
program's ultimate goal is to help shift the system of justice
from a paradigm of retribution to one of healing and transformative justice that seeks to restore wholeness to individuals and communities. The program has long opposed
the use of control units by prisons and has challenged conditions in them. We have gathered testimony from prisoners in isolation and survivors; undertake research, planned
human rights trainings and regional hearings; and organized
lawyers, activists, families, and communities to oppose the
use of control unit isolation.

Please note that some of the opinions, statements,
and language used by prisoners in this manual are
not in keeping with AFSC’s Quaker principles to
“see that of God in everyone.” We have printed
their letters and stories in their entirety and without eliminating language that some might find
objectionable.

I. A powerful community of resistance
By Bonnie Kerness
Coordinator, Prison Watch Project
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Excerpt from a presentation at the AFSC STOPMAX
Conference, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
May 31, 2008

I

n the mid 1980s I received a letter from Ojore Lutalo
who had just been placed in the Management Control
Unit at New Jersey (Trenton) State Prison. He asked
what a control unit was, why he was in there, and how long
he would have to stay.
At that point, we knew little of control units, except
for the ground breaking work of Nancy Kurshan and Steve
Whitman of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
(CEML) and the many prisoners who reached out to the
AFSC, which, in 1985 produced a pamphlet called “The Lessons of Marion.” We began hearing from people throughout the country who said that they were prisoners being
held in extended isolation for political reasons. We also
heard from jailhouse lawyers, Islamic militants, and prisoner
activists, many of whom found themselves locked down in
24/7 solitary confinement.
The AFSC began contacting people inside and outside
the prisons to see who was interested in working specifically on control unit isolation issues, and in 1994, after eight
years of organizing, we hosted the formation of the National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons (NCSCUP). This
was done with the help of many groups and individuals who
gave strength and purpose to the work.

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The freedom to dissent	
The history of the National Campaign to Stop Control
Unit Prisons really began with the movements of the ‘60s
and ‘70s. My generation belonged to a society where we
genuinely believed that each of us was free to dissent politically.
In those years, people acted out this belief in a number
of ways. Native peoples contributed to the formation of the
American Indian Movement dedicated to self determination; Puerto Ricans joined the movement to free the island
from U.S. colonialism; white students formed the Students
for a Democratic Society and other groups, while others
worked in the southern Civil Rights movements.
This was also a time that the New Afrikan Independence
Movement reasserted itself, the Black Panther Party for
Self Defense was formed, as well as a time when there was
a distinct rise in the prisoners’ rights movement.
It was a time when television news had graphic pictures
of state troopers, police, the FBI, and the National Guard
killing our peers.
It was a time when I saw on the evening news the bullet
holes fired by police into Panther Fred Hampton’s sleeping
body, a time when young people protesting the Vietnam
War died on the Jackson and Kent State campuses killed by
the National Guard, a time when civil rights workers were
killed with impunity, and a time when we felt as if there
was no opportunity to stop mourning because each day another activist was dead. These killings and other acts of oppression led to underground formations such as the Black
Liberation Army and the Weathermen Underground.
In response to this massive outcry against social ineq-

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uities and for national liberation, the government utilized
an FBI counterintelligence program, called COINTELPRO,
which had as its objective the crippling of the Black Panther
Party and other radical forces. Over the years that this directive was carried out, many of those young people who
weren’t murdered were put in prisons across the country.
Some, now in their 60s and 70s, are still there. Those directives are still being carried out, only now we have an entire
office of Homeland Security monitoring what it calls “radical prisoners.”
While the U.S. denied that there were people being held
for political reasons, there was no way at the time to work
with prisoners without hearing repeatedly of the existence
of such people, including individuals who clearly fit the United Nations’ definition of political prisoners and prisoners of
war — and the particular treatment they endured once in
prison. As early as 1978, Andrew Young , who was then U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations, was quoted in newspaper interviews as saying that “there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of people I would describe as political prisoners” in U.S. prisons.
Across the nation, we saw an enhanced use of sensory
deprivation/isolation units for such people, and it was this
growing “special treatment” which we began monitoring.
At the time, Ralph Arons, a former warden at Marion, was
quoted at a congressional hearing as saying, “The purpose
of the Marion Control Unit is to control revolutionary attitudes in the prison system and in society at large.”

A promise to abolish the torture chambers
For those of us who have been in the struggle for decades, the deliberate use of long-term sensory depriva-

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tion is haunting. People that we’ve known, worked with,
and loved have been, and some still are, being held in this
manner:
•	 Ojore Lutalo

•	 Kazi Toure

•	 Sundiata Acoli, for whom
the Management Control
Unit in New Jersey was
built in 1975

•	 Leonard Peltier

•	 Assata Shakur, who was
held in isolation for over
five years

•	 Dylcia Pagan

•	 Marshall Eddie Conway

•	 Standing Deer

•	 Albert Nuh Washington,
who died in prison

•	Sekou Odinga
•	 Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

•	 Geronimo Pratt

•	 Richard Williams

•	 Dhoruba Bin Wahad

•	 Tom Manning

•	 Dr. Mutulu Shakur
•	 Mumia Abu Jamal

•	 Merle and the rest of
the Africas

•	 Leonard Peltier

•	 Susan Rosenberg

•	 David Gilbert

•	 Laura Whitehorn

•	 Marilyn Buck

•	 Linda Evans

•	 Sekou Odinga

•	 Sylvia Baraldini

•	 Ray Luc Levasseur

•	 Imam Jamil Al-Amin

•	 Oscar Lopez Rivera
•	 Alejandrina Torres
•	 Bashir Hameed, who
died in prison

Their names and thousands of others haunt the spaces
of every control unit, SHU, DDU, ad seg unit, and special
housing unit in the country.

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No matter what name they are given, their purpose is
the same as it is in Abu Ghraib or Guantánamo — the breaking of minds.
For people of my generation, this work is done with a
compelling and lifetime passion and an understanding that
the work is not risk free. We’ve made a promise to those
dead and alive to abolish these torture chambers.
People throughout the world are beginning to understand what the prisoners have been saying to us for decades about the oppressive tactics of the U.S. government.
The department of corrections is more than a set of institutions; it is a state of mind. It is that state of mind which has
expanded the use of isolation, the use of devices of torture
and the counterintelligence program, as part of Homeland
Security, against activists, both inside and outside the walls.
Ojore Lutalo, the man who first contacted us in 1986,
was released from the control unit via litigation in 2002 after 16 years in isolation. In 2004, he let us know that he had
been placed back into the Management Control Unit with
no charges pending or any explanation. When I called the
Department of Corrections, it took many conversations before I was bluntly told that this was upon the order of Homeland Security. He is one of a number of prisoners across the
country who have been targeted in this way.

Who’s a “security threat”?
The latest progression of control units are called “security threat group management units.” This is particularly
egregious because it is the government which gets to define
what a “security threat group” is. According to a national
survey conducted by the Department of Justice in 1997,
the Departments of Corrections of Minnesota and Oregon

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named all Asians as gangs, which Minnesota further compounds by adding all Native Americans. The State of New
Jersey DOC lists the Black Cat Collective as a gang. The Black
Cat Collective is my free foster son along with two friends
who put on Afro-Centric cultural programs in libraries. Because my own background stems from the Civil Rights era, I
am very mindful of who is considered a “security threat” to
this country and how they are treated.
Prison gang policies occur within the context of larger society and the wider criminal justice system, and the
growth of security threat group management units are part
of the larger policy agenda regarding U.S. prisons. One of
the standards that the federal government sets in order for
states to receive prison construction subsidies is to mandate the building of supermax prisons or security threat
group management units.
One of the things that makes this such an exciting time
to renew our efforts through STOPMAX is that we now
have the growing understanding of the validity of United
Nations international law. The Convention against Torture,
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, The UN Convention on Political and Civil Rights,
and other international and regional treaties help give us a
new set of legal, educational, and organizing tools for social
change.
Our work this weekend is rooted in struggle against the
system and political oppression. It is deeply touching to me
to have representatives of so many long-time political formations present. Those of us in AFSC rooted in these issues
continue to hear from prisoner activists, prisoners with
mental illness, people charged with being gang members,

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and thousands of others — all being housed in extended
isolation where devices of torture are used with impunity.
After each Homeland Security Code change, Prison Watch
is flooded with calls from people reporting loved ones with
Islamic names being placed in solitary without charges.
Our work this weekend is a time when the building of
new relationships and the broadening of our base can truly
create social change. I think we all need to be mindful of the
deep sense of grief that many of us feel as it impacts on our
work and interactions. There may be groups here who need
to work through differences with one another. There may
be groups here who can form working alliances no matter
what those differences are. Our priority has to be to work
cooperatively to shut down these torture chambers.
We, all of us, are a powerful community of resistance,
and this is a dream come true for me.
Thank you.

Excerpt from a presentation at the AFSC STOPMAX
Conference, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
May 31, 2008

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II. Letters from prisoners:
Life in a control unit
The importance of understanding
It was great to hear you’re updating the Survivors Manual. While I haven’t read one in awhile, it left quite an impression on me. In fact, you had sent it to me. And it was right
when I first got locked down in the units. I can’t tell you
just how helpful it was knowing/understanding what this
place is.
One of the things I remember the best and absolutely
know to be true is the need to have some type of schedule
for yourself. Perhaps we are just creatures of habit but having some type of schedule for yard, time to do laundry, writing, reading, and even time for mindless stuff to balance
out everything — it just makes this situation a little easier
to tolerate.
Also I definitely liked how it broke down why certain
things are done…i.e. standing at the gate with the lights on
for meals reinforces compliance. Understanding why they
do these things makes it so much easier to deal with it, AND
not be adversely affected by it.
Todd Tarselli
Pennsylvania
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Sensory deprivation is depravity
From within and beyond the one hundred thousand dollar, 8 by 14 square foot steel and stone Sensory Deprivation
cell that is designed for my mental, physical, and social dehumanization, I bring to you this letter of concern regarding

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the adverse effects of long-term Sensory Deprivation.
After spending over a year in the Supermax undergoing long-term intensive solitary confinement, denied and
deprived of direct human contact, I was transferred back
to the Maryland Penitentiary. Upon seeing me for the first
time in over a year, a fellow prisoner shook my hand and
then proceeded to put both arms around me to embrace
me and I became visibly shaken and cringed up as if I had
been physically violated. I had not had any physical contact
with another human being in so long that I wasn’t used to
being touched. I had become super-sensitive to one of the
basic human senses — the sense of human touch.
Welcome to the “Sensory Deprivation Experience”
Definition: self-explanatory—the deliberate and intentional stripping of the cell down to an isolation cell, then
the stripping of the individual down to the basic necessities,
even down to the personal effects. Then locked within this
cell twenty-three hours a day with barely the bare essentials, where even the wall-mounted stainless steel mirror
in the segregation cells is removed from the walls so that
even the sight of one’s own image is denied.
This is Sensory Deprivation. And no matter how strong
a person is, Sensory Deprivation is depravity at its worst. All
five basic human senses — sight, sound, smell, touch, and
taste — are severely suppressed — when one is slowly, but
surely, and very subtly stripped of all the common sentiments of humanity.
Under these adverse conditions of confinement, one
tends to crave a change of scenery, location, atmosphere,
and environment just so s/he can see new sights instead of
the same ole, everyday, mind-deadening routine and face-

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less faces ... hear new and different sounds other than the
quiet, indescribable silence that seems to speak louder than
noise ... smell different scents besides the foul, stale, contemptible odor so common to everyday existence in this
bottomless pit ... one seeks to touch base with, feel and
embrace another human in an intimate, sensitive, humane,
compassionate, personal way as opposed to the impersonal, inhumane, insensitive, degrading manner ... one develops
a strong, intense desire to taste various foods besides the
same ole, tasteless, non-variety, everyday, recycled meals.
One is served just enough food to have a bowel movement, just enough to stay alive. This is Sensory Deprivation
where even one’s sense of taste, appetite, and taste buds is
denied and deprived.
All of the aforementioned increased, heightened senses are common among convicted persons held in prisons,
but such senses are magnified one hundred times in Control Unit Sensory Deprivation Prisons. [These are] steel and
stone torture chambers where, absent various forms of social stimuli, the human mind can become so debased, so dehumanized, and sink so low that if one isn’t careful, there is
a tendency to adjust, conform, and accustom oneself to a
standard of living that is lower than that which exists within
the animal kingdom. This is the adverse effect of long-term
Sensory Deprivation. It is a form of physical, social, and psychological torture, and it pushes many self-respecting, rational thinking, decent-minded men and women to a quest for
excitement, acts of desperation, and to the most extreme
points of paranoia.
After spending over a year in the Supermax, I was transferred back to the Maryland Penitentiary without any consideration given to the desocialization process I had under-

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gone. Nor was any provision made to resocialize me back
into a general population setting. Upon having difficulty
adjusting into general population, it became necessary for
me to be placed on punitive segregation for refusing to be
housed in a cell with another human being. There was a time
when I could tolerate double-cell housing on a temporary,
short-term, voluntary basis, but after my experience with
Sensory Deprivation, I have now become more anti-social
than ever and I now have a zero-degree tolerance level for
double-celling and general population settings.
As a result, for the past five years that I have been out of
the Supermax, I have spent a total of only seven months in
a general population setting.
In addition, on two occasions, I have had official street
charges pressed against me. This never before happened
to me in the entire history of my imprisonment. I am currently waiting to go to trial for the latest charge. I have not
received, encouraged, nor welcomed any outside contact
by way of visits from family members, loved ones, or friends
in the past five years since leaving Supermax. This entire experience is uncharacteristic of me, but I believe the underlying root cause is the social dislocation I have suffered from
my first encounter with Supermax’s Sensory Deprivation. I
am only now beginning to question and understand what
has happened to me.
Now that I am back in the Supermax for a second time,
armed with this overstanding of what Sensory Deprivation
actually is, I am less likely to leave Supermax no better off
for my experience than when I first arrived. My concern
now is with controlling and reversing the ill-effects of my
first encounter with Sensory Deprivation. Otherwise, I am
concerned that my social dislocation will in all likelihood go

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from bad to worse, and ruin me to the extent that not only
would I not be mentally, physically, or socially fit for a general population setting, but society in general.
Ronald Epps
Maryland

Graphic: Leonard Jefferson

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Psychological effects and political platform
I. Psychological effects of SHU (security housing unit) on
prisoners.
Psychological torture takes the form of physical pain
(i.e., migraines, stress-related illnesses, suicide, etc.). The
situation (evidence of physical torture) that I am about to
present is not an isolated reality. This is a daily ritual which
occurs throughout the Pelican Bay SHU.
Three stages to strategy of psychological torture: 1st ,
2nd , and 3rd “watches.”
1.	 The Guard makes noise in early AM hours, every morning. Any complaint results only in the antagonization
of the situation.
2.	 Slamming food ports when guards serve meals. Every
day. Deliberate action to antagonize, irritate, and exercise and flaunt power dynamic.
3.	 Excessive noise when doing all four counts: 11 p.m.,
1 a.m., 2:30 a.m., and 4 a.m. Again, deliberate exercise
of power, disrespect, and brandish power.
Other forms [range] from blasting the P.A. system to
intentionally withholding personal mail.
Those who lack the knowledge and understanding of
torture and its different applications may dismiss the significance of the evidence that I have presented, but before you
do, allow me to bring your attention to certain facts that
will substantiate my evidence.
Sound is a well known tactic in both psychological warfare and torture, from the sound of dripping water to the
blasting of loud music. The Waco massacre is a perfect example. When the U.S. racist, fascist government used loud

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music and bright lights as a tool of torture against women
and children, the results varied, from sleep deprivation to
the constant shocking of the nerves.
II. Political issues
The constant emotional abuse leads to permanently
disturbed ex-cons who then reenter society with needs for
therapy, or without the facilities to adequately readjust.
Either way, they continue to cost the taxpayer’s money. The
Correction Department is failing at its goals of correction.
The prison system is now a sanctuary to preserve and
proliferate the Criminal Mentality Syndrome. This is the very
psychological disposition which guarantees the continuity
of the government scheme to financially benefit from the
inner city crime. This also explains why there is no genuine
effort on part of the CDC (California Department of Corrections) to implement a serious program for criminal rehabilitation, especially here in the security housing unit at
Pelican Bay. The CDC fully understands that absence of such
programs would only increase the recidivism rate among
its prison population. Crime prevention or criminal rehabilitation would in fact undermine the government’s CDC
endeavors to economically exploit the New Afrikan and
Latino/Mexican communities via poverty and crime!!
CDC deliberate indifference clause
The evolution of civilization cannot be discussed without discussing the evolution of human morality. The control-unit prisons and their proliferation is a perfect example
of a society’s immorality. How could any society justify the
existence of such a brutal and inhumane place?

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Demands:
• Rehabilitation programs, especially education
• Racially diverse independent review board
• Black community parole board
• Taxpayers allowed to tour Pelican Bay SHU
• Compensation to victims of extortion schemes
•	 Termination of employees involved in torture of
prisoners
• End to the criminalization of Prisoners’ Rights Activists
• Release political prisoners and P.O.W.s
Abdul O. Shakur
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Anger & the senses
Anger
On April 20, 1990, former hostage Dr. Robert Polhill was
released by his kidnappers. He stated the following to the
media while being interviewed: “I survived by staying angry
at my kidnappers, I was able to keep my focus this way. Had
I allowed my anger to leave me, and not stayed angry for
what was happening to me, I wouldn’t have made it.”
The news media reported on the release of Dr. Polhill
and I watched the three different networks. Although each
reported on the story from a somewhat different angle, I
noticed each anchorperson and each network appeared to
praise Dr. Polhill regarding his anger. The general consensus
was that he had a right to be angry and I think we all agree
that anytime you’re held against your will, captive, told
what to do, how to do it and when to do it, naturally you
will have aggression towards your overseer. Yet the Corrections Department deems it as inappropriate behavior when

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a prisoner demonstrates anger after being confined for a
period of years. Dr. Polhill was held for a little over two years
while some men are incarcerated for ten, fifteen, twentyfive years. How can the department and society have the
audacity to expect that prisoners remain passive and docile
when to do so is against the very nature of a human being?
The anger one feels from being held captive is akin to
slavery. It sets off emotions that few will ever know, short
of being in a hostage situation or in an American prison.
The senses
When I first heard of sensory deprivation, it was being
associated with the conditions of which I was subjected to,
of which I and others similarly situated, were suffering from.
But even to this day, I have not been informed or educated
as to exactly how sensory deprivation targets and affects
the human being. It was only through personal research,
and contemplation, that the connection with sensory deprivation and our day to day afflictions by it became profoundly understood. The fundamental principle upon which
any of our endeavors may be successful, is to understand
the nature of our human make-up, and those elements that
either complement it or harm it.
I humbly believe that first and foremost in our struggle to
overcome and survive this cruel and evil practice of sensory
deprivation is to take the two words (sensory and deprivation) and analyze them in their individual components.
Sensory: directly relating to our basic five senses of
sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch — essential components in every human being’s make-up. It is the senses
that by nature establish contact with the natural elements
of creation (environment) and are stimulated towards de-

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velopment and growth. The natural elements in the environment provide that necessary contact with the senses in
which we as human beings may know the inner relationship
with the outer world. Wo/mankind looks upon the natural
elements and through them, knowledge and understanding is stimulated. The human looked upon the birds and discovered the plane, he observed the whale and discovered
the submarine. Our forest trees contribute to the oxygen in
the atmosphere as our flowers and roses contribute to the
fragrance that stimulates smell and allows us to discover
commodities as perfume and colognes, enchantment.
It is the sense of touch, in which we made contact with
the wild life (animals) and found comfort in furs and skins,
cloth. A child will see a butterfly (sight sense) and our dear
child’s motor skills will be activated, curiosity will lead them
to chase it in play. In each element of nature there is a direct connection with the senses in which the human being
is always stimulated. The thoughts are activated, creativity
is contemplated and realized, human potential is cultivated
and most importantly, balanced sociability is fostered.
Deprivation: means to deprive someone of something,
to take away, or debar. In relation to the senses that have
just been set forth, to deprive would mean: creating the
structural setting in which the senses are cut off from
contact with the natural elements of creation. To prevent
the senses from having contact with the natural elements
would result in depriving the senses the necessary stimulant
for healthy growth and development as a human being.
The will and motivation towards creativity or productivity would be numbed by the absence of environmental stimulant. (I sound like one of them witnesses giving testimony
before a hearing.) Anyway, when the architects of PBSP

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(Pelican Bay State Prison) built this SHU, they designed it for
the express purpose of making sure that its captives would
suffer an inhumane deprivation of the senses. For those of
us faced with each awakening day inside of these tombs,
we must forever be mindful of the overwhelming effects
taking place each moment of our existence.
As children growing up in the natural environment outside of these walls, we have come into contact with the natural elements of creation. Our senses were nurtured to the
extent upon which we developed a relation with the birds,
flowers, trees, ocean, animals, etc., that shall always be an
ingrained part of our humanity.
It is those experiences that we must always rely upon
in contemplating, meditating, and visualizing the world we
know. Those who have televisions: spend time watching
nature programs, not for the lone sake of entertainment,
but now in the context of an everyday struggle in which
we realize the forces of sensory deprivation. Ponder the insights entailed within nature itself, as we look at animals,
life beneath the sea, the galactical skies, the ecological systems, and we shall prevail.
Latif Asad Abdullah
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

The strength of a woman
Believe me, Ms. Bonnie, I am a very strong person, I have
suffered and been abused enough to make anyone commit
suicide. My first 3 years they kept me locked in a cell with no
T.V., no gym, no recreation, no outdoors, no library, no radio, no canteen, no ice, no laundry, no nothing. For 3 Whole
Years!!! Not once was I allowed to ever go out of that cell. I

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Graphic: Judith Vasquez

was lucky if I was allowed to shower which was just five feet
from my cell.
I never seen the sky, or felt the warmth of the sun, or
a breeze pass me by, the trees and grass or a rain drop. I
never knew how painful it could be to be denied nature
itself. I had a small narrow window which does not open,
but all I could see was brick walls and nothing more. I remember from those brick walls was a small plant growing
from within the cracks of the brick; that was my only part of
nature that gave me hope. As the wind would blow against
the leaves of this plant, I would actually close my eyes and
pretend this very wind was blowing against my face. I know
it sounds crazy, but it was the only part of nature I had.
And then one day I could not stand it and I so desperately needed to feel real air, so I started to scrape the seal

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from the window with my fingertips. I was determined to
make an opening.
For three months of every day I scraped and scraped
[until] my fingers bled, but I managed to make a very small
opening and I only has room to place one side of my nose
against this opening at a time and I would take such a deep
breath where I finally was able to inhale a very small amount
of air but it was all in needed in order to survive this mental
abuse I was being put through for no apparent reasons.
Well, Ms. Bonnie, after all the abuse I been put through
including the sex abuse, that was enough for me to give up
and commit suicide, but I am very strong.
Judith Vasquez
New Jersey

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III. Letters from prisoners:
Survival
What survival is
Survival is being spiritually and mentally filled by the
Angels of Justice fighting the fight for our liberation from
Pelican Bay SHU.
Survival is possessing the intellect to know when the
psych comes into the housing unit to ask the mentally unstable if they need a psych line, and you realize how ridiculous he sounds — you’re surviving.
Survival is waking up in the morning, in a sound mind,
realizing that one was not killed during the night or moved
to some unknown destination.
Survival is hearing one’s neighbor laughing out loud because his son or daughter received a good grade in school
or a great report card.
Survival is when one can assist his neighbor in his time of
need, no matter what his racial, political, or cultural views
may be.
Survival is hearing one’s neighbor call out to make sure
the man is not taking advantage of one, and to let the man
know you’re not alone.
Survival is being able to state to oneself that I have made
it through another day — without being killed, beaten half
to death or made to stand in a shower or holding cell naked,
hand-cuffed for hours (for not moving fast enough, or having the wrong look, not using the right words, or for speaking out on injustices) — having one’s dignity at the end of
the day still intact to fight another day.

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And giving thanks to whatever God one might believe
in, before closing one’s eyes for sleep.
You smile because you have survived another day at
Pelican Bay.
Bambari S. Kelly Andersen
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Inner consciousness v. isolation
Before I begin sharing what I feel are some valid key
points on “how to survive” the isolation in these dungeons,
death traps, hell holes, SHUs, Supermax — or whatever
you want to call them — let me first touch on three facts
we can all agree on — a consensus:
1. The barbarian architects behind these sickass designs
had (have) serious mental problems dealing with their
own inferiority syndrome and dealing with peoples in
the world.
2. These holes were purposely designed as torture chambers to break you mentally and physically into submission and to abandon your own beliefs, etc.
3. The isolations and restrictions in these dungeons that
our captors like referring to as Control Units vary from
state to state, prison to prison — some more isolated
and restricted than others. However, their structure
and use have the same malicious intent, and that is to
control your existence and way of thinking.
This brings me to another very important point that I
would like to paraphrase from Carter G. Woodson:
If you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall
think, you do not have to concern yourself about what he

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will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not
have to compel him to accept an inferior status for he will
seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an
outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He
will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his
very nature will demand one.
You recall the old adage — cliché: don’t let time do you,
you do the time. There is great truth in that above cliché.
I have now been in prison 20 years and 18 of them have
been spent in various SHUs (holes) — from D.V.I. Folsom
State Prison, San Quentin (briefly), then to the new more
high-tech isolation chambers at Corcoran State Prison and
now Pelican Bay State Prison. I have now been here since
1990.
I have many years of experience in these hell holes and
have witnessed a great deal in terms of seeing individuals
giving up their inner strength and beliefs because in their
minds they could no longer deal with the mental torture,
isolation, the materialistic restrictions, etc.
These individuals gave up and broke themselves because they were missing the key essentials to their inner
consciousness that give them the power to survive isolation.
I have been asked over the years: “How have you been
able to survive all this and still be mentally intact?” My answers are very simple:
1. I know who I am and where I am going.
2. I don’t let time do me, I do the time.
3. My mind and thinking are far beyond prison walls.
Only my body is being held captive. To put it more plain-

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ly, 95% of time daily is spent writing and thinking outside of
prison.
Now I would like to share with those who are new to
this or/and those who have not yet developed the inner
consciousness that gives them the power to survive — here
are my pointers on how to survive and use isolation to your
advantage:
1. Regrowth — begin with studying your history, culture,
and yourself.
2. Make a real commitment to your inner consciousness.
3. Think of ways you can make positive contributions to
our peoples in the communities.
4. Write letters with your ideas and input to unify yourselves with the young and old. Send your letters to
family members, friends, churches, publications, progressive newspapers, radio deejays, artists, college
students on campus, lawyers, etc., etc. Keep writing,
don’t stop. You may not get responses from everyone
you write to, but you will get some. In them some may
be referrals to our peoples, or they may like your ideas
and be willing to help you get it going.
Constantly writing these letters reinforces your inner
consciousness to solidify your internal change beyond mere
words. Your focus is no longer your immediate isolation;
therefore your thinking is not controlled.
Knowing you are from your history and culture gives you
self pride and respect. But you must take this to another
level in reaching to the outside with a positive mission.
This is the power to survive these hell holes, because
your ability to know who you are as a people and your ability in thinking outside the walls take away these barbarians’
control over your existence and your mind.

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Like I said, many of these individuals I have seen give up
or/and break themselves knew their history and were very
politically conscious and had many applicable valid ideas
to revitalize our communities. Their biggest problem was
they never took the conversation and ideas outside of the
isolated areas. They made absolutely no attempt to make
contact with the outside. Soon they became bored with
hearing only themselves, and those around them began to
view them as good conversationalists with no actions behind their words. Their thinking stayed contained within the
isolated walls and soon isolation consumed them.
The pointers I have shared with those reading this document have worked for me well, have kept me focused
and, most importantly, they have kept me real and above
prison.
Paul Redd
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Focus on surviving! Not dying!
Yes! Some prison officials are in prisons, doing some very
wrong things to people. But we must not! respond with actions! that will open avenues for these same prison officials,
to have justified reasons to escalate their wrongs directed
at us, to a level of critical wrong doing, and fatal wrong doing. That’s what they want to do. Therefore, they are constantly! applying constant effort! to create Attica type situations. So they can kill people on a massive level. And say it
was done in response to the wrongs of the people.

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Diplomacy!
Is a means of survival, it don’t mean you’re scared.
Survival!
Should be our main focus.
Yes!
Some of us are done very bad here. Very, very, bad. But
focus on surviving these wrongs. By means of your Intelligence, discipline, and your diplomacy. This is not the 50s,
it is not the 60s, the 70s, nor the 80s. We are almost at the
thousands. We are within the age of diplomacy and litigation. Therefore! We are obligated to our efforts! To survive.
It’s not being a coward! It’s not living in fear! It’s survival.
Yes!
We have to accept things we don’t like. Even certain
amounts of disrespect will have to be tolerated. Each individual has to judge for themselves what is acceptable. And
what is not! Acceptable. Let your wisdom, your discipline
and your intelligence guide your actions and responses.
Not! Your anger, your hostility, or your dislikeful feelings for
the wrong things they do to you.
Yes!
Many of us are being done wrong. Some! Are being done
worse! Than others. But always focus on your main objective. And your main objective whenever in situations as this
should be survival! For those that cannot get out. Your victory can be survival today! With hopes of getting to better
prison environments tomorrow. Or surviving this moment
of adversity, to experience another moment of happiness.
Happiness comes and goes with moments, not decades.
But never give up! My precious loved ones, never ever give

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Graphic: Leonard Jefferson

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up! And hurl yourselves into the flames. Just because the
going gets tough. Stand tall! And focus on surviving! Not
dying.
P.S. Recently I’ve just completed 16-straight years of
being in S.H.U.
James H. Swon
California
(NOTE: On August 8, 1997, Mr. Swon went to the main population.)
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Things an SHU prisoner should know
The purpose of the California Department of “Corrections” SHU program is to reduce prisoners to a state of
submission essential for their ideological conversion. That
failing, the next objective is to reduce them to a state of
psychological incompetence sufficient to neutralize them
as efficient, self-directing antagonists. That failing, the only
alternative is to destroy them, preferably by making them
desperate enough to destroy themselves.
Recovery from the SHU experience
In a situation removed from the reinforcing pressures of
the SHU program, the ex-detainees should be encouraged
to think for themselves, so that they are once again in charge
of their own volition and their own decision-making.
The primary purpose of the SHU program is mentacide,
which can be defined as consisting of any organized system of psychological intervention in which the perpetrator injects his own thoughts and words into the minds and
mouths of the victims. By assaulting ego strengths, culture
shock is deliberately created, with isolation, alienation, and

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intimidation, and the victim becomes increasingly vulnerable to the implantation of ideas or the suggestion of behavior that would ordinarily be rejected as unacceptable or
abnormal.
Mentacide consists of four major components:
1. Behavior control
2. Thought control
3. Emotional control
4. Information control
Prisoners who survive the SHU program should be told
first that s/he was, is, in a trap — a situation where s/he
was psychologically disabled and couldn’t get out. Second,
s/he should be shown s/he didn’t originally choose to enter
a trap. Third, it should be pointed out that other prisoners
were in similar traps. Fourth, tell the prisoners that it is possible to get out of the trap through restoring their will power and sense of self.
It is a fact that mentacide renders its victims virtually
unresponsible for “their” actions or beliefs. The process
whereby the victim is “psychologically incarcerated” in
the oppressive SHU system is a subtle but powerful force
over which the victim/prisoner has little or no control, and
therefore the victims need not feel either guilt or shame
because of abnormal experiences, thus resulting in abnormal behavior.
Victims of the SHU program would need to relearn how
to relate to others, restore a positive self-concept and selfesteem, how to think and make healthy decisions. Prisoners
who have suffered from the SHU should be told that the
strength to move obstacles begins in our minds.
Troy Thomas
California
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Contact
As for doing time in the Control Unit, my suggestions
are to establish and maintain contact with activists out
there; use the time productively by studying law, theology;
reading; exercising and working to improve your mind and
body.
Maintaining outside contacts is very important. Without
such contacts, the prisoncrats will abuse prisoners, knowing they don’t have anyone to answer to.
Unity is also important since prisoners are often pitted
against others, by design.
It’s a bad environment, both mentally and physically, so
you need to set a program for yourself to try and maintain
any form of sanity. Long-term isolation causes Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well, so those in contact
with prisoners should always work to keep them in touch
with reality.
I know for years I was in the Us v. Them mode, where it
was the feeling you’re at war, which in reality you are, since
the whole purpose of the control unit is to break your spirit.
But you have to keep a semblance of future goals in mind
too, or you can self-destruct.
It’s important for everyone out there to send as much
literature as possible, and try to establish one-on-one contact with those in the control units. Outside support should
be a priority, as well as an emergency response network for
crises.
John W. Perotti
Ohio

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Tips from a transgender woman in a men’s facility
on surviving in AdSeg (higher levels)
1.	 Try to maintain a respectful stance with inmates and
staff alike because staff control who stays and who
leaves. Even though other inmates are in your situation, it’s best to be respectful to them because you
could very well create a situation with another inmate
that will follow you for years unresolved.
2.	 Find things to do to spend your time productively such
as writing songs, poems, reading. Idle hands are the
devil’s playground.
3.	 Remember that guys hate rejection. There are ways to
tell someone you’re not interested that doesn’t hurt
his pride so much. If you’re too harsh in your tone, he
may be concerned about how others think and will try
to show off for their behalf.
4.	It’s best to remain single but if you must, be cautious
of “getting with” more than one guy. You’re playing a
dangerous game when you toy with someone’s emotions. There’s no safe way to have sexual intercourse.
Many guys have different health problems that they
hide. Ask for paperwork ensuring his health is up to
code (at that moment). Be watchful that he isn’t messing around with more than one partner. Some choices
don’t end well.
5.	 Focus on a goal; build a time table of when you’d like
to be released or your custody reduced. Remain misconduct free.
6.	Choose your friends closely. Remember you’re locked

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up with prisoners
who are locked up for
being in some type
of trouble so some
people enjoy continuing that same behavior. Don’t gossip or
spread rumors as this
will only keep you in
constant conflict.

“Untitled” by Martin Vargas

7.	 Some guys (predators) will do anything to get with
you against your will, creating situations where you’d
need his assistance! Remember it’s only a ploy. He
could very well be behind the situation. Don’t go into
debt. If someone wanted to squeeze you for money,
they’d be able to continuously keep you owing them
simply by taking you. Or your debt could be passed on
from inmate to inmate. Guys look at transsexuals as
being the weakest link and will play off of that. If you
don’t have it, consider going without it or if the risk is
worth it!
8.	Many transsexuals and homosexuals get with other inmates in a relationship for money. Remember if a guy
feels used he may cause you harm. Many guys believe
that they own you after they’ve bought you so much.
Then think about that if you realize his money is gone,
then what? Many guys are in prison because they felt
betrayed by family, friends, wives, or girlfriends and
once betrayed again, you could be in a situation that’s
hard if not impossible to get out of.
Anonymous
Michigan

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Coping mechanisms for trans prisoners
I heard that you were seeking input from transsexuals
on coping mechanisms that have helped them survive isolation for your new Survivors Manual.
From October 1990 to January of 1993 I was held in isolation in a county jail, ostensibly to protect me from assault,
while I awaited trial.
Networking by mail helped me a lot and I had help from
AFSC staff. I developed a routine of reading and calisthenics
and letter writing to keep sane. The wisest thing I did was
to file a civil action for denial of medical care (1992) which I
won in 2002. Now after a second civil action, I am awaiting
a ruling that will result in getting my surgery, recommended by the DOC’s own doctors. The second wisest choice I
made was to change my voice by reading aloud to myself,
the best practice there is, and plenty of time to get the pitch
just right.
Anonymous
Massachusetts
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Because transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex people in prison are often highly visible, they become
frequent targets for homophobic and transphobic violence,
brutality, isolation, and poor medical care.
Protective custody units are reserved for people who are
at a higher risk of violence or harassment by other prisoners.
This includes those who might be targeted based on their
gender expression or sexual orientation. However, the level
of safety that protective custody actually provides is ques-

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tionable and varies among facilities. In some cases this can
be a safe place to avoid the violence of other prisoners. More
often this isolation of transgender prisoners places them at a
greater risk of violence at the hands of correctional officers.
In addition to being placed in protective custody, gender
variant people also end up in other forms of segregation, at
times, because of bogus tickets and “behavioral” issues that
prompt increases in security classification. The conditions of
solitary confinement in these segregation units present the
same dangers.
Regardless of whether or not it provides some level of
protection or safety, isolation is a poor alternative to general
population. The physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological impacts of solitary confinement are tantamount to
torture for many.
At a time when the vernacular of torture has become part
of the national conversation, we must think seriously about
the violence in our systems of punishment and detention, and
expose and acknowledge the plight of transgender people in
prison. Transgender people experience violence and are persecuted for their stubborn visibility within the penal system,
but remain a marginalized and misunderstood community to
an indifferent world outside.
Transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex people
in prison can get help from the The Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
The project provides services for transgender people in New
York. They also have information and publications relevant to
trans people in prison, including “It’s War in Here”: A Report
on the Treatment of Transgender and Intersex People in
New York State Men’s Prisons.

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To contact the project, write to:
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
127 W. 24th St., 5th floor 
New York, NY 10011  
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

A revolutionary statement on survival
I was asked by a friend: What is the difference for someone who maintains strength and others who often cave in?
My response was simple: “I use history as my guide.”
Afrikans have a “historical obligation” and duty to carry on the legacy and struggle of our ancestors. The terms
upon which we exist here have always been that of a slave
in service of the master.
The entire fabric of Amerikan society is riddled with racism and enforced via its institutions which ensure that Afrikans/Blacks will not succeed or be given an opportunity to
carve out a meaningful existence or make an honest living
by which to support one’s family unless one is willing to part
with his/her cultural identity and awareness.
To be revolutionary calls for the ability to practice revolution as a religion—meaning you must study it to understand its principles, just as you would your Bible or Koran,
etc. You must dig deep down within yourself and remove
any impurities instilled by a diseased society.
Just as you would when asking God to forgive your sins,
one must be equally committed to destroying within oneself all the vestiges of that society which he/she desires to
change. This means eliminating the values of the ruling class
of that society and the petty aspirations of wanting to be
like that class. If an individual was a liar and a cheat prior to

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embracing the revolutionary ideal, then a deep critical selfexamination would be in order so as to purge all vestiges of
that lie and cheat. Because to be revolutionary is to be as
good as your word! This process does not and cannot occur
overnight. Thus before any real transformation can occur,
the struggle must be waged and won with oneself!
Control units exist with their sole purpose being to crush
the revolutionary spirit embodied within certain prisoners
of consciousness aimed at crushing their resistance to fascist control and inevitably making them a tool of reaction
for the state. The ideas of the state are embodied within the
functions of the prison regime. The state is able to continue
executing its political agenda through the prison regime by
convincing the public through its vast propaganda network
(the media) and intrigue, that control units are designed to
preclude the consolidated functioning of some of the most
violent prison gangs, with little public resistance to this
overt display of fascism. The state is allowed full latitude in
exercising its authority in crushing political dissent.
Sure these units contain prisoners who are anything but
revolutionary or politically conscious, but then again how
else is the state to accomplish its objectives without reactionary tools to fuel its motor?
Here in California the political prisoner/prisoner-of-war
class exists alongside perhaps the largest reactionary prisoner class in the nation who willingly offers itself as a tool
for the state—aiding it in its fascist political objective of discouraging political dissent and wholesale murder under the
guise of “rival gang” warfare fighting to survive to control
the prison.
To survive a control unit, one must have grasped the understanding that struggle is a life-long commitment, that it

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embodies all kinds of consequences, none of which should
deter one from continuing on. One must have grasped the
principles of the revolutionary and be willing to die for those
principles—principles that are not swayed by the promise
of some petty prison privilege or the assurance of leniency
because the cave-in or surrender will not halt the fascist
machine from moving forward with its objectives of total
authoritarian rule.
Professor W.E.B. DuBois recognized this when he wrote
nearly 45 years ago. He said that Amerika would eventually
and inevitably come to a basic decision—either it would
move toward worker self-management, anti-racism, and a
new democratic state apparatus, or it would lapse into authoritarian, racial barbarism, and militarization of the work
force and a descent into military fascism.
Comrade George echoed this powerful sentiment when
he issued the call for us to:
Settle your quarrels. Come together. Understand the
reality of our situation. Understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could
be saved, that generations more will die or live poor
butchered half-lives as we do now if you fail to act.
Amerika has proven consistently that it is an enemy of
the Afrikans, who mobilizes as we speak to deliver her final
blow of death, destruction, and total fascist rule. Control
units are but a consequence of those who resist us, to deter
those who dare to think about it. Therefore, using history as
your guide, you will find the strength is already there.
Sondai Kamdibe
California

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Mapping out survival
Survival implies discipline which is the habit of instant
and automatic obedience to one’s will. It is the human basis
or response on which effective control and survival rests.
Good plans minus discipline equals failure. And failure in executing plans destroys survival. In understanding strategies
to be used for survival, one must survey his/her situation
and determine what has been done or what has not, and
what should be done.
Observation: Little that is worthwhile is accomplished
without discipline. Discipline is a learned process, which we
must have for survival. There must be something to drive
us to move beyond the limiting expectations of loser, that
something is motivation. Many men, women, P.P./P.O.W.’s
have many worries while in lockdown (control units) which
causes much stress. Sometimes this stress leads to suicide,
drug addiction, and actively fights against discipline. Therefore it is important that those of us locked down in control
units discipline ourselves for survival.
Health—Mental and physical health are key factors in survival. Study is very important in survival. We must read books,
newspapers, magazines, etc. “Information is Power!”
Communicate regularly with family, friends, comrades,
	 organizations in society as often as possible.
Exercise at least four times a week: push-ups, jumping
jacks, squats, toe touches, dips, knees to the chest,
arm rotations, sit ups, etc. The numbers of how many
to do in a set, and how many sets is up to you. 45 minutes of constant working is good.
Stretching before you exercise is very important. Yoga is
the best way to stretch.

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Breathing—deep breathing three or four times a day is
rejuvenating.
Walking and running if space is available, or running in
place for 30 minutes is good.
Self Defense—learning some form of self defense, boxing, karate, judo, etc., are most important to protect
oneself.
Diet—vegetarian diets are very important for survival in
control units (lock downs), because of the lack of properly cooked foods. Strokes, peptic ulcers, diabetes, hypertension, salmonellosis, stomach cancer, colon cancer, kidney disease, hemorrhoids; are all illnesses that
can be produced from a lack of proper dieting.
Remember, medical care isn’t worthwhile depending
on in control units (lock down). A question was once asked:
“What do the prisoncrats care about a few sick prisoners?”
Daily schedule
5 a.m. 	
Wake up and wash up
6:30 a.m.	
Breakfast
8 a.m. 	
Yard/Exercise
9 a.m. 	
Wash up/read
11:30 a.m.	
Lunch
12 p.m.	
Wash clothes, cell, etc
1 p.m.		
Read/study/write, etc.
2 p.m.	
Hold class on unit on politics, history, 		
			
economics, or general discussion on legal 		
			
endeavors
4 p.m.	
Dinner
4:30 p.m.	
Back to reading, writing, studying, etc.
Times of turning in for the night may differ. Survival de-

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“Thinking Inside the box” by Steven Lake

pends on one to remove bad habits from one’s activities.
Seek truth and base one’s life on it. Seek life giving and saving ideas. Work for Success. Be productive, creative, and
learn craft to keep the mind and body active.
Be security minded, avoid imbalances, which result from
the taking away of some component necessary to mental
stability. In order to restore from imbalance, the missing
component must be restored or compensated for. Our

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brains were created to think right. Falsehood, which is untruth, injustice, or deception, produces chemical imbalance
in the brain. The proof that humanity is unbalanced is the
absence of the three essentials of balance: Freedom, Justice, and Equality. This is due to the oppression and mistreatment of people by one another. But we are made to
achieve balance.
Our survival strategy should be like a map. A plan for
getting from where we are to where we want to go. Planning strategy is like planning a trip. Our tactics should be the
specific things that we must do for survival, to help us get
there. Petitions, pressure campaigns, etc. Progress reports,
quality reports, assignments, and progress schedules are
important for survival in monitoring oneself.
In dealing with the prisoncrats, remember they aren’t
here to make sure we are comfortable, so the less we deal
with them the better off we are; to alleviate any hardships.
Accept the worst, improve on the worst.
1.	 How to break the worry habit: Keep busy.
2.	 Ways to cultivate a mental attitude, leading to
peace and happiness. Fill your mind with thoughts
of peace, courage, health, and hope. Always keep
aware of things around you.
3.		To keep from worrying about criticism: remember 	
	unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.
4. 		Ways to prevent fatigue and worry, keeping spirits 	
	high: Rest before you get tired. When you face a
problem, solve it, then and there, if you have the
facts necessary to make a decision.
5. 	 Good thoughts lead to wise actions.

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Survival is the most important thing for every creature
on the planet earth. Our survival in Control Units (lock
down) on Administrative Custody is no different. Control
Units were designed to destroy our survival instincts. We
must not let this evil succeed. Free all Political Prisoners;
Prisoners of War; fight to stop the Injustice, and Shut them
Down (Control Units)!
LuQman Abdullah
Pennsylvania
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Active
To keep one’s self mentally and physically healthy
through a period of long-term isolation has been a challenge for myself as I know it has for others. Though I’m one
of those rare persons who has beaten the million to one
odds (at least to date) by doing one simple thing ... keeping
myself extremely active, occupying the loads of free time
with a daily crammed schedule.
It all starts with an hour-long exercise regimen which
includes doing push-ups, jumping jacks, running in place,
crunches, pull ups, chin ups, and stretching different muscle
groups. But the most unique way I have discovered to keep
the upper body in shape is by taking a pillow case and filling it with heavy books and/or tons of personal and legal
documents (you know the kind which are stuffed in clasp
envelopes) and then using the open end of the pillow case
as a handle to lift the one-half to three-fourth filled bag four
different ways. (Lifting with each arm, then both arms in
the front of the body and behind, right above the shoulder
blades.)
In all, exercise is very important in a forced sedentary

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“Weapons of Mass Destruction” by Todd (Hyung-Rae) Tarselli

lifestyle. To linger in a bunk all day long only results in health
problems such as irregular heartbeats, hypertension, depressed immune system, and atrophy of muscles which
even I have been affected by after six years of isolation.
The next thing I do is to write. What I mean by this is
drafting articles/essays and now and then a poem mostly
for the small press to counter-attack the hysteria dished
out against the prisoner class. This includes telling about
the conditions within America’s dungeon and the impracticalities of the criminal (in)justice system. This activity alone
takes up the majority of my time and has had one positive
effect and that’s bringing the public’s attention to the repressive conditions here at the Iowa state “warehouse”

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and the reality of the American prison system as a whole.
In fact, I encourage those similarly situated to pick up
those ink pens or pencils, whichever is allowed, and make
a habit of communicating your experiences either as simply
as keeping a journal—which I do on a daily basis—or sending letters to the editors of the local newspaper to criticize
an article or opinion you may have read which may have
not been true or was one of those “let’s get tougher on the
criminal” opinions that needs a person from the inside to
rebut. Just keep in mind that, occasionally, the editor will
print your letter which is reason enough for taking up such
activities.
Other things I do to keep busy include helping others
with their legal cases (civil and criminal), filing grievances
every time I see a grievable issue no matter if it’s personal or
if it involves another prisoner, keeping log books/charts of
all mail, memos (kites) and grievances. This helps in storing
in order the paperwork which I do not discard in hopes of
using it as evidence against my keepers at a later date.
And most importantly: Read! Especially books which
further one’s knowledge. I am one who discourages those
that fill one’s time on “junk novels” and encourage subjects
like politics, science, poetry, how-to books, and reference
publications. Personally I just love to soak my brain into anything dealing with technology and its related issues.
Now, not everyone may want to follow a schedule
like mine, but that’s what the imagination is for. Just use
whatever know-how you may have obtained from past experiences and education then shape it into something productive. By this you will stonewall the boredom devil, hopefully conserve sanity and make your isolation a little more
bearable.

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In all, if you want to survive that long-term isolation, the
mind and body need to continually be fully active.
D.A. Sheldon
Iowa
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

A practical guide from an Indiana SHU
Priority list
1. Secure outside contacts
2. Reconnaissance
3. Physical maintenance
4. Mental maintenance
5. Time management
Basically, the above list represents areas that a Control
Unit prisoner should emphasize to be equipped with the
necessary coping skills for survival. They do not represent
the foundation of any monolithic concept, nor are they set
in stone. Others should particularize. What they do represent is systematic referencing of ideals that have been
ingrained in me through diligent study of revolutionary
science, human psychology, sociology and years of uncut
prison struggle.
Secure outside contacts
My suggestion to secure outside contacts originates
from an overstanding that prison in and of itself is designed
to isolate prisoners from society. Thus the concept of Control Units takes this reality to another level. Isolation from
society and fellow prisoners is a basic component in the
prisoncrats’ attempt to weaken the resolve of those that
have been tagged “unmanageable.”

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Once inside a Control Unit, if not before, one should
immediately try to cement familial contacts as the months
and years of isolation coupled with lack of visit and phone
calls weaken, if not destroy, fragile families. Hearing from
loved ones and sharing with them the many-sided assaults
on their humanity helps to keep one focused. Implicit in this
should be the overstanding that Control Unit prisoners’
priority should be to preserve family contact and relations
as opposed to forcing new ideological concepts on them.
If one is politically conscious and aware, then one should
be clear on the level of backwardness or assimilationist tendencies found in most folks. Plant your seeds of growth,
but be aware that they need as much nurturing as do we,
if not more.
In addition to familial contact, it should be a priority of
Control Unit prisoners to reach out to progressive groups,
associations, etc. This would be to secure open lines of
communication, printed literature, and a balanced historical foundation of Control Units and their use.
I think that viewing the assignment to a Control Unit
from a collective sense enables a prisoner to free himself
or begin the process of freeing himself from individualism.
This hopefully will foster an overstanding for the need to
collectively organize one’s efforts. Also this securing of dialogue, papers, etc., opens one’s eyes to how various others
have dealt with and continue to deal with the oppression of
21st century penological science.
In conclusion, exchanging and sharing information
on the various units enables the struggle to proceed with
clarity.

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Reconnaissance
As defined by Webster’s dictionary, the term Reconnaissance is “an observation of the territory of the enemy.” I
incorporate this as a priority for Control Unit prisoners in
that it’s a must for us to learn our environment as quickly
as possible in order to negate as much unnecessary static
as possible.
Inherent in learning one’s environment is the task of
concealing one’s self to a certain degree. One thing that
I have found is that Control Units are also used to isolate
psychotic prisoners, safe keepers (disguised as disciplinary
problems), snitches, etc. And because of this I recommend
that upon entry, Cadre-Revolutionaries, Anti-Authoritarians,
Anarchists, etc. exercise secure communication and act as
though anyone that you don’t know or have been out of
contact with for any length of time as potential threats, suspects, or what have you.
Because of the realization that the dialectical process of
analyzation shows us that everything is in a constant state
of change, it is our duty to incorporate that fact into how
we approach being thrown into a Control Unit. The behavioral/psychological implications of these units exposes itself
in the personalization and individualistic attitudes of many
here. This is not limited to the obviously psychotic—a lot
of once stand-up prisoners wilt under the strain of isolation
and other sensory deprivations. So do your homework before you initiate, embrace, or lend your reputation and efforts to someone or something.
Briefly let me say that it’s important to secure any and all
rules, policies, and other materials governing the unit. Ascertain the chain of command and mentally note as much
as possible about the habits of the staff, their attitudes and

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anything else that can give you an edge in staying prepared.
Once you have learned the set, identified fellow cadre, you
need to tie into or formulate means of communication for
obvious reasons.
Physical maintenance
Because of the long hours of confinement to the cells,
everyone should discipline themselves to some type of vigorous workout/exercise routine on a regular basis. The prevailing attitude is to stay in shape or “combat ready,” which
is something we can’t ignore.
But the reality is that we are only able to do so much to
combat the onslaught of five or six heavily padded guards
in possession of various tools of incapacitation. So I see the
discipline of exercise as a health necessity first and foremost.
Regular exercise keeps the muscles toned and the
cardiovascular system strong, and helps to rid our bodies
of “toxins and other impurities” that invade our bodies
through food, water, and air-borne particles.
Not being a physical health doctor, I cannot begin to address the many ways that one can maintain a high level of
strength, endurance, and general well-being. But most of
us are familiar with exercise routines that meet the needs
of the areas spoken about. I suggest, though, that one
should get some literature dealing specifically with stretching, calisthenics and how to meditate, as it, too, is a physical
function.
Mental maintenance
This area is beyond a doubt the most prevalent issue for
concern, but I’m going to keep my thoughts on it simple

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and straight forward. The first thing for me was to adjust to
the level of barbarity a lot of prisoners had succumbed to—
throwing feces/urine, constantly verbally attacking each
other, and simply showing no restraint. So to stay mentally
healthy I had to be realistic about what I could contribute to
the immediate unit, in terms of combating the administration and the lack of collective solidarity.
Secondly, I immediately found out that the principled position and righteous behavior of a brother did not necessarily mean that I was immune to the personal verbal attacks,
accusations of superiority, etc. Which let me know that just
because the state labels us all as one, the philosophical,
ethnic differences, etc., are so extreme that identifying a
primary enemy was not a given. So I suggest that one be
particular about approaching arguments as peacemakers,
that one really be about holding onto his decency because
some Control Units are ripe with Psycho Babble day in and
day out. So you can’t realistically expect to influence it very
much, and you stand the chance of getting “caught up,” as
they say, if you prioritize every contradiction.
It’s important to learn the art of meditation, as I find that
maintaining focus and concentration is solidified through
meditation. I have also concluded that my study has got to
be tempered with some leisure reading. It enables one to
be vulnerable emotionally without jeopardizing his objective view of the struggle inside and outside.
Some prisoners utilize the behavioral psychologists to
deal with stress, under the guise of Anger Control. And
where I choose not to incorporate myself in the state’s offering, I don’t condemn those that seek out information from
them. Some people simply need somebody they can talk to.
I can only say that when you don’t respond as they wish,

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you may become a candidate for a psychotropic drug!
Time management
A lot of prisoners operate on the concept of “passing
time.” This can be harmful to Control Unit prisoners. I say
this because the concept itself is synonymous with bull shitting, and that isn’t healthy for those of us confined for years
on end in Control Units or otherwise. So I have concluded
that it’s important for us to formulate some form of “time
management.” All one has to do is sit down with pen and
paper and write out his daily activities for three days or so.
If the individual is not involved in meaningful study, exercise, dialogue, etc., he quickly sees that his day is wasted
aimlessly.
So one should list the things they are interested in doing,
chart them according to time of day and length and institute this daily. Being mindful of when you’re most alert for
study, and appropriate times for exercise, meditation, etc.
This may sound like something out of left field for some, or
those that have never organized their lives or activities. But
in such a situation as Control Units, it’s important to maintain control over our own selves as much as possible. Developing discipline is one thing, keeping it is another!
Anane Baye Camara
Indiana

◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

The prison cell workout
I’m an inmate at the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent
City, California. Pelican Bay is considered the toughest, most
secure prison in the United States. Prisoners in the Security
Housing Unit here are so isolated from the outside world
that we sometimes go years without seeing fresh earth,

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plant life, or unfiltered sunlight.
Confined to our cells for most of the time, we’re allowed
to exercise alone in a 10-by-20-foot “dog run” for 1- 1/2 hours
per day. We have no weights, no chin-up bars, no basketball
courts—only a concrete floor and walls.
We do all the usual exercises to keep in shape—pushups, handstand push-ups, abdominal work—but by far the
most popular exercise at Pelican Bay is the burpee routine.
It works your chest, arms, front deltoids, thighs and abs
while giving you a grueling cardiovascular workout.
There are all kinds of ways to do this exercise, but I’ll
describe the basic six-count burpee. To start, stand straight
with your hands at your sides, your toes pointing forward
and your feet three to six inches apart. Now:
1.	 Squat down and place both hands on the floor.
2.	 Kick both feet out behind you, so you’re in a push-up
position.
3.	 Go down until your chest touches the floor.
4.	 Push back up.
5.	 Pull both feet back under your body.
6.	 Return to the standing position, using only your legs.
Start with a “20 down” routine. Do a set of 20 reps, rest
30 seconds, then do a set of 19, rest, then a set of 18 and so
on until you work you way down to zero. You’ll do a total
of 210 burpees, which means 210 push-ups and 210 squatthrusts combined. If you do a 30-down, you’ll be doing 465
burpees; tack on a set of 35 at the beginning and you’ll give
yourself an even 500.
Once you’ve mastered that routine, you’re ready for a
real test of will: the straight-set routine. Try for 150 to 200
to start, then add 10 reps every week. (The “burpee mon-

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sters” at Pelican Bay do straight sets of 1,000 reps, at a pace
of 100 every six minutes.) For an even better workout, follow your straight set with two sets of wide grip push-ups,
followed by two-sets of close-grip push-ups, followed by a
five-minute ab routine.
Burpees are a good exercise choice any time you’re in
an enclosed area for an extended period of time — a hotel
room, your office. And if you’re ever sent to a maximumsecurity prison, at least you’ll know how to keep in shape.
Michael Shepherd
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

T’ai Chi Ch’uan
This article is to let you know the benefits you can receive from the regular practice of T’ai Chi Ch’uan.
T’ai Chi is a form of martial art that emphasizes achieving balance within yourself through slow movements and
deep breathing. It originated in China and is referred to at
times as “moving meditation.” If you practice it regularly
you will notice an increase in energy to face the day, you
will be calmer, able to handle situations that would usually
end in conflicts or arguments. T’ai Chi can be used for self
defense and is designed to deal with an opponent in the
least violent way.
The health benefits of T’ai Chi have been proven in tests
conducted by medical experts. It has reduced blood pressure, aided people with asthma and heart trouble. It can be
practiced by young, old, weak, and strong.
Since I have been practicing T’ai Chi each day, I have
overcome depression. My outlook on life has changed from

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a negative one to a positive one, and that is saying something because of my long exposure to the prison system.
The best thing about T’ai Chi is that with as little as 10–25
minutes each morning you can meet the day with a steady
head, heart, and body. You will benefit physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.
This isn't any snake oil salesman’s “come on.” IT WORKS,
but you only get out of it what you put into it. T’ai Chi works
for me; I know it can work for you.
Anonymous
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Controlling the control unit
To me the overriding thing of importance in surviving
my various stints in control units was to refuse to relinquish
control! By that I mean: keeping always in mind the purpose
of the control unit — i.e., remembering what the state was
trying to accomplish by putting me there, and then using my
own powers of understanding to resist their plan. Among
other things, this meant:
•	 Making a schedule for my days, instead of allowing the
cops to determine my days.
•	 Having several different schedules, and alternating
them, to avoid having the days all melt into sameness,
and to keep track of what day and date it was, etc.
•	 Using exterior signals, such as changes in light, shift
changes, regular noises from outside my cell, to keep
track of time. The first few weeks I’d note a sound or
other objective occurrence, then yell for the cops to
find out what time it was, etc.
•	 Developing several different forms of exercise for dif-

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ferent days and conditions. One technique of control
used in every unit I've been in is withholding or postponing rec time. Since exercise was a very important
way I controlled my anger so that I didn't become upset or stressed, it was crucial for me to develop ways
to avoid letting this necessity for exercise become one
more tool for them to use against me. I learned yoga
and did isometric weight-training in my cell, and I ran
on the occasions I was able to go out to the rec yards.
•	 Developed some creative activity that allowed me to
admire my own human creativity— i.e., draw, write,
make things from what is available, etc. Reminding
myself that my place in the universe was as a sentient,
loving, creative human being, not a caged animal, was
helpful. (This is why so many prisoners turn out incredible drawings in ballpoint pen!)
•	 Learn something—undertake to study something and
use the mind so I left each unit having grown rather
than been diminished by the experience.
•	 Write letters—get pen pals if needed; some active
communication with the outside.
•	 For me, as a political creature, it was essential to get a
subscription to a major newspaper. (I then managed
to share it by smuggling it to another prisoner in the
unit.) I was fortunate to have friends who chipped in
to get me the paper. I wonder if the Campaign to Stop
Control Units could somehow get money or get people to get subs to weekly news magazines — Time or
Newsweek, or a decent daily or weekly newspaper—
for people in control units? In women's prisons and
most control units, no news media are provided.
•	 I fought for every shred of what I was supposed to

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have a "right" to, based in the Code of Federal Regs,
which governs the BOP. But it's hard not to get full of
rage and frustration while doing this, so once in a while
I would write a furious letter to the warden or someone else, saying everything I wanted and then tear it
up. Therapeutic, to a point.
Warden Burkhardt of Alderson responded to my BP-9
(fed prison grievance form) protesting my isolation. He said
I was being held in solitary because of my “associations and
beliefs.” Knowing what your enemy’s goals are helps you
a lot in resisting giving ground. In my case, on days when
I felt (and was) particularly abused and mistreated, I could
always find hope and strength in feeling it was an honor to
be held in conditions of control—in the way Chairman Mao
meant it in that old quote we used to love so much about it
being a good thing to be hated by the enemy.
Finally, one thing about control units is that, since their
goal is to dehumanize, to destroy one’s personality, each
individual kind of needs to design her/his own program for
survival, based in her/his identity and sense of what makes
each of us human. How one person expresses and controls
rage is not necessarily right for another. For example, for
some people, keeping busy is important; for others, maybe
stillness and inward thought is important. What resources,
internal and external, each prisoner has available make a
big difference, too. (One reason why activist groups are so
important!)
Finally, really, I do believe that everyone who has spent
time in prison, double for control units, suffers physical if not
also mental damage. Having this recognized—say, by the
international anti-torture forces—helps. I think it was Stuart Grassian who observed that the women in the LexHSU

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developed illnesses as a result of the unit. When I read that,
it helped me understand the damage to my own health that
resulted or was exacerbated by the control unit time.
!
Venceremos!
P.S. Have you been able to see the comet? It’s gorgeous!
Every morning I get up at 5 to go to a window in our unit
from which I can see it; now in the evening we can see it
before we’re locked in. Every time I look at it I think of all
those in the control units who are robbed of this incredible
experience.
Laura Whitehom
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Goals & methods of control units: Survival
strategies
Security Housing Units or Control Units are generally
based on the “Stammhein Model” perfected by West Germany during the early 1970s. The purpose was unabashedly
political, as is demonstrated in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons official criteria for incarceration: “(A) prisoner’s past or present affiliation, association or membership in an organization
which attempts to disrupt or overthrow the government of
the U.S. or whose published ideology includes advocating
law violations in order to free prisoners.”
The object was to invoke in prisoners a sense of being
totally at the mercy of and dependent upon their keepers.
In the polite language of the John Howard Association:
“Through a year or more of sensory and psychological deprivation, prisoners are stripped of their individual identities
in order that compliant behavior patterns can be implanted,

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BIDERMAN’S CHART ON PENAL COERCION
(Source: Amnesty International Report on Torture, 1973)
GENERAL	
EFFECT
METHOD		

VARIANTS

1. 	 Isolation

Deprive victims of all
social supports, of his ability to resist. Develops an
intense concern with self.
Makes victim dependent
upon interrogator.

Complete solitary confinement, complete 	
isolation, semi-isolation,
group isolation.

2.	Monopolization of
perception

Fixes attention upon
immediate predicament;
fosters introspection.
Eliminates stimuli competing with those controlled
by captive. Frustrates all
actions not consistent
with compliance.

Physical isolation,
darkness or bright light,
barren environment,
restricted movement,
monotonous food.

3. 	 Induced
debility,
exhaustion

Weakens mental and
physical ability to resist.

Semi-starvation,
exposure, exploitation
of wounds, induced
illness, sleep deprivation,
prolonged constraint,
prolonged interrogation,
forced writing, overexertion.

4. 	 Threats

Cultivates anxiety and
despair.

Threats of death, threats
of non-return, threats of
endless interrogation.

5. 	 Occasional
indulgences

Provides positive motivation for compliance.
Hinders adjustment to
deprivation.

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Occasional favors,
fluctuations of attitudes,
promises, rewards for
partial compliance,
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GENERAL	
METHOD

EFFECT

VARIANTS

			

6. 	 Demonstrating
omnipotence

Suggests futility of
resistance.

Confrontation, pretending cooperation
taken for granted, demonstrating complete
control over victim’s
fate.

7.	Degradation

Makes cost of resistance
appear more damaging to self-esteem than
capitulation. Reduce
prisoners to “animal
level” concerns.

Personal hygiene prevented. Filthy, infested
surroundings. Demeaning punishment, insults
and taunts, denials of
privacy.

8.	 Enforcing trivial
demands

Develops habit of compliance.

Forced writing, enforcement of minute
rules.

a process of mortification and depersonalization.”
The techniques involved have been described by Amnesty International in the chart on pages 57 and 58.
As early as 1962, Dr. Edgar Schein described the methodology at issue rather more straight-forwardly in an address
to all federal maximum security prison wardens in Washington, D.C.:
“In order to produce marked changes in behavior, it is
necessary to weaken, undermine, or remove supports for
old attitudes. I would like you to think of brainwashing not
in terms of…ethics and morals, but in terms of the deliberate changing of human behavior by a group of men who
have relatively complete control over the environment in
which the captives live. … [These changes can be induced

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by] isolation, sensory deprivation, segregation of leaders,
spying, tricking men into signing written statements which
are then shown to others, placing individuals whose will
power has been severely weakened into a living situation
with others more advanced in thought reform, character
invalidation, humiliation, sleeplessness, rewarding subservience, and fear.”
This introduction has served as a diagnosis of the problem from an historical perspective as well as analytical. It is
important that our readers comprehend that “SHU Strategies Toward Survival” are solutions and Ways and Means to
counter this attack.
“SHU survival strategies”
1.	 Maintain as much communication with as many people in society as possible.
2.	 Seek to read as many different publications as possible
on as many different subjects as possible in order to
have a consistent flow of information.
3.	 Create an environment of cooperation between yourself and the other prisoners around you in order to develop community and “Unity of Purpose.”
4.	Develop an exercise and study program which builds
over time; that is, levels of progression.
5.	 Communicate as little as possible with staff.
6.	Attempt to politicize other prisoners and encourage
collective problem solving.
7.	 Remember that during time in prison it is not where
you are but who you are, because time is time.
I cannot hope these strategies to be successful for all

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prisoners in all situations, but only the test to survive the
SHU will determine who is able to transcend the torture.
Walter Daily
California
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Love
At the Attica Remembrance event, September 6, 1997,
Geronimo Ji Jaga told us: “I survived because of the spirit
there.… I survived because of the love there.”
Women’s Building
San Francisco
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Clear sight
Hopefully the day will come that my freedom is finally
returned. There are so many things I think I’ll be able to give
back to the community from which I came. Pelican Bay,
for all the underhanded and cruel things that’s being done
there, one good thing is I now understand and see so many
things, mainly life, very clearly.
Johnny Bames
California

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IV Poetry from solitary
I 	 Bodies leaning
against steel doors
eyes always watching, missing nothing.
A deep breath taken amid isolated tension.
White walls stretching endlessly,
Silent barriers between two worlds
containing society’s shame, the prisoner.
II 	 The men
	 of nothingness
	 pursue the endless hours
	 and the passage through silence,
	 in lands of half-burned hopes
	 and shattered dreams
	 scratched by vengeful winds
III	He has gone to bed crying
	 And woke up crying
	 He has begged for a peace that was never given.
	 He has plunged into the deepest despair
	 and fallen into that place
	 where everything is nothing.
	 Growing in the darkness, his rage.
IV	Each day
	 in this place
	 is a struggle for him;
	 he’s alive, but not living.
	 He’s feeling everything, feeling nothing,
	 tired of existing, and longing to join
	 those who truly know peace, the dead.

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V He can hear
	it,
	 it’s there in his head, everywhere.
	 A voice he prays will not last, but does.
	 An unrelenting being
	 that chokes his mind, his vision blurs…
	 Another creature runs inward, mad.
VI	But the
	pain
	 goes on and on…
	 running down the walls.
	 crawling beneath the bunks,
	 and deep within the cracks
	 where lay his sanity, lost.
Ever-present Sound
	 A savage sound,
	 the sharp crack of a man’s fist
	against
	 the concrete wall
	 of his cell
	
	
	
	
	
	

An ever-present sound, him cursing
the Voice of madness
in the darkness
as it buries his humanity
beneath a fetid mound
of nothingness.

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Fatalistic Suicide
	 After years of isolation, depression and
	 hopelessness, he decided — as simply as
	 turning down the blanket
on his bunk for the night — to take his
own life, so they could no longer inflict
a pain that robbed him of
his identity, stripped him of his dignity,
destroyed his mind, and left him
to hang.
Express Nothing
	 The walls of this cell are
	 so scarred
	 by emotional graffiti
	 they appear to swirl and shift,
	 like thick white smoke
	 trapped in a glass case.
	 Words, once petrified in my throat,
	 again become possible.
	
	
	
	

But I shut myself up and the fear and anger
mix within me, fuel and fire.
This is nothing
I will express nothing.
All the preceding poems by Kevin Campbell

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S.H.U.
I am brought before a committee of men,
Insidious: irony, sublet: words of the pen.
They smile in my face; they reach for my soul,
Letting misery and solitude take their toll.
Announcing their judgment with noses held high
The power they flaunt will make you sigh.
I live in oppression, I live in a cage,
With all of my anger building up to a rage.
I have been given an indeterminate SHU.
You ask what that means?! You mean this is new?!
Averaging twenty-three hours a day in a cell,
A windowless closet, a solitary hell.
Sensory deprivation, a prison within a prison.
Creative insanity or inspiring vision?
Living my life like a chaotic scream,
Someone please wake me from this horrible dream.
Not wanting to give in, not wanting to die,
If I were not a man, I would surely cry.
I shall not feel the sun’s warming ray,
For I will be in Pelican Bay.
Sykes

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V Past times:
Long ago, but not so far away
Ammon Hennacy was put in solitary. The year was 1918. He
wrote about his experiences:
1. Warden Zerbst offered to let Hennacy out of solitary if he
would snitch.
In about five minutes he returned, saying: “I forgot to
ask you something, Hennacy. I’ll leave you out tomorrow
just the same.”
“What is on your mind?” I asked.
“Have you been sneaking letters out of this prison?” he
asked in an angry tone.
“Sure,” I replied, smiling.
“Who is doing it for you?” he demanded.
“A friend of mine,” I answered.
“What is his name?” was the query.
“That is for you and your guards and stool pigeons to
find out. I won’t tell you, for I want to get some more letters
out concerning the evil things that go on,” I replied goodnaturedly.
He stormed around my cell, somewhat taken back by
the fact that I had not lied or given in. “You’ll stay in here all
your good time and get another year, you stubborn fool,”
he said as he left.
It was not for many years that I knew I had used the
method of moral jiu jitsu as advised by Gandhi: If you don’t
give your enemy a hold he can’t throw you.

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Never be on the defensive; always answer quickly and
keep the enemy on the run. He is used to trickery and is
put off his guard by an honest and courageous opponent
whom he cannot scare or bribe. … (But) the world needs a
Samson to pull down their whole structure of lies.
2. Hennacy hears the groans of the prisoner in the cell next to
him. This man is being tortured to the point of madness. Hennacy thinks of suicide.
How soon would I be strung to the bars? How long could
a fellow stand such treatment?
As soon as it was dark I sharpened my spoon again and
tried it gently on my wrist. The skin seemed to be quite
tough, but then I could press harder. If I cut my wrist at midnight I could be dead by morning. I thought I ought to write
a note to Selma and to my mother and I couldn’t see to do
it until morning. Well, I had waited that long, I could wait a
day longer.
3. Hennacy survives. He sings, reads, and thinks about love
and purpose.
The sun shone brightly in my cell the next morning for
the first time in weeks. I crouched again by the door and
saw Berkman’s bald head.
Tears came into my eyes and I felt ashamed of myself
for my cowardly idea of suicide just because I had a few reverses. Here was Berkman who had passed through much
more than I would ever have to endure if I stayed two more
years in solitary. How was the world to know more about
the continued torture of Popoff and others if I gave up?
The last two verses of the I.W.W. Prison Song now had

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a real meaning to me as I sang them again. I was through
with despair. I wanted to live to make the world better. Just
because more prisoners, and for all that, most people on
the outside, did not understand and know what solitary
meant was all the more reason why I should be strong. I
sang cheerfully:
By all the graves of Labor’s dead,
By Labor’s deathless/lag of red,
We make a solemn vow to you,
We’ll keep the faith, we will be true.
For freedom laughs at prison bars,
Her voice reaches to the stars;
Proclaiming with the tempest’s breath
A cause beyond the reach of death.
I had now read [the Bible] through four times and read
the New Testament many times and the Sermon on the
Mount scores of times.
I had made up games with pages and chapters and
names of characters in the Bible to pass away the time. I
had memorized certain chapters that I liked. As I read of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah and others of the prophets and of Jesus,
I could see that they had opposed tyranny. I had also spent
many days reviewing all of the historical knowledge that I
could remember and in trying to think through a philosophy
of life. I had passed through the idea of killing myself. This
was an escape, not any solution to life. The remainder of my
two years in solitary must result in a clear-cut plan whereby
I could go forth and be a force in the world. I could not take
any halfway measures. …
I had called loudly for the sword and mentally listed
those whom I desired to kill when I was free. Was this really
the universal method which should be used? I would read

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the Sermon on the Mount again. When a child I had been
frightened by hell fire into proclaiming a change of life.
Now I spent months making a decision; there was no
sudden change. I had all the time in the world and no one
could talk to me or influence me. I was deciding this idea
for myself.
Gradually I came to gain a glimpse of what Jesus meant
when He said, “The Kingdom of God is Within You.” In my
heart now after six months I could love everybody in the
world but the warden, but if I did not love him then the Sermon on the Mount meant nothing at all. I really saw this
and felt it in my heart, but I was too stubborn to admit it in
my mind.
One day, I was walking back and forth in my cell when,
in turning, my head hit the wall. Then the thought came to
me:
“Here I am locked up in a cell. The warden was never
locked up in any cell and he never had a chance to know
what Jesus meant. Neither did I until yesterday. So I must
not blame him. I must love him.”
Now the whole thing was clear. The Kingdom of God
must be in everyone: in the deputy, the warden, in the rat
and the pervert. And now I came to know it—in myself.
I read and reread the Sermon on the Mount: the fifth,
sixth and seventh chapter of Matthew thus became a living
thing to me. I tried to take every sentence and apply it to
my present problems. The warden had said that he did not
understand political prisoners. He and the deputy, in plain
words, did not know any better; they had put on the false
face of sternness and tyranny because this was the only
method which they knew. It was my job to teach them an-

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other method: that of goodwill overcoming their evil intention, or rather habits.
The opposite of the Sermon on the Mount was what the
whole world has been practicing in prisons and out of prison; and hate piled on hate has brought hate and revenge. It
was plain that this system did not work.
Ammon Hennacy
Georgia

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VI The community outside
In response to Ronald Epps
I am hoping you don’t mind my presumption in writing
to you. Cathy Brennan took the liberty of sharing your letter
with me out of a deep concern for your well being. (Note:
Mr. Epps’ letter, “Sensory deprivation is depravity,” begins on
p. 8.) While there is little any of us can do in terms of gaining
your release from the isolation of the supermax, perhaps
we can assist in helping you endure and gain strength.
I am going to speak candidly—and from years of experience in counseling those in isolation units (via the phone)
and those who have returned to the streets. I claim no great
victories because it is true that the damage that can sometimes occur is severe. While no one escapes long periods
of isolation unscathed, some do come out healthier than
others—and it is the mental and physical health techniques
of those people that I would like to share with you.
Your reaction to the hug of a fellow prisoner upon your
last release was one I have seen before. I have also reached
out to hug someone as a welcome and felt them flinch from
the contact. And you are correct in your assessment that
the entire purpose of isolation units is to break human beings down, in essence to make them useless.
There are also other uses to supermax isolation, obviously political ones such as using it as a management tool
to keep prisoners (especially the young ones coming in such
numbers) from getting organized. From a Corrections point
of view, it is also a way to maintain the safety of personnel,
and it is less expensive to run a supermax than a prison with
general population.

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As for the “public,” most folks don’t seem to care what
Corrections does as long as “criminals” are kept away from
the streets. Although this is most certainly a form of genocide, most people do not understand the political uses of
prisons in that way. Knowing this doesn’t help your situation any, but it is important for you to hold on to the political nature of what is happening to you — and hundreds of
thousands of others across the country.
You write that one of the impacts of your social dislocation is that you have not sought out or encouraged any
contacts on the street — either family or friends. Reading
that reminded me of one person I know who has been in
New Jersey State Prison’s Management Control Unit for almost eleven years. While the purposes of a control unit vs. a
supermax are different, the conditions are often the same.
Through a great sense of self discipline, he has consistently
reached out to people on the streets resulting in a comparatively active “social” life via the mail and his occasional telephone calls. He, along with the healthiest survivors I know,
maintains a strict daily regimen including hours of physical
exercises, spending a specific portion of each day reading
and studying political and Afrocentric materials, and then
another portion of the day writing to outside people and
publications.
It has been my observation that those who remain the
healthiest are those who maintain and grow in their political understanding. The emphasis of their daily existence is
not what is happening in the prison, but rather what is happening on the streets. It has been my privilege to work with
some of the most intelligent political minds via the mail and
occasional telephone calls, and I have benefited enormously in my own work as a result. The concept of the National

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Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons came out of written
dialogue with a number of prisoners living in sensory deprivation units throughout the country.
It seems to me that those who retain the highest degree of their mental health also maintain ties with family
and friends, often receiving photographs, relevant newspaper articles, news magazines, rap magazines, and so on. In
other words, at least a portion of their mental and physical
health is as a result of their own self-discipline and self-education, and the rest is as a result of their remaining streetoriented.
It is also very necessary to battle the self-destructiveness that you describe in the commission of “acts of desperation” in a quest for excitement. In a number of supermax prisons that I hear from, people are describing “wars”
consisting of flinging excrement at one another as a form
of stimulation, often resulting in letters of self- disgust and
rage.
It is possible through inner conviction to turn anger
into the will to survive. Many of the healthier survivors that
I have met also talk about coming to terms with the consequences of their own behavior—that is, acknowledging
self-destructive behavior in an effort to rid oneself of it.
They feel that self-destructive behavior is a show of weakness rather than strength. It is also important that you balance the reality of surveillance with the extreme paranoia
that you describe. That paranoia can become permanently
embedded.
At the very least, maintain your sense of control over
your own behavior in an attempt to stay sane inside the insanity in which you are forced to live.

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While I don’t know who your support system consists
of, it may be important for your own health to begin to
reach out to family, friends—and you may even want to attempt making new friends. I am enclosing an article which
came out some time ago called the “T Bag factor.” In it they
note that with long-term hostages, those who survived the
experience best were those who were secure in the love of
their friends and family. This is an important clue for your
own ability to retain your health and humanity.
It seems to me from your letter that you are well on your
way to assessing the impact of supermax and how to recover from the sensory deprivation. That assessment mechanism can be enhanced and used on a daily basis. Whether in
there or out here, assessing and balancing oneself is a daily
mental health task.
You describe well the tendency to adjust and conform
to the mind-deadening conditions, and I am reminded of
the words of Assata Shakur’s grandmother during a prison
visit. She advised Assata to NEVER get used to prison. There
is a great need for more people to comprehend the horrors of this latest “invention” of the corrections industry,
and your ability to assess yourself, along with your writing
ability, can contribute to this effort. There are a number of
alternative newspapers throughout the country which may
accept your written commentary.
After having worked for over a decade with people in
isolation, I understand clearly that it is not possible to come
out of such an experience undamaged. It is, however, possible and imperative to minimize that damage by seeking
out whatever forms of stimulation which are available. I
am sure that you understand that your concern about becoming “mentally, physically, and socially” unfit for general

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population and society in general is an exact description of
the purposes of supermax prisons. Minimizing the impact
of the horror of your living conditions will be difficult, but
not impossible. Your reaching out to Cathy is a sign of your
own health and determination.
If you are willing, I would like permission to share your
letter and my response in the next national mailing of the
Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons. It may be that we
can engender survival-oriented commentary.
Bonnie Kerness, MSW, LSW
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Eight constructive activities for a prisoner in
lockdown
1. Study an area of law or learning that would be of
use to yourself and others (a language, art, history, etc.).
Develop an expertise in an area that others do not have.
Share your learning and information with others.
2. Organize a family member or friend to do prison support work on the outside. Persuade them of the importance
of hooking up with a prison support group on the outside
that is working to turn the prison/industrial complex around.
Tell your loved ones not to mourn, but to organize.
3. Write about your feelings and emotions in a way that
people on the outside can get a sense of your humanity
and concerns. Break down the image of prisoners as selfish, brutal, uncaring monsters. Let others see the individual
qualities of each person on the inside, and their potential
for change.
4. Keep a chronicle of the oppressive conditions in prison. Make the chronicle available to others who can docu-

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ment the dehumanizing effect that cruelty has on people
incarcerated. Be specific, and help break through the cynical suggestion that prison is a “country club” where people
don’t have to work.
5. Engage in physical exercise to keep your body in
shape. Refrain from physical activities and conduct that is
detrimental to your health.
6. Write to newspapers, elected representatives, and
others to describe conditions in prison. Don’t just complain
about your own case, but educate the reader about how
prisons destroy people, rather than improving them.
7. Take every chance you get to create solidarity among
prisoners. Break down the issues that divide prisoners from
one another—racism, homophobia, etc. Help prisoners to
respect each other’s differences and space. Don’t allow the
prison administration to divide you from other prisoners,
through debriefing or bribery.
8. “Write poetry, short stories, novels, or any other kind
of fiction that lets your mind free itself from the boundaries
of the four walls. Expand the walls through your imagination and creativity.” (Quote from Luis Talamantez)
Louis Hiken
Prison Law Project, National Lawyers Guild
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

When the prison gates slam
When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does
not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed
to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and
open interchange of opinions; his yearning for self respect
does not end; nor is his quest for self-realization conclud-

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ed. If anything, the need for identity and self-respect are
more compelling in the dehumanizing prison environment.
Whether an O. Henry writing his short stories in a jail cell
or a frightened young inmate writing his family, a prisoner
needs a medium for self-expression.
Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Procunier v. Martinez, 1974
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

The SHU Syndrome and community mental health
By Terry A. Kupers, M.D.
The SHU Syndrome is a little known form of psychiatric
decompensation, with a quickly rising incidence. It occurs in
supermaximum security prisons, where a growing number
of individuals suffering from serious and persistent mental
disorders are housed.
“SHU” means Security Housing Unit. Some states use
that acronym for their supermaximum security prison units,
where the prisoners are locked in their cells nearly 24 hours
per day and are cell-fed. Other states use other initials,
but “SHU” has become the generic term for supermax or
“maxi-maxi” or “control units,” such as the ones at Pelican
Bay State Prison in California or Marion or Florence in the
federal system. Thirty-eight states and the federal system
currently operate such units.
These units are like “the hole” of the old days, except a
prisoner who misbehaved was thrown in “the hole” for 10
days, whereas prisoners are sent to the SHU for years. And
instead of being a dark, damp dungeon, most SHUs are
high tech, lights-on-all-night, doors open by remote control,
video monitoring of prisoners, etc. (i.e., the prisoners have

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very minimal contact with guards and other prisoners).
Psychiatrist Stuart Grassian coined the term “SHU Syndrome.” He examined a large number of prisoners during
their stay in segregated, solitary confinement units and
concluded that these units, like the sensory deprivation environments that were studied in the sixties, tend to induce
psychosis. Even those inmates who do not become frankly
psychotic report a number of psychosis-like symptoms:
1. Massive free-floating anxiety
2. Hyper-responsiveness to external stimuli, including a 		
	startle response
3. Perceptual distortions and hallucinations in multiple 		
	spheres (auditory, visual, olfactory)
4. Derealization experiences
5. Difficulty with concentration and memory
6. Acute confusional states, at times associated with 		
	dissociative features, mutism, and subsequent partial 	
	amnesia for those events
7.	 The emergence of primitive, ego-dystonic aggressive
fantasies
8. Ideas of reference (paranoia) and persecutory ide-		
	ation, at times reaching delusional proportions
9. Motor excitement, often associated with sudden, violent destructive or self-mutilatory outbursts
10. Rapid reduction of symptoms upon termination of 		
	isolation
And why should we, as public mental health practitioners, be concerned about this widespread development?

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I can think of two very frightening reasons:
1. Between a quarter and a half of the prisoners in the
SHUs I have visited or read about suffer serious and
long-term mental illnesses. They are, on average, the
most severely psychotic people I have seen in my entire 25 years of psychiatric practice. There are two
basic reasons for this: inadequately treated prisoners suffering from mental disorders break rules, get
into fights (often as victims—they are called “dings”
or “bugs” by other prisoners), and are punished with
time in “lock-up” or solitary confinement of one kind
or another. After they get sentenced to enough time
in solitary, they are sent to the SHU—where the “SHU
Syndrome” effect worsens their psychiatric symptoms
and their prognoses.
2. Increasingly, prisoners are “maxing out of the SHU.”
Prisoners on fixed sentences have a release date, their
disciplinary infractions in prison do not extend that
date, though they are sentenced to SHU time for the
infractions. When their release date comes up, even if
they are housed in an SHU at the time, they are simply
set free. (Some states do some pre-release programming, but the ones I have reviewed are inadequate to
the task of re-socializing someone who has been psychotic and has been in solitary for a long time.)
Of course, the implications for community mental health
are ominous. Not only are individuals suffering from serious and long-term mental illnesses being sent to prisons in
larger proportions, but they are not adequately treated and
they wind up in lock-up. A subgroup of them are showing up
in SHUs (another subgroup voluntarily isolates themselves
in their cells so they won't get in trouble), then, eventually,

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“maxing out of the SHU.” This means they come out of prison after spending months or years in a cell by themselves,
decompensated and full of rage.
From The Community Psychiatrist, a publication of the
American Association of Community Psychiatrists, Summer,
1998. Reprinted by permission.
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

Issues of torture and re-entry into the community
African and Latino young people in Newark, New Jersey,
tell me that the police feel like an occupation army. They
speak about a school system being used to feed young
people into youth detention, jails, and prisons where those
bodies are suddenly worth a fortune.
People say that the criminal justice system doesn’t work.
I’ve come to believe that it works perfectly, just as slavery
did, as a matter of economic and political policy. How is it
that a 15 year old in Atlanta who can’t get a job can suddenly generate $30,000 a year, once trapped in a criminal
justice system, where architects, food and medical providers, correctional officers, administrators, etc., get paid? Just
like in the era of chattel slavery, there is a class of people
dependent on the poor, and on bodies of color as a source
of income.
In the U.S. criminal justice system, the politics of the
police, the politics of the courts, the politics of the prison
system, and the politics of the death penalty are a manifestation of the racism and classism which governs the lives of
all of us. Every part of the criminal justice system falls most
heavily on the poor and people of color, including the fact
that slavery is mandated in prisons by the 13th Amendment
of the U.S. Constitution.

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The U.S. didn’t abolish slavery; it simply transferred it
into the prisons. Prison slavery in the form of involuntary
labor is everyday real.
I’d like to share with you some of the voices that I hear
during my day. The first two are from youngsters who spent
time in juvenile detention describing a system in which parents have no say over what happens to their children and
which prepares them for a future of imprisonment.
“I went in when I was 14. They have what they call the
‘hole.’ Kids that fight go in there. If you refuse they come
and get you. You get a shower once a week and they even
bring the food to you. I was so cold.”
“I heard people scream, yell and holler. I saw boys get
strung out on meds. The food was mostly Sloppy Joes and
one cup of water. They make you take sleeping stuff in the
needles. They used pepper spray on this girl who was fighting one time. They sprayed her directly in her mouth and
she couldn’t breathe. They kept hitting her. We kept telling
them that she had asthma, but they wouldn’t listen.”
On Mother’s Day a couple of years ago in Elizabeth, New
Jersey, Eddie Sinclair, Jr., hanged himself in the Union County Youth detention facility. Eddie was 17 and had stolen a
bicycle. He had missed a court appointment, was picked up
by police and locked in an isolation cage. It is not irrelevant
that Eddie’s father is African and his mother is Puerto Rican.
A woman in Texas writes, “The guard sprayed me with
pepper spray because I wouldn’t take my clothes off in front
of five male guards. Then they carried me to a cell, laid me
down on a steel bed and took my clothes off. They left me
in that cell with that pepper spray in my face and nothing to
wash my face with. I didn’t give them any reason to do that.

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I just didn’t want to take my clothes off.”
The proportion of complaints coming from women has
risen, with women describing conditions of confinement
which are torture. They suffer from sexual abuse by staff
with one woman saying, “That was not part of my sentence
to perform oral sex with officers.”
Women have reported the inappropriate use of restraints on pregnant and sick prisoners, including one woman whose baby was coming at the same the time guard who
had shackled her legs was on a break somewhere else in the
hospital.
Some of the saddest letters are from prisoners writing
on behalf of the mentally ill—like the man who spread feces over his body. The guards’ response to this was to put
him in a bath so hot it boiled 30 percent of the skin off him.
These past years have been full of thousands of calls and
complaints from prisoners and their families, describing
inhumane conditions including cold, filth, callous medical
care, extended isolation often lasting over a decade, use of
devices of torture, harassment, brutality, and racism. I have
received vivid descriptions of four point restraints, restraint
hoods, restraint belts, restraint beds, stun grenades, stun
guns, stun belts, tethers, waist and leg chains.
Prolonged solitary confinement often for the purpose
of behavior modification has been a long-time concern for
many prison activists, on both sides of the walls. The reports
coming in about the use of devices of torture are often from
isolation units, which are called control units or supermax
prisons, where there are few witnesses. Right now there
are thousands of people living in enforced solitary confinement units in U.S. prisons, including young people in juvenile detention facilities and prisoners with mental illness.

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When the news about what was going on in Abu Ghraib
broke, President Bush said that “what took place in that prison doesn’t represent the America I know.” Unfortunately,
for the more than two million U.S. citizens and countless
undocumented immigrants living in U.S. prisons, this is the
“America” that they, their family members, their lawyers,
and activists DO know and experience daily.
Furthermore, given what has happened at Abu Ghraib
and Guantánamo, and given that the entire executive
branch of the U.S. government seems to sanction torture,
it becomes imperative that we as advocates give more
long-term attention to what is happening to people in U.S.
prisons.
The conditions and practices that imprisoned men,
women, and children testify to are in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations
Convention against Torture, and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. U.S. prison practices also violate dozens of other
international treaties and fit the United Nations definition
of genocide.
Article 1 of the UN Convention against Torture prohibits
policies and practices that “constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.” The history of international attention
to these issues is compelling. In 1995, the UN Human Rights
Committee stated that conditions in certain U.S. maximum
security prisons were incompatible with international standards. In 1996, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture reported on cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in U.S.
supermax prisons. In 1998, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women took testimony in California on the ill
treatment of women in U.S. prisons. In 2000, the United Na-

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tions Committee on Torture roundly condemned the United
States for its treatment of prisoners, citing supermax prisons and the use of torture devices, as well as the practice of
jailing youth with adults. The use of stun belts and restraints
chairs was also cited as violating the UN Convention against
Torture. In May 2006, the same committee concluded that
the United States should “review the regimen imposed on
detainees in supermaximum prisons, in particular, the practice of prolonged isolation.”
In 1998 and again in 2005, the American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC) and other human rights groups contributed to the World Organization against Torture and Prison
Reform Internationale’s Shadow Reports on the Status of
Compliance by the U.S. government with the International Convention against Torture. We found that the United
States was not meeting its obligations under that treaty.
Given what has happened at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo
and given that the entire executive branch of the U.S. government seems to sanction torture, it becomes imperative
that we as advocates strategize more long-term attention
to what is happening to people in U.S. prisons.
Public health issues concerning prisoners coming out
abound with mental and physical issues including hepatitis
C, tuberculosis, HIV, mental illness, and symptoms related
to post traumatic stress disorder. Many leave the prisons
without any of the medication which formed the bedrock
of their treatment, thereby risking the diffusion of these diseases. Dealing with these issues of cruelty and torture isn’t
just a matter of human decency. They involve, among other
things, serious public health concerns with both immediate
and long-term implications.
The AFSC has always recognized the existence and con-

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tinued expansion of the penal system as a profound spiritual crises. It is a crisis that allows children to be demonized. It
is a crisis which legitimizes torture, isolation, and the abuse
of power. It is a crisis which extends beyond prisons into
school and judicial systems.
I know each time we send a child to bed hungry, that is
violence. That wealth concentrated in the hands of a few at
the expense of many is violence. That the denial of dignity
based on race, class, or sexual preference is violence. And
that poverty and prisons are a form of state-manifested violence.
We need to alter the very core of every system that slavery, racism, and poverty have given birth to, particularly
the criminal justice system. The United States must stop
violating the human rights of men, women, and children.
We need to decriminalize poverty and mental illness, and
in many cases, homosexuality. We must eliminate solitary
confinement, torture, and the use of devices of torture. The
restriction of civil rights is something we can and should
debate regularly as a society. The violation of human rights
simply isn’t negotiable.
Excerpts from a speech by Bonnie Kerness
(Coordinator, Prison Watch Project, AFSC)
at the War and Health Conference,
Emory University, School of Public Health.
February 2, 2008

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VII Acknowledgments
This booklet is the collective effort of many people on
both sides of the walls. It evolved out of years of dialogue
with prisoners enduring control unit conditions. I would especially like to thank Ojore Lutalo, who has been living in
enforced sensory deprivation in the Management Control
Unit at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey for 12 years. It is
Ojore’s survival discipline upon which I based the original
letter to Ronald Epps (see pp. 71–75).
The response to the correspondence between Ronald
and myself prompted the National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons, California Prison Focus, and the American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to produce this booklet.
Many thanks go to each of the courageous contributors.
Special appreciation goes also to Holbrook Teter of the California Prison Focus, without whose vision and hard work
this would not have been completed. And we ALL want to
thank Patrick Sheldon from the Oberlin Prison Awareness
Group for his patient typing of the manual.
There can be no excuse or condoning the use of isolation
or sensory deprivation for prisoners. Human rights groups
all over the country have decried this practice, which is certainly inhumane and arguably torture. These control units
and supermax prisons seriously violate the rights of prisoners. They are used to incapacitate and demoralize those
held in them.
This booklet is one humble attempt by those enduring
this brutality to help others enduring this brutality. It is important to us that each of you forced to live in such circumstances maintain your mental and physical health.

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In 1974, Ruchell Cinque Magee noted, “Those people in
this judicial system, their concern is not for justice, as they
claim. That is what they come in disguise of, to strip people
of everything. When I say strip, I mean rob, murder, exploit,
intimidate, harass, persecute, everything to destroy the
mind and body. They seek to take a person and make a complete vegetable of them.”
Ruchell spent more than 30 years living in forced isolation in California prisons.
It seems to me that Assata Shakur’s poem “Affirmation,” which is so strong a statement of the human ability
to overcome, belongs in these pages:
Affirmation
I believe in living.
I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine
in windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts,
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes. I believe in rain and
tears. And in the blood of infinity. I believe in life. And
I have seen the death parade march through the torso
of the earth, sculpting mud bodies in its path. I have
seen the destruction of the daylight, and seen the
bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted.
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind
become the bind in one easy lesson. I have walked on
cut glass. I have eaten crow and blunder bread and
breathed the stench of indifference.

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I have been locked by the lawless. Handcuffed by the
haters. Gagged by the greedy. And, if I know anything
at all, it’s that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at
all. It can be broken down.
I believe in living. I believe in birth. I believe in the
sweat of love and in the fire of truth.
And I believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors, can still be guided
home to port.
Again, deep thanks to each of you for your contribution.
Bonnie Kerness
1997
◀ ——————————————————————————— ▶

This manual was originally compiled and edited by
Bonnie Kerness
Coordinator
AFSC Prison Watch Program
89 Market Street, 6th Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
and
Holbrook Teter
Human Rights Committee
California Prison Focus
1904 Franklin St., #507
Oakland, CA 94612
The AFSC would like to thank Pam Tinsen, of the
Waterman Foundation, who’s unending support of
the people in isolation and the Survivor’s Manual
has made this new edition possible.”

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American Friends Serice Committee
89 Market Street, 6th Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
bkerness@afsc.org
www.afsc.org

This manual may be freely reproduced and is available at www.afsc.org.