Telling the truth takes courage. And, being willing to hear and accept the truth is equally courageous. Sometimes truth is hard to swallow.
While some prisons throughout the U.S., especially those located in more populated cosmopolitan areas, do offer some excellent educational and cultural opportunities, as well as have staff who are genuinely interested in inmates' welfare and well being. But for the most part, let's face it... prison life stinks. It's rotten to the core.
I receive letter after letter over the years from numerous incarcerated artists in various prisons throughout the U.S. and it’s all pretty much the same. Certainly no walk in the park. More like a walk in hell.
And, not so much due to those who are incarcerated, but due to the infrastructure of prisons as corporate entities, the people who run them and work for them.
I normally compose PATH blogs pertaining to inmate artwork, not about sharing the truth of what goes on behind prison walls with the public. Having recently received a letter from an inmate currently incarcerated in an Alaskan State prison, I decided to share his well written article with you titled "PUBLIC SECRETS". Feel free to comment.
Thank you. And, God bless you!
Leslie Lakes, Director
"Public Secrets" by Ben Wilkins: Ben Wilkins is a contributing writer for "Spotlight on Recovery" Magazine, and his work has been published with "The American Prison Writing Archive", Minutes Before Six, and elsewhere. Ben believes life is only 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.