{"id":80,"date":"2015-08-18T15:13:02","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T15:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tillallarefree.noblogs.org\/?p=80"},"modified":"2022-07-30T18:15:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T16:15:31","slug":"letter-from-anarchist-prisoner-emma-sheppard-in-support-of-the-international-week-of-solidarity-with-anarchist-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/2015\/08\/18\/letter-from-anarchist-prisoner-emma-sheppard-in-support-of-the-international-week-of-solidarity-with-anarchist-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Anarchist Prisoner, Emma Sheppard, in support of the International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe caged bird sings
\nwith a fearful trill
\nof things unknown
\nbut longed for still
\nand his tune is heard
\non the distant hill
\nfor the caged bird
\nsings for freedom\u201d
\n\u2013 Maya Angelou<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our fearful trill is the combination of frustration, despair, indignation and defiance. The \u201cIncentives and Earned Privileges\u201d scheme that dominates prisons today goes a long way to silencing our songs through its passive coercion and pastoralism, but they always erupt sporadically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe count ourselves among those rebels who count storms, who hold that the only truth lies in perpetual seeking\u201d
\n\u2013 Nadya Tulokonnivan (Pussy Riot)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Being in prison has made me feel humble. My fixed-term sentence is short, and unlike many, I have a release date. I am humbled by the fire and conviction which fuels long term anarchist prisoners, and the many rebels in prison who are \u201cperpetually seeking\u201d in their own ways, free from (and often unknown to) the anarchist subcultures. Quietly rejecting and challenging authority everyday in a way to keep sane inside. These rebels and actions give me hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cTigers are more beautiful than sheep but we prefer them behind bars\u201d
\n\u2013 Bertrand Russel<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I do not consider myself a tiger! But as Michael Gove said in his first speech as \u2018Justice Minister\u2019: \u201cCivilisation depends on clear sanctions being imposed by the state on those who challenge the rules\u201d. So they put us behind bars and try to drown us in petty regulations. But being here has just made me stronger and given a depth of my understanding of concepts such as privilege and solidarity. They labelled us \u2018criminals\u2019 and try to shame us into compliance, or rely on other prisoners to do their work \u2013 policing, pandering and grasping of imagined rewards and \u201cearned privileges\u201d. But knowing I am not alone in my struggle gives me strength and vigilance.<\/p>\n

Gove has begin to change the rhetoric surrounding prisoners: we are now potential assets, we are to quote him, \u201ca literally captive population\u201d. He is promising early release for those who \u2018show their chained attitude that they wish to contribute to society\u2019.<\/p>\n

We are led through our time by those benign dictators, our \u2018Offender Managers\u2019, who calmly construct our sentence plans and \u2018therapeutic\u2019 programmes (also known as prisons-within-prisons). The Prison \u201cService\u201d is like an abusive partner: offering calming reassurances whilst deliberately alienating, excluding, and physically and mentally controlling us. This can never be a therapeutic environment.<\/p>\n

Martin Luther King said we are all \u201ccaught in an inescapable network of mutuality. What affects one directly affects all indirectly\u201d. These networks bear down on us in biased and relentless ways. Prison is often the final step for those who have been excluded and controlled by the wider mechanisms of the state their whole lives. The numbers of deaths (at the hands of the screws, filth and suicides) in custody and on the streets continue to rise, discussed and minimized. Self harm is rife within women\u2019s prisons.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Justice plan to sell off many parts of the prison estate, its so called \u2018dark corners\u2019 (many of which happen to be in prime locations). Gove claims that it is this cleansing desire and economic, which is driving the developments. But whether its the Queen or rich landlords who will benefit, or the Ministry, is irrelevant\u2026 It\u2019s all capitalist expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever has passed by the front of a court house or prison and his look didn\u2019t darken at the thought that he could be there as a culprit, then he did not live his life with integrity and dignity\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Quote from Greece, unsure of author<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope that I can serve the rest of my time and license with integrity. I mourn the loss of my anonymity every day. Writing can be terrifying, especially with limited resources, but I will finish with a quote from Audre Lorde:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we speak we are afraid
\nour words will not be heard
\nor welcomed
\nbut when we are silent
\nwe are still afraid
\nSo it\u2019s better to speak
\nremembering
\nwe were never meant to survive\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Solidarity to all anarchist prisoners and everyone harmed by the prison system.<\/p>\n

With love and rage,<\/p>\n

Em<\/p>\n

For more info on Emma\u2019s case see: https:\/\/bristolabc.wordpress.com\/support-emma\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings for freedom\u201d \u2013 Maya Angelou Our fearful trill is the combination of frustration, despair, indignation and defiance. The \u201cIncentives and Earned Privileges\u201d scheme that dominates prisons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-36","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1713,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/1713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarity.international\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}