Major! Page #3

literally criminalized,

made criminals

for how they're surviving.

And we have to look at what

kind of society sets people up

and says "Well, you don't

have what you need,

you didn't pull yourself up

by your bootstraps

so we're gonna

punish you for it.

And whatever you do,

you're kind of gonna do wrong."

A lot of the girls and the guys

are put in solitary confinement.

Transgender women end up

in the SHU solely based

on the fact that

they are transgender

and a lot of times the officers

just don't want to deal with us.

So if there's any problems

that come up,

the simple solution for them

is just to put us in the SHU

and call it

for our own protection.

I'm signing the petition

to show support for

the people in Pelican Bay

in the SHU with their hunger

strike for their five demands,

which are reasonable demands

considering the sh*t

that they have to go through.

And then be a part

of everybody's making sure

that they stop this sh*t

that they're doing

to these people and so,

that's what I'm about to do now.

One of our members who

has been in the SHU since

her incarceration in

the federal prison up in Oregon,

and the atrocities and stuff

that are happening up at

Pelican Bay are going on in most

of the prisons in the country.

Even when I was in the SHU

for that very short period

of time, I was being harassed

and sexually violated

by one person, and then

basically I had to not complain

about anything because

if I would have complained

about anything they would have

kept me in the SHU

for my safety.

The courts already gave you

a sentence, but it's almost

like each guard and each warden,

they have their own sentence

that they want to put on you,

to further marginalize you

and disenfranchise you

and take away your value

and your worth.

In the SHU you don't have

access to

you don't have access

to any rehabilitation,

any educational opportunities.

The meals are cold.

It's very cold in the SHU.

They're damp.

There's moisture

all over the walls.

You get one blanket

and one sheet and one pillowcase

and it's extremely cold,

you have t

So many people have

different mental health issues,

and it's like you got to

get used to all these screams

and yells and cries for help.

And it's just like,

you'll go crazy in there.

You'll go crazy in there.

I was at a prison where I was

the only transgender person,

and I can remember

a lot of times calling

Mammy because I was just

having such a difficult time

and sometimes I just needed

to hear her voice to give me

the strength to move forward

from one step to the other.

So I often called her

and she supported me 100%.

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