After processing the violence in the library and the FBI sting our Prison School Principal held a staff meeting. I informed him that I was concerned about my safety. It wasn’t even three months since I started and the school had been closed at least a dozen times due to violence. The FBI sting had removed some of the paid mules but I felt that this was just the tip of the iceberg. The violence was always unpredictable but continued to occur on a regular basis. Prisoner assaults’ on staff, and prisoner assaults’ on prisoners occurred daily, and for the life of me I could not understand why the officers called this place “camp candy land?” They would often say this place is “soft.” I often thought if this was a “soft prison” I would hate to see what they considered “hard?”
My school Principal always kept things positive, and he informed me that one of my tutors was part of the FBI sting and not to expect him back. I would have to hire another tutor from the school tutor pool, and try not to hire anyone who has a past record of assaults’ on staff or prisoners. My immediate response was something like, ” if they have a past history of assaults why are they on the school tutor pool? ” He said basically, “If they have any college credits, or a high school diploma, once interviewed at orientation, they can elect to be a school tutor and are automatically put in the pool. It’s the teachers job to make sure those prisoners’ with past histories of assaults’ are not hired.” This opened up a whole new avenue of thinking for me. These men have been convicted by a jury of their peers and are behind 3 barbed wire fences because they had victims. How big is the school tutor pool?
My question was answered when our school secretary at the time gave me a list of over 300 names and some of them had already been crossed off. I was informed by her that the ones who were crossed off were already working and I couldn’t employ them. What was even more frustrating was that 250 files I needed to see were in the records office which was in another building. This was not going to be an easy process. I came up with a plan deciding to just go ahead and interview the top candidates. Once I picked three senior candidates I would review their files in the records office. The school files were not adequate. They only contained the prisoners orientation interview, and any education they had claimed to have attained. It was left up to the teachers to figure it out. Looking at the official record was a good way of finding out what the potential tutors were in prison for and how much education they actually had. The principal informed me that we have a meeting with the Warden after our meeting ends and I should probably hire tutors with a Horticulture background. I must of looked confused because he informed me that all would be made clear after our meeting with the Warden. That I can say now was total fiction.
In honor of Black History month I would be showing movies in my classroom celebrating the contributions made by African Americans. In that same spirit I leave you with this most interesting story of both oppression and bravery :
MJ-Way 