Solitary

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Solitary Page 44

by Albert Woodfox


  dog pen, 135, 147, 242, 291

  dormitories, organization/description, 27–28, 85–86

  Eagle 1 (dormitory), 314–15

  Hickory (dormitory), 86, 96, 135, 269, 274

  hog farm, 100

  Oak (dormitory), 33, 86, 143, 269

  Pine (dormitory), 86, 91, 102, 104, 128–38, 143–48, 243–47, 266–74, 330, 358, 390–91

  Reception Center (RC), 25–27, 41–43, 84–85, 94, 103

  Red Hat (cell block), 42–43, 88–89, 113

  tag plant, 34, 104, 106, 147–48, 266–67, 330

  Treatment Unit (“mental ward”), 278–79, 297

  Walnut (dormitory), 86, 330

  Angola prison, health and medical care

  about the lack of, 98, 99

  AW illness/diseases, 186–87, 307, 342

  Camp J conditions, 169

  diabetes, 188, 317

  EMTs, 185–86, 203–04

  exercise and physical deterioration, 169, 187

  hepatitis C, 188

  lawsuits, 186, 203–04, 354

  mental illness, 252–53, 278–79, 410–11, 413

  “no-duty” status, 41–42

  prisoners paying for treatment, 282

  sick call/malingering, 185–88, 203, 232

  unqualified medical doctors, 354–55

  Wallace illness and death, 352–67

  Angola prison inmate roles

  classification as trustee or Big Stripe prisoner, 26–27

  cleaning crew, 34, 87

  “clerk of security,” 147

  field crew, 34–35, 42

  gal-boys (“sissies”), 26–28, 97, 391

  inmate clerks, 28, 31, 34, 106

  inmate counsel, 202

  inmate guards, 25–26, 29–30, 42, 84, 86, 97–98, 108, 113–15, 119, 151, 193, 307

  kitchen workers, 28, 32, 87, 107, 132–33

  orderlies, 26, 41–42, 82, 125, 157–60, 166, 179, 181–82, 190, 251, 291, 329

  tier walkers, 283

  trustees, 26–27, 43, 59, 113, 122, 151, 179–80, 287, 329

  yard orderlies, 314–17

  Angola prison, prisoner abuse

  1960s culture of violence and abuse, 25–30, 84, 93–95, 389

  Camp J, 253–54, 282–84

  challenge of surviving intact, 199–200, 213, 329–30

  as constant threat, 29–30, 98

  no right to speak against, 99

  not an issue of race, 88, 90

  retribution for Miller death, 104–05

  treatment in the dungeon, 35–36

  verbal disrespect, 35

  Angola prison staff/security

  classification officer, 25, 27, 241

  the colonel (head of staff/security), 36–37, 98, 177, 179, 250, 283, 350

  freemen, 25–33, 36–37, 86, 92, 96–104, 107–08, 110, 113–18, 120, 129, 132, 154, 156, 169, 178–80, 307

  medical doctors, 354–55

  “old guard” resistance to change, 98–99

  ranking officers, 25, 28, 32, 101, 116–17, 158, 228

  reclassification officer, 192

  tier guards, 50, 101, 116–17, 193, 285

  warden, 98, 160, 170, 180, 225, 230, 239, 242, 251, 263, 279, 283, 291, 322, 336–37, 363–64

  Angolite (magazine), 110, 129, 388, 392

  Animal Farm (Orwell), 71

  Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, 292, 332, 346

  apartheid, 71, 213

  Arlook, Ira, 303

  arrest quotas, 8, 197

  Attica Prison, 89–90

  Augustine, Michael, 247, 286, 312–13, 342, 403

  Augustine, Violetta Mable (AW sister), 40–41, 228

  childhood, 3, 17

  death from breast cancer, 285–86

  marriage to Michael, 313

  separation by death, 342

  visiting AW in prison, 32, 34, 205

  Aunt Gussie, 3–5, 32, 39, 46

  Australia, 408

  Ayala, Davis v., 396

  Baker, Howard, 146–47, 266–67, 272–74, 330

  Baldwin, James, 67

  bank robbers, 44, 196

  Baptist Church, 6

  “bar fighting,” 110

  Barbara (AW girlfriend/wife), 20

  Barnett, Millie, 261–62

  Baton Rouge Advocate, 106, 249, 323, 326

  Beck, Wyman, 148, 243

  Becker, Richard, 237

  Bell, Angela, 395–96

  Bennett, Bruce, 218, 227, 237, 268

  Bereas, Harry, 166

  Bergeron, Allen J., 235

  Bhalla, Angad Singh, 328

  Big John (Death Row prisoner), 122, 169

  Big Stripe prisoners, 26–27

  ”big thumpers” (sock balls), 154

  Biko, Steve, 161

  black box, use/punishment, 108, 334, 362, 366

  Black Lives Matter, 356, 378–79, 408

  black market, Angola, 31–32, 50, 159–60

  Black Panther Film Festival, 276

  Black Panther Party

  10-Point Program, 72–73, 86, 308–12

  35th anniversary, 281

  about the history and formation, 65–72

  activities in Harlem, 58

  arrest and trial of the “Panther 21,” 64, 79

  AW introduction/joining, 63–66, 79–83

  call for resistance, 90, 99

  ceased to exist, 183–84

  FBI actions against, 104

  raised fist, meaning of, 70–71, 309

  revolution, meaning of, 64, 141, 162, 238, 311

  support of Free the Angola 4, 126–27

  support of incarcerated, 80–81

  Black Panther Party, at Angola

  beatings and abuse, 105

  beginning a prison chapter, 83–84

  linked to Brent Miller murder, 105–10, 215, 388–90

  raised fist, showing the, 91, 242, 402–03

  recruitment efforts, 86–87, 92–95, 111

  seen as “militants”/troublemakers, 99, 150

  spreading the influence, 119

  stopping rape (“antirape squad”), 84–85, 93–94

  Black State Legislators Association, 99

  Blackburn, Frank, 291

  Blitz, Chuck, 294, 303

  Bolt, Nyati (“Colonel”), 96, 135, 187, 236

  “boosters” (shoplifters), 44

  From the Bottom of the Heap (King), 413

  Bowden, James (JB, aka Richey), 270

  “boy,” as denigrating term, 6, 27, 35, 40

  Brady, James (Judge), 293, 316–19, 325, 332–33, 346–49, 372–78, 381–84, 393–96, 400, 406, 413

  Brady v. Maryland (1963), 256, 266, 268, 271

  “Brady claim,” 290–91, 296

  Brazil, 408

  Breaux, Irvin (“Life”), 388–92

  Brenda (AW first child), 20

  Brewer, Grady, 150–53

  bribery, 31–32, 253

  Brotherhood, 389

  Brown, Hezekiah, 128–35, 138–39, 143–49, 216, 226–27, 239, 241–43, 256, 266, 269, 272–74, 277, 289–92, 296, 316, 322, 377, 387, 392, 397

  Brown, Marion, 126, 276

  Brundage, Avery, 71

  brutality. See Angola prison, prisoner abuse; police brutality

  “buck” (workers’ strike), 96, 107, 132–33, 135

  Bush, George W., 372

  Butler, Anne, 215–18, 226–27, 243, 256

  Butler, Hilton, 118, 120, 145, 204, 227, 239, 243

  Bynum, Ashley, 358, 359

  C-1 tier, 49–51, 80–81, 83, 196

  Cain, Burl

  Angola warden, hired as, 225

  congressional investigation, 306, 313

  guaranteeing AW safety, 228

  justifying 30 years of solitary, 283

  keeping prisoners in CCR, 192–93, 263, 287, 327

  racism, evidence of, 327–28

  relocation of AW and Herman, 329, 348

  testimony against AW, 318, 322

 
; Caldwell, James (“Buddy”), 302, 348

  Calhoun, Clay, 234, 240, 271

  Calogero, Pascal, Jr., 349–50

  Camp J

  3-level punishment program, 167, 253–56

  AW held at, 167–68, 201, 205, 252–53, 307

  closure, 409

  family member visits, 202

  hunger strike, 250–52

  King held at, 159–60, 169, 287

  medical care/health, 203–04

  90-day requirement for leaving, 261–62, 281

  retaliatory torture, 278–87

  suicides, 283–84

  Campbell v. Louisiana, 375

  canteen stamps, access/privileges, 32–33, 111–12, 187, 253, 279

  Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana, 395

  carjackers, 44

  Carlos, John, 70–71

  Carmichael, William, 383, 384, 397–98, 400–401

  Carney, Willie, 391

  Castile, Philando, 406–07

  Catholic Church, 5–6

  cavity search. See strip searches

  Chang, Cindy, 345

  Charles (aka “Goldy”), learning to read, 163–64, 169, 172

  China, incarceration rate, 345

  Christen, John R., 166

  cigarettes, as currency, 31, 33, 52, 226, 242, 253, 269–70, 291, 305, 322

  Cinque, Joseph, 170

  Clark, Ramsey, 237, 249

  Clark, Stephon, 407

  classification officer, 25, 27, 241

  Claybrook, Joan, 303, 313

  Clayton, Tony, 383–84

  ”cleaning the books,” 53, 234, 321

  Cleaver, Eldridge, 161

  Clinton, William J. (“Bill”), 292, 332

  Closed Cell Restricted cellblock (CCR), Angola. See also Angola prison facilities

  40 years of AW confinement, 344

  AW beaten and placed in cell, 103–04

  AW lawsuit to move from, 262–65

  AW moved to Amite City jail, 230

  AW moved to Camp J, 201–05, 253–56

  AW moved to Wade, 333–34

  AW offered plea deal for freedom, 398–403

  AW return from Amite City jail, 250

  AW return from Camp J, 205, 261

  AW sent to the dungeon, 252, 325–26

  Black Panther presence, 169–71, 183–84, 192

  claustrophobic attacks, xiii, 114, 222, 300, 338, 378, 406

  as cruel and unusual punishment, 287

  day-to-day life, 121–22, 175–79, 232–34

  dungeon conditions, 155, 168

  Eagle 1 (dormitory), 314–15

  food and living conditions, 107–09, 157–60, 179–83

  grievance procedures/lawsuits, 122–25

  having “word,” 179

  Herman Wallace, lock up, 104

  Herman Wallace, removal from, 329–30

  hunger strike, 119, 157–59, 251–52

  installation of TVs, 152

  integration of prisoners, 151–52

  lock up of Gary Tyler, 155–56

  lock up of King, 113–14

  lock up of Montegut, 109–10, 215

  lockdown review boards, 190–93

  medical care/impact on health, 185–88, 203

  political prisoners, 88, 99, 263, 284, 306, 326–28, 409

  privileges, granting/withholding, 124–25, 201, 253–55, 281, 334–36, 347

  reforms/changes, 160, 225, 250–51

  repairs and renovation, 201, 205

  shakedowns, 189–91

  strip searches, 165–69

  surviving/resisting breaking, 171–72, 195, 213, 220, 252

  treatment of prisoners, 108–09, 115–19, 121

  visitors, contact visits, 166, 178, 262, 279, 286, 314, 334, 336–37

  visitors, family member, 111, 140, 202, 204–05

  yard time, 154–55, 171–72, 183, 317

  Closed Cell Restricted cellblock (CCR), David Wade, 333–38, 373

  Closed Cell Restricted cellblock (CCR), St. Gabriel, 329–30

  code of conduct. See honor

  Cohen, Ben, 304

  Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, 354

  COINTELPRO (FBI program), 69–70, 104, 126, 161–62, 237, 323, 409

  ColorofChange.org (website), 315

  Community Futures Collective, 263

  con artists, 44

  Congressional Black Caucus, 316

  contact visits, 166, 178, 204–05, 262, 279, 286, 314, 334, 336–37

  Contemporary Arts Center, 328

  convict labor/”convict leasing,” 24–25, 397

  Conyers, John, 99, 304, 306, 313–15, 341, 355, 368

  counts (headcounts), 37, 115, 225, 231–32, 338

  courage, learning the meaning/showing

  acting in spite of being afraid, 15, 24, 367

  AW letting his guard down, 264–65

  AW surviving Angola, 38, 228

  AW trial, Billy Sinclair speaking out, 388–91

  AW trial, Deidre Howard speaking out, 385–86, 406

  AW trial, inmate testimony, 135

  AW trial, widow of Brent Miller speaking out, 406

  Dorothy Mae Taylor’s fight for Angola reform, 119–20

  Herman Wallace, recognition of, 367–69

  Robert King as Angola “troublemaker,” 150

  Critical Resistance (prison reform activists), 236, 286, 413

  ”cropping tobacco,” 2

  Cruel and Unusual (film), 341

  cruel and unusual punishment. See also solitary confinement

  Angola conditions as, 98, 169, 316, 347

  Angola 3 lawsuit, 262–63, 278, 287, 293, 307, 333, 358–62, 368

  AW lawsuit, 203–04

  delay of prisoner lawsuits, 123–24

  psychological evaluation, 300

  substandard medical care, 354

  Crutcher, Terence, 406–07

  Crutches (Angola inmate), 269–70

  Cuba, 231–33, 237

  Cullen, Julie, 239–48, 267–71, 274

  Cummings, Dana, 318

  Curry, Richard, 326–28, 358–62, 370

  “cutting cane,” 34–35

  Cypress (dormitory), 27–28, 43

  Dalby, Docia, 278, 293, 348

  Daniel, Bill, 99–100, 130, 134, 145, 228–29, 247, 267–70

  Daniels, Ruth P., 331

  D’Aquilla, Samuel, 366, 383–84

  Davis v. Ayala, 396

  Death Row, 42, 103, 122, 124, 146, 180, 183, 201, 205

  Dees, Hayden, 98–100, 109–10, 218, 227, 242, 267, 389–90

  defiance, survival through acts of, 43, 108, 190, 252, 261

  Dennis, James L. (Judge), 394

  depression, struggle to overcome, 177, 298, 301, 314, 332–33

  DeQuincy (minimum-security jail), 23, 37

  A Different Drummer (Kelley), 64–65

  dignity, maintaining a sense of, 36, 90, 92–93, 112, 115, 199, 208, 221, 230, 290, 301, 368, 373, 380

  disciplinary report (“write-up”), 31, 106, 133, 166–67, 203, 241, 307–08, 345–46

  distribution of wealth, 309–11, 379

  Dixon, Bert, 226

  Dixon, C. Ray, 244–46

  Dixon, Gilbert, 391

  DNA testing, 387

  dog pen, Angola, 135, 147, 242, 291

  dogs (K9), 18

  Donald (AW brother), 6

  Douglass, Frederick, 11, 208

  drug dealers, 32, 44, 94–95, 129

  Drummer, Marina, 237, 261, 263–64, 287, 294, 373

  Duncan, Shirley, 126, 241

  dungeon (being “locked up”)

  as constant threat, 29

  AW first trip to, 35

  AW sent for Brent Miller murder, 101–02

  CCR, 101–02, 155

  conditions described, 29–30, 35–36

  drinking from the toilet, 168

  the only way out, 36–37

  strip searches and beatings, 167–68

  30C violation, 325

 
Ebonics, 44

  “Echoes” (Woodfox), 135, 223–24

  economic issues

  income inequality, 309–11, 379

  prison-industrial complex, 236, 412

  private prisons, 410, 412

  Edland, John, 90

  education, access to/lack of, 3, 71–73, 80, 108, 121, 310, 314, 346–49, 382, 413

  Edwards, Edwin, 291

  Edwards, Ruby. See Mable, Ruby Edwards

  8th Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 123–24, 186, 203–04, 262, 354

  Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, St. Gabriel, 329, 345–47, 362

  Eldredge, Gary, 266, 272

  Emus (Angola officer), 166

  England, Sheridan, 289, 356, 358–62, 370

  Erwin, Michael, 292, 296

  Evans, Charles, 330–31

  faith, maintaining a sense of, 200, 232, 367

  Fanon, Frantz, 161, 211, 339

  Farrell, Mike, 303

  Faruq (aka Ronald Ailsworth), 80–81

  Fathi, David, 341

  fear, overcoming/giving in to, 15, 24–26, 49, 58, 63, 100, 104, 109, 175, 209, 213, 223, 356, 402, 405

  fencing stolen property, 39, 47, 52

  1st Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 263

  Fleming, Scott, 236–37, 261, 263, 266–72, 277–81, 289–90, 313, 405

  Fobb, Carl Joseph (“Paul”), 131–35, 139, 144, 147, 242, 272–74, 387, 397

  4th Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 373

  14th Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 123–24, 203–04, 363

  Fox, James I., 79

  Francois, Althea, 126, 261, 276, 341–42

  Frank (friend/running partner), 14–15, 39, 46, 53–54

  Franklin, Isaac, 24

  Free the Angola 4. See also National Coalition to Free the Angola 3, 126–27

  “freedom names,” 170

  Freelines (Free the Angola 3 candy), 179–80, 277, 313

  freemen, 25–33, 36–37, 86, 92, 96–104, 107–08, 110, 113–18, 120, 129, 132, 154, 156, 169, 178–80, 307

  “fresh fish day,” 25–26, 43, 94

  friendship, importance of, 199–200, 264, 329–30

  From “Superman” to Man (Rogers), 161

  furloughs, 135, 223

  gal-boys (“sissies”), 26, 97, 391

  gambling, 32, 94, 97, 111, 226, 391

  games as diversion (cards, chess, dominoes), 37, 60, 180–81, 233, 283, 313

  gang/gang activities (6th Ward High Steppers), 14–16, 18–19, 24, 46

  “gang-related,” Black Panthers as, 264, 281

  gangsters/gang-bangers, 317

  Garraway, Bert, 217–19, 225, 237–38, 240–41, 244, 248–49, 271, 292

  Garretson, Charles, 127–28, 138, 142–48, 214, 218, 234–35

  Garvey, Marcus, 161

  Garza, Alicia, 408

  George, Leslie, 261–63

  Germany, incarceration rate, 345

  Gilbert (inmate rapist), 28–29

  Glasser, Ira, 319

  God, belief in, 6, 329

  “good time” system (two-for-one), 44–45, 53

 

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