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List of contents
INTRODUCTION by Taylor Pendergrass and Mateo Hoke
EDITORS' NOTE: Ten Things to Know as You Read This Book
COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR'S NOTE by Mimi Lok
NARRATORS:
Maryam Henderson-Ulohu (Louisiana)
"I was the only woman in the prison who was Muslim, the only one who wore a headscarf."Brian Nelson (Illinois)
"There were times where I lost track of time. And I'm afraid of that happening again."Aaron Lewis (Connecticut)
"They create this hardened person and then they release them to the community, which is doomed for destruction."Vernesia Gordon (Alaska)
"They pepper-sprayed him through that slot in the door. You see these long shots of pepper-spray going in."Mohammed "Mike" Iftiker Ali (California)
"In immigration detention, everybody was fighting for their lives but in different ways. You knew you might not ever see your family again."Steve Blakeman (Washington)
"I think that mercy and justice in proper balance is the key."Candie Hailey (New York)
"If anybody wants to know what hell is, that's what hell is."Shearod McFarland (Michigan)
"I had started to envision myself hanging from beams and having other suicidal visions."Sonya Calico (Texas)
"It seemed like they had a rule that every time someone who's transgender goes in . . . they automatically go straight to solitary."Travis Trani (Colorado)
"How safe is that, really, to take somebody from twenty-three-hour-a-day lockdown, and now he's on the street corner in Denver, catching a bus with civilians?"Tonja Fenton (New York)
"I have developed zero tolerance for anything. I wasn't like this before."Jason Mollino (California)
"Is it torture? I'd say yes because we crave human contact."Heather Chapman (Florida)
"They're torturing my husband. They're torturing me. They're torturing my daughters. They're destroying our family."Michael "Zaharibu" Dorrough (California)
"I think that many of us reclaimed our humanity. Fighting back will do that."APPENDIXES:
- Timeline of Solitary Confinement in the United States
- Glossary TK
III. Solitary as Violence (Title TK): essay by law professor Hope Metcalf
- ACLU piece on current state of solitary policy and reform TK by Amy Fettig
- Five Demands of 2011 California Prisoner Hunger Strike
- Ten Things You Can Do
VII. Q&A with mental health expert TK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
About the author
Taylor Pendergrass is a lawyer and activist focused on criminal justice reform. He currently works for the American Civil Liberties Union
.Mateo Hoke is writer, journalist, and co-editor of
Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation.
