As we're talking about #Parchman, let's discuss the history of the prison and the current conditions. There are no good prisons, AND Parchman has a very specific history. That history is important, as is understanding the bedrock of the Mississippi prison system specifically
Parchman was started as a massively profitable convict leasing enterprise at the dawn of the 20th Century. This has been covered in the book Worse Than Slavery (discussed here by the NYT) nytimes.com/1996/04/28/boo…
Parchman was founded in 1901 as a *reform* to improve the convict leasing system at the time. In 1918 the prison had a *net revenue of 825,000* (or approximately an $800 profit per prisoner. $825,000 was a lot of money in 1918. pbs.org/newshour/arts/… 
Parchman was famously repressive during Civil Rights Mvmt as well: "In October 1965, nearly 800 young people attempted to march from their churches in Natchez to protest segregation, discrimination and mistreatment by white leaders and elements of the KKK"arcadiapublishing.com/Products/97814…
"For approximately 150 of these [mostly blk] young [teen-20's] men & women, this was only the beginning. They were taken to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, where prison authorities subjected to days of abuse, humiliation & punishment under horrific conditions."
During the Freedom Rides in the 1960's Parchman was used as a site of brutal repression for Northern students who came down to protest segregation and white terror mscivilrightsproject.org/sunflower/plac…
Parchman used the practice of "trusty shooters" among prisoners (arming prisoners to serve as guards) and remained segregated for roughly a decade after the Civil Rights Act made such practices illegal apmreports.org/story/2018/05/…
Parchman long (up at least into the 70's, perhaps beyond) used the practice of "House Boys" - prisoners who are forced into work unpaid as "domestic servants" in the houses of prison employees. nytimes.com/1972/10/08/arc…
ACLU reached a deal to close Parchman's Unit 32 in 2010 after years of legal battle with Mississippi's DOC - over extremely brutal conditions within the Super Max unit. Amid recent violence, Parchman has re-opened the condemned 32 & thrown prisoners in it aclu.org/press-releases…
IMPORTANT FOR CURRENT REPORTING ON PARCHMAN: Just recently a reporter named Josh Carter did an investigative report of the prison (hit link)- wlox.com/2020/01/05/no-…
There has been much discussion about the alleged role of gangs in Parchman, but much less discussion about the actual violence of the conditions of the prison itself, which are clearly toxic, hazardous, and dangerous. Mold is everywhere, water is running all through the facility
you have prisoners without working toilets in their cells, birds nesting in their windows, plumbing fucked up throughout the prison. Surely nobody believes this is a site intended to rehabilitate anyone or treat them like anything resembling a human being #SHUTDOWNPARCHMAN
roaches, garbage, exposed wires, mold, mildew - these are not conditions for human beings. This prison should be condemned and shut down immediately
these are the conditions under which FOOD IS PREPARED at Parchman prison
CORRECTION - these images are from Mississippi state's own Health/Environmental inspection of the prison. (link to that report: scribd.com/document/44179…
and images: scribd.com/document/44179…)
and images: scribd.com/document/44179…)
The report notes dozens of cells without lights and without power at all, water flooding throughout the prison, exposed wires, black mold, prisoners without mattresses or pillows, unsanitary cooking conditions, prisoner food being eaten by birds prior to being served.
The report's notes with regard to the Kitchen conditions, combined with images of the birds eating food intended for prisoners at Parchman
moldy casseroles lying around, standing water in tubs inside processing freezer, garbage & debris in the kitchen loading dock, holes in bathroom walls
I could literally go on for days & days, citing thousands of horror stories from current prisoners all the way back to the prison's genocidal origins over a hundred years ago. But I really want to say "fuck you" to narratives that place the blame at gangs or low wages for guards
reality is Parchman - like prisons around the US - is a literal hellhole designed to break people & dehumanize them. It is this way ON PURPOSE. It is intended to be this way and these human beings are treated this way because the state seeks to DESTROY them, not rehabilitate them
if we think about Parchman's origins around convict leasing we have to understand that convict leasing was about the production of profit, but more than that it was about breaking people down and disciplining them brutally into inhumane working conditions
Parchman at origin was about ensuring that Black people understood that if they refuse the conditions of sharecropping and Jim Crow, that in addition to lynching, the state had even more brutal things in store for them as a form of punishment for asserting their own humanity
that is the legacy that continues for prisoners into the current era. As well as I understand it, that - a "reformed" plantation style dehumanization and exploitation - is what the 13th Amendment's exception clause means to many prisoners today. And people die in those conditions
S/O to @cat_fein for providing a copy of the health/environmental inspection report.
