Last Sunday, September 25th, just before 8:00pm about 30-40 people convened
in front of the Gig Harbor Women’s Correctional Center, in a very suburban
town about twenty minutes west of Tacoma, WA. With a bangin’ sound system,
a banner that read “Brick By Brick, Wall By Wall, We Will Make Your Prisons
Fall,” a megaphone along with pots and pans, we began creating a wall of
noise directed towards the dorms of the prison, aiming at breaking down the
walls of isolation and confinement constructed by the State.
We had received word that three women inside had been placed in segregation
following their alleged roles in spreading the September 9th Prison Strike.
Almost immediately we saw lights flickering in response in a dorm, and we
proceeded down the street on the sidewalk so as to be closer to the windows
along the closest dorm-building. We were lucky enough that the holding-cells
where prisoners sleep are less than a block’s distance from the street, and
they could easily hear us.
Throughout the hour or so that we were there, prison guards patrolled the
perimeter fence that separated us from the prison, and attempted to keep the
prisoners from opening their windows and blinds. Each time a guard would walk
up to a window and tell them to close their blinds or window, those inside
would comply, only to re-open their windows as soon as the guard walked away.
This continued for practically the entire time we were there, implicating
that those inside welcomed our noisy presence. Not having much connection
with those inside prior to this noise-demo, this warmed our hearts outside in
the cold.
We left without incident, with promises of our return. Our hope is that this
proves to be a step towards a relationship of struggle with those held
inside.
Until all cages are empty!
Last Sunday, September 25th, just before 8:00pm about 30-40 people convened
in front of the Gig Harbor Women’s Correctional Center, in a very suburban
town about twenty minutes west of Tacoma, WA. With a bangin’ sound system,
a banner that read “Brick By Brick, Wall By Wall, We Will Make Your Prisons
Fall,” a megaphone along with pots and pans, we began creating a wall of
noise directed towards the dorms of the prison, aiming at breaking down the
walls of isolation and confinement constructed by the State.
We had received word that three women inside had been placed in segregation
following their alleged roles in spreading the September 9th Prison Strike.
Almost immediately we saw lights flickering in response in a dorm, and we
proceeded down the street on the sidewalk so as to be closer to the windows
along the closest dorm-building. We were lucky enough that the holding-cells
where prisoners sleep are less than a block’s distance from the street, and
they could easily hear us.
Throughout the hour or so that we were there, prison guards patrolled the
perimeter fence that separated us from the prison, and attempted to keep the
prisoners from opening their windows and blinds. Each time a guard would walk
up to a window and tell them to close their blinds or window, those inside
would comply, only to re-open their windows as soon as the guard walked away.
This continued for practically the entire time we were there, implicating
that those inside welcomed our noisy presence. Not having much connection
with those inside prior to this noise-demo, this warmed our hearts outside in
the cold.
We left without incident, with promises of our return. Our hope is that this
proves to be a step towards a relationship of struggle with those held
inside.
Until all cages are empty!