Recent photos, videos, and messages from residents inside Mississippi correctional facilities depict chaos, inhumane living conditions, and outcries for relief. Seven people are now dead. Mississippi’s prisons currently face a humanitarian crisis that has impacted families and the general public demanding answers and immediate corrective action. In response, local civic organizations, prison advocacy groups, and loved ones of incarcerated folks have joined together to form the Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition.
On Friday January 17th, the coalition rallied outside before packing out the Mississippi Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force meeting to demand transparency and offer input from impacted families and prison advocates. The coalition faced a task force eager to stonewall and stifle the voice of Black impacted families and Black formerly incarcerated individuals. Stories of violence, death of loved ones, and concern over the unsafe conditions of Mississippi’s prisons were met with tone deaf responses and defensive postures of task force members. The task force flaunted something many already knew -- Defensive white men in power instinctively will try to drown out Black voices and experiences when it reveals their own inadequacy.
Rukia Lumumba, with the Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition speaks to the task force and audience members.
Most older white men in Mississippi don’t give a damn about Black voices when it threatens the structure of white paternalism that allows them to make decisions that impact Black people without Black input. The Mississippi Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force is made up of judges, lawyers, and entities like the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Mississippi Parole Board represents this structure. Almost all members are white, AND at every opportunity to listen they disrupted Black speakers to talk over them about the work they were doing instead of creating space for collaboration and restoration.
The Mississippi prison advocacy coalition tried to offer solutions and capitalize on opportunities for collaboration but it was clear the task force wanted to silence those who came to share concerns about the state of Mississippi’s prisons. Impacted families TRIED sharing stories of incarcerated loved ones now dead because of the inhumane prisons. Leaders of the prison coalition TRIED highlighting opportunities for collaborations and next steps to pressure state legislators.
Every time someone from the majority Black audience TRIED voicing their experience or input, a white man would interrupt and dismiss the valid concerns from the audience to trumpet the so called good work they were doing. Eventually audience members left the meeting because they were tired of those white men stifling their voices and drowning them out with tales of their goodness
The task force’s job is to recommend solutions to the Mississippi state legislature but they seem complacent in doing so without the input of Black impacted families and local advocacy groups. They operate without a representative who can speak for impacted families and offer their concerns during the decision making processes. Despite inviting feedback from the audience it was clear they had no intentions to listen or take the group seriously. The task force chose to vote on their recommendations the following week via email instead of conducting an in-person vote. They chose cowardice instead of transparency when Black voices wanted a say in their process. This task force never intended to be held accountable by or to align with those most impacted by this prison crisis.
Albert Coleman with the Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition sharing his experiences during his time at Parchman with the task force.
People continue to die in Mississippi prisons. Loved ones of incarcerated folks continue to lose sleep worrying about the safety of their family member, friend, or partner. Yet the Mississippi Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force chose to operate in secrecy without giving proper consideration to those whom Mississippi prisons inflict pain upon every day. The meeting last week is another chapter in the story of Black activists and impacted families being ignored by officials overseeing Mississippi prisons -- A story where white men complacently wreck Black lives and communities by drowning out the sea of Black voices with their paternalism and pride.
