Jails / Prisons : Angola Prison - How Can This Be?

Destee

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Hello Family,

I was just watching a program regarding Angola Prison on the History Channel. I've seen other programs regarding Angola Prison and knew what was coming ... and wasn't in the mood to have my soul tortured sitting through all of this one ... so i came here instead.

Are you all aware of the history of Angola Prison? It was originally a plantation manned by slaves from the African nation of Angola, thus its name. It was started in 1869 by Samuel James. He offered to house convicts (of course Black men) at no charge, in exchange to be able to work them for free. Most of the original prisoners were "freed" slaves, so you can imagine how much justice they received. The prisoners were doing the same kind of work they did before they were "freed," and are still doing that same type of work. Ultimately, the state bought the land and took over the responsibility of managing the prison, some 50 years later i believe.

If you have ever seen images of this place, it should send chills through your soul. It is a modern day slave plantation, run by the government. It has a long history of abuse and mistreatment of its prisoners. They have cotton fields, corn fields ... all the trappings of slavery. It's disgusting that this can be allowed to exist in this country. That we must tolerate knowing that it exists and is in full operation, just like back when it started. It's total disrespect, disregard, and insensitivity to all this country has done to Black folk in the past, to have a working vestige of those days still in operation today ... making millions of dollars i'm sure.

I heard on the History Channel program, before i quit watching, that slaves had it better than prisoners at Angola, since the slaver owner spent money for his slaves, he had some concern if they lived or died. Samuel James, the original owner, was quoted as saying, "one dies, get another." The life span of a prisoner at Angola was 5 years.

I can't imagine that there is any other mistreated, or oppressed people, that would tolerate this.

Angola Prison needs to be closed down.

:heart:

Destee
 
This prison should serve as a reminder that we are still a conquered people, and the white man can do with us whatever he pleases.

Nobody came to save us from the plantation except black soldiers. President executed the emancipation proclomation to undermine the military might of the confederate army, by urging blacks to become insurgents.

Even when the yankee army "liberated" plantations, the white soldiers were just as bad as the crackas... raping our women and stealing the little food we had.

So we should never forget that as long as we have no standing army to defend ourselves or the means to support it. we are a@* out!
 
Sekhemu said:
This prison should serve as a reminder that we are still a conquered people, and the white man can do with us whatever he pleases.

Nobody came to save us from the plantation except black soldiers. President executed the emancipation proclomation to undermine the military might of the confederate army, by urging blacks to become insurgents.

This is all very true Sekhemu. WEB Du Bois noted over 100 years ago in The Souls of Black Folk, that blacks were being arrested & jailed for free labor. Many roads, bridges, and dams were built by prison labor in the early 1900s. This disguisting prison is another example of this. Like Destee said, this place must be shut down.....but also we have to stop making ourselves a victim of the prison game!!
 
smh

This is the first time I have heard of this prison.
It weighs heavy on my soul to see this kind of thing still happening.
God help us.
Pan I agree,
Yes we do need to stop doing the things that get us put into prisons whether
in the US or another country.
Thanks Destee... I learned something new, tho it is truly sad. :
 

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