by Melissa Bee | Sep 13, 2015 | From the Staff
An easy and inexpensive way to help!
Postage is our biggest expense, along with ink, paper, and envelopes.
Please consider donating a book of stamps by mailing them in*, or by clicking on the donation button at the top of the sidebar on the right. A book of 20 stamps costs $9.80 – or some of the specialty stamps shown below come in sheets of 16 for $7.84 – either way, 49¢ per stamp.
He poured his soul into stories, articles, and poems, and entrusted them to the machine. He folded them just so, put the proper stamps inside the long envelope along with the manuscript, sealed the envelope, put more stamps outside, and dropped it into the mail-box. It traveled across the continent, and after a certain lapse of time the postman returned him the manuscript in another long envelope, on the outside of which were the stamps he had enclosed. — Martin Eden by Jack London
I love the rebelliousness of snail mail, and I love anything that can arrive with a postage stamp. There’s something about that person’s breath and hands on the letter. —Â Diane Lane
Stamps are a critical commodity for prisoners. They are often the main form of tender, and are traded for everything from laundry service, to soups, from handmade artwork, to books. My brother recently traded three stamps for a $12 book. That’s how valuable a stamp is in prison.
There are few facilities that actually allow prisoners to receive stamps in the mail – most must purchase them from commissary or canteen (at a cost increase); and indigent inmates who qualify are generally only allowed a limited number of postage-paid outgoing envelopes per week.
We burn through a LOT of stamps every week, by both responding to letters from prisoners, and also sending stamps to those who are allowed to receive them. These letters serve many purposes, including encouraging literacy, stimulating creativity, and providing comfort. Nothing is more desired from a prisoner than to hear his or her name at mail call.
A piece of mail carries with it validation from the outside, tangible confirmation that he or she has not been forgotten. That letter becomes even more welcome when the stamp is visually eye-catching, and reminiscent of something pleasurable – like music.
Be an Angel, Donate Some Stamps!
*Mail stamps to:
Stamp Campaign
Adopt an Inmate
PO Box 1543
Veneta, OR 97487
by Melissa Bee | Sep 10, 2015 | From the Inside
We received this yesterday from our friend Cassandra, a prisoner in Texas.
Love is what you show each and every one of us ladies. I want to thank you so much for all that you do for us. You are my special angel. Thank you for coming into my life. May God bless you and keep you.
Cassandra is looking for an adopter. Please email volunteer@adoptaninate.org if you would like to write to her.
by Inmate Contributor | Sep 9, 2015 | Shawn Ali Bahrami
Today’s blog post comes from Shawn Ali Bahrami, who is serving his 20th year in a Texas state prison (since he was 17 years old). Shawn has always proclaimed his innocence, and you can read his story here.)
Shawn agreed to write a post for us about the harsh working conditions of Texas inmates.
Group singing:
Hard work-work,
Hard work-work …
Lead man counting/singing:
and you – four-step
<the line steps forward>
Group singing:
Hard work-work …
I used to work at Mickey Dâs,
Now I have to chop the weeds â four step
On time and in a straight line!â shouts the armed, gray-uniformed prison guard, who supervises his Field Squad of roughly thirty inmates from atop his snorting beast.
âAnd if you canât talk and work at the same time, then shut the fuck up, or Iâll write you a case!”
âFuck-you, Bitch, and that case!â shouts back an anonymous inmate from the work-line.
âAlright, just for that, I want them aggies head-high, and anyone who isnât flat weeding head-high gets a case.â The guard looks at his work roster and puts a mark next to two names.
The bunched-together, rhythmic, straight line of white-uniformed inmates swing their aggies/hoes in unison, doing work in the scorching Texas sun, yet moving with the precision of a school band. Â
“One-two-three,” the squad hits the grassy ground three times, âand you â four step.â On the lead manâs command, the squad steps forward on the fourth count.
The Field Squadâs blade-tipped sticks lift head-high, then bang the drum of the ground, repeatedly and manually, they mow down all the waist-high grass in their path. Clods of disturbed, dry dirt billow into a cumulus dust cloud around them. Snakes shoot scared through the grass. Huge ant piles are sidestepped. Critters are pocketed and later taken back to cells as pets. The chorus of singing continues over the drumbeat of the aggies.
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by Melissa Bee | Sep 8, 2015 | From the Inside
Artwork by Donicio Gonzalez, Huntsville, TX
 From Donicio’s letter to us:
You’re right, there are a lot of GOOD people in here with sad stories. I want to say thank you for taking the time to help me out. I would pass along your website to the outside, but have no contacts out there. I have drawn a welcome picture for the page. Thank you for the invite to do so. I had a good time doing it. I am also enclosing a letter from a friend of mine that is here with me. My readiing and writing isn’t as good as i’d like for it to be, so he helps me with my mail and takes time to be patient. he read your response letter and asked if i would mind if he sent a letter too, as we only get five indigent letters a month and he spends his between his mother and his daughter.Â
Again, thank you for writing me back and trying to help me out.
Donicio is looking for penpals. You can write to him here:
Donicio Gonzales #2007016
21 FM 247
Huntsville, TX 77320
by Melissa Bee | Aug 23, 2015 | From the Inside
We have been asking our adoptees in TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) how they are holding up under the Texas heat with no air conditioning. (Fortunately, this has not been a record-setting year for summer heat in Texas.) Here are some of their replies:
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by Melissa Bee | Aug 22, 2015 | From the Staff, Interviews, News
I was thrilled to be Gloria Killian’s guest on her podcast “Women Behind the Wall,” Thursday, August 20th.
Gloria is the Executive Director of ACWIP (Action Committee for Women in Prison), and spent almost 18 years in a California prison before being exonerated. See her story on season one of CNN’s Death Row Stories (available on Netflix), or read it in her book “Full Circle: a True Story of Murder, Lies, and Vindication.”
by Melissa Bee | Aug 21, 2015 | From the Inside
How can I forgive you and not myself? I canât forgive myself, yet I can forgive everybody else. I forgive you for never being there. I forgive you for never acting like you cared, when you would leave for days on end. I was all alone with no friends. The drugs took over your life. You couldnât even walk or think right. I would brush your hair and it would come out in chunks. I always stayed quiet never cried much. Although when I was alone I would cry my eyes out. Cursing at God, in Him I had so many doubts. When you opened the door I would dry my tears, trying to show you that you could talk to me and that I was mature. You would brush me off and say youâre too tired to talk. Yell at me, and tell me to go outside and play with my chalk. Not understanding I was twelve and I didnât play with chalk anymore. I would go outside and try to hide what happened behind closed doors. People would ask me why I looked so sad or what was wrong with me. I would lie and say I just watched a sad movie. I know my excuses they did not believe.
As I grew older I started to rebel. Going out all night, drugs I would sell. I thought you would notice but you never did, never even cared that you had a kid.
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by Melissa Bee | Aug 20, 2015 | From the Inside
To follow up on Philip Brasfield’s piece posted yesterday, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream,” about sleep deprivation in prison, this is audio of Rick (via phone), also currently in TDCJ, describing the daily schedule and count procedure. Keep in mind that they go to breakfast at 3:00 AM.
Count time in Prison
by Inmate Contributor | Aug 19, 2015 | Philip Brasfield
If you want a good night’s sleep in Texas, don’t look for it in prison. Finding respite from the constant noise and bright lights in cell blocks and dormitories is increasingly difficult in general population. In special housing areas (Administrative Segregation), it may be impossible.
Despite conservative, tough-on-crime mythology perpetuating the misconception that prisons are like gated country clubs, life behind bars is synonymous to a fenced and caged dystopia.
Nearly one-third of every day in prison is spent being counted. Ideally, all counts are supposed to clear in an hour.
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by Melissa Bee | Aug 18, 2015 | From the Staff, News
Please tune in for this Thursday’s episode of Women Behind the Wall Podcast, hosted by Gloria Killian. I am thrilled and honored to be her guest for the hour (5:00 PM – 6:00 PM PDT).
Gloria is the Executive Director of ACWIP (Action Committee for Women in Prison), and spent nearly 17 years in a California prison before being released and exonerated in 2002, with the help of volunteer Joyce Ride (mother of the late Sally Ride – the first American female astronaut in space). You might say that Joyce Ride is one of the first inmate adopters :).
Gloria has been featured on The Story, and CNN’s Death Row Stories (Season One, available for streaming on Netflix), and is listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. Her book Full Circle: A True Story of Murder, Lies, and Vindication, is available on Amazon.com.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates about how to tune in.
