Prison 101: Dangerous World Behind Walls
By Kupanda Nyota
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Whenever you hear a discussion about money, drugs, sex, and violence you immediately equate the topic with the troubles that plague any inner city neighborhood. The seemingly never ending destructive lifestyle that inner city youths, (the majority of them being black youths) partake in every day. The shocking news now is, that lifestyle is no longer just an inner city problem anymore. That lifestyle has now infiltrated the prison system with devastating force.

What needs to be understood is that the same individuals that are living that life on the streets are the same ones getting locked up and have systematically devised a way to bring the lifestyle into prison with them. Although drugs, sex, and violence has always been a problem in prison, it has never reached the levels of proportions that it is now. Any inmate or convict will tell you that,that size of a problem in a confined environment makes for a very dangerous environment. An environment which has turned into a Dangerous World Behind Walls.

I served just under six years on a ten year sentence in a state correctional facility for drug trafficking and gun possession. Though married, and the proud father of four children, I was also married to the streets and the lifestyle for many years on many different levels.

Many claimed to have been through this and done that but my status in the streets is certified. Meaning, that I have earned my respect in the streets by proving that I can hold my own when it came to making money or going into battle when it was time for war. I was shot three times during a drive-by, but as you can see I'm still here. Many are not fortunate to say the same.
I've seen it all and done just as much, and I must admit that for a while life in the fast life was good. To me anyway. Then inevitably my time to face the fat lady came just as many others before me.

Though I thought that I was prepared for prison life, I was far from mentally prepared for what I was to experience during my stay. I use to say that no one deserved to be locked up like an animal. I was wrong. I've been around quite a few sick individuals while partaking in the street life, but I met quite a few more individuals in prison that no words could describe the level of ruthlessness these guys possess.

I use to converse with an older gentleman that has 45 years in on natural life. Natural life is where an inmate has no possibility of being released. He will never be eligible for parole. Another inmate I know has double life plus one hundred years. Life is similar to natural life but with only one difference: The judge can make the decision of whether or not to grant the person parole. Life with parole is where the inmate will be eligible for parole after 25 years. Life without parole is natural life.

Another guy I associated with has life plus 55 years. I won't say what these men did to be in there but what I will say is this, you may have heard about a lot of the evils that men have done in the world but trust me you haven't heard all.

You may think that watching prison shows such as 'Oz', that use to come on H.B.O or movies such as 'American Me', that you have a good understanding of how prison life is, but you're wrong. There is a huge difference from watching shows like that from the comfort of your home or in a theater eating popcorn and living in the midst of it for 365 days a year for almost six years. I could paint a picture but you still wouldn't get it until you actually lived it, and I can assure you many of you wouldn't want to. You wouldn't survive.

In prison you have two choices to make from the door: Go hard, or as we say on the inside, 'go check in'. Which means, run as quickly as you can to any correctional officer you can find and tell her or him that you're life is in danger and you want to go on PC, which is protective custody. There is no in between.

Violence in prison is as common place as kids playing at a playground, it's going to happen. I've witnessed full blown gang wars where inmates insides were left hanging out of their stomachs, ice picks left in eye sockets, knives in necks or chests. Guys who were pounced on and stabbed, by one or more individuals, so many times and for so long that their screams for help turned into hoarse, helpless whimpers. (That is if they were unlucky enough not to go into unconsciousness)

Inmates whose heads were literally split open or bones in their faces fractured by combination locks. Gruesome acts of violence all because someone didn't mind their business, someone disrespected the wrong person, money was owed, an on going dispute from the streets, or what is more common now, someone said the wrong thing to a correctional officer. Yes, you read right. A correctional officer, most of who are females, who is affiliated with a prison gang will get an inmate killed or beat up really bad if they feel they were disrespected by that inmate. I've witnessed it.

One time we were locked down for almost a month while officers searched every cell and inmate, taking us into the showers to strip search us and look into our rectums because word got back to the administration that a hand gun was inside the prison. They found the unloaded gun in the yard.

Let's be realistic, how else do you think weapons, drugs, and even cell phones get into prison? The only way for a weapon, a cellphone, or various types of drugs to get into the prison is by correctional officers bringing them in. Correctional officers and inmates become friends after a while from them being around each other for so long. In a lot of instances inmates and correctional officers know each other from the streets. They come from the same neighborhoods.

These are the things you won't hear about on the news or even in the papers because society doesn't want to hear that the Department of Corrections they count on to put bad guys away to serve hard times, is actually now the Department of Corruption. A system where now with the aide of prison officials, a majority of those same bad guys who you think are serving hard time are living better than you.

Money and drugs are huge in prison more than ever before. Far be it for me to disclose the mechanics of how things work on the inside but I can tell you that it is an intricate operation carried out and maintained by inmates, certain correctional officers, and family members on the streets. Certain correctional officers make big money bringing in drugs, cell phones, and weapons into the prison for certain inmates. Truthfully, it's more prevalent now than ever before.

There are correctional officers who are making at least thousand dollars a week bringing in drugs and phones. There are inmates who are making at least three to five thousand dollars a week selling drugs and tobacco for months at a time. I know of an inmate that with the help of a female correctional officer made over fifty thousand dollars in cash and sent it all home.
There are guys in prison paying car notes, rent, bills, sending girlfriends, wives, and kids shopping all while behind the wall. In addition to getting take out food brought in, liquor, champagne, smoking weed daily, and even getting sex while behind the wall. Yes, sex.

Now, I'm not talking about the homosexuality in prison, though that is still a factor, but I'm talking about female officers who provide sexual services to inmates for a price. If he can afford it he can get whatever he wants. The only specification is that he has to have some kind of prison status. He doesn't have to be gang affiliated but he does have to have a certain respect among the other inmates.

That doesn't mean that any and anybody is going to be able to go in prison and start doing these things. No, you'll have to earn that right. Otherwise, you will find yourself being picked up by the helicopter and being flown to shock trauma, either dead or on the brink of being dead.

Now, I know you're probably saying, "Well what about those higher ranking correctional staff members all the way up to the Warden and Commissioner? Why aren't they doing anything to stop the problem?" Understand this, it's way too much dirt and it's gone on for too long for them to attempt to clean the problem up now. The best they can try to do is keep it covered up. Not all prison officials are corrupt but there are enough. Besides, now most prison officials are coming from the same neighborhoods that the inmates are from, so it ends up being a conflict of interest.

The reality is, prison isn't the same as it use to be years ago. Prison is a whole new world now ran by a newer generation of both inmates and staff. This new world is tied tightly to the underworld of the streets. You won't solve the problems of one if you can't solve the problems of the other. That's the fact of it. These are two very violent worlds that shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. Many who thought they would and could survive, didn't. The pressure proved to be too much for them. Some were soldiers who died in battle because yes, it is a battle field of war.

I survived because I stayed focus on my goal which was to do my time and get home to my family. Guys respected me because I showed respect. I never relied on my street status, I relied on my survival instincts: Respect me and I'll respect you. I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine. Cross that line and break my peace, then it is what it is. Simple. They respected that.

Choosing not to get into the life behind the walls was one of the best decisions I made. I stayed infraction free the entire time I was there which was favorable when I went up in front of the parole board. Even the smallest infraction could give the parole board to deny you parole.

Though a majority of the correctional officers are corrupt, there are those who are there to do their jobs and will lock you up if you're caught in the mix. I decided that since I was already locked behind the walls I wasn't going to be locked up behind another wall behind the walls. Most importantly, I wasn't going to do anything that would give the parole board reason to deny me parole which would keep me locked up longer than I needed to be and away from my family.

I will say that the most important thing I learned while being behind the wall is to never take anything for granted. Not even the smallest things like a roll of toilet paper, and most importantly, especially not my family. The reality is I didn't have to make it out alive, behind the wall or from the streets. I was lucky and as I said before many were not.

The only thing I would change about what I went through would be the emotional strain my family went through. They didn't deserve that. I love them dearly because they stuck it out with me when they could have just let me do the time by myself. For that, I am forever grateful and in debt to them.

To my sisters and brothers out there my advice to you is this, if you're in the life get out while you can because you'll never know if that next day will be your last. To you who is thinking about getting into the life, forget about it. The fastest way to prison is in the life. Either that or death. There is no way around it. The population in prison is 2 million, the majority being Blacks and Hispanics. We don't need anymore of you in that world behind the wall.

To my peoples behind the walls still in the life, keep your heads up. I don't knock what you do because I understand that one law of nature is survival. One must survive by any means necessary and by the best way one knows how. That's just how it is. All I can say is just make it home and leave the life in there. Our families need us out here. If we're not here for them, who will?
For so long we've fought for nothing, now is the time to fight for something. Freedom. The only way to free ourselves is to free our minds. We do that by taking a good look at the whole world around us and realizing that there is a lot more to life than that destructive life we know. We need to start setting goals for ourselves and planning ways to better our lives and the lives of our families so that our children's and grandchildren's future won't consist of the life that we lead.

I can't tell you how what goals to set or the paths to take, you have to figure that out on your own. You have to be honest with yourself and figure out what you want out of life and what you want to do in life that will make you happy. As for me, I'm focusing on starting my own business. Writing is my stepping stone to other goals I am going to achieve. I won't get into what those goals are or the type of business I am working on because everything isn't for everybody. No offense. I will guarantee that it is all legit though.

So to all my peoples, never give up, keep pushing forward, and stay strong. Until we're sent back to the earth from whence we came, the struggle continues...

*Note: The name of the author has been changed due to the fact that he chooses to remain anonymous.