The Prison-Industrial Complex and the trickling effects of it

Hey ladies and gents, it's ya girl Untouched Jewel in the building today!


Before I get started, I would like to say Happy Sunday to each and every one of you. I have noticed that another person has joined to reading my blog...I do truly thank you, and appreciate that you have taken the time to read this, despite how I'm not on here as often. But trust and believe when I'm here, I have something to say or share. One thing I won't do is disappoint (whether each post is commented on or not). Again, I appreciate you and hope your reading experience with my blog is to your satisfaction. With that out of the way, let's move along, shall we?! Good.


Wikipedia describes the Prison-Industrial Complex as a term used to attribute the rapid expansion of the US inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies & businesses that supply good & services to government prison agencies. Ok, so in simpler terms, it means that the prison system isn't in this thing to rehabilitize criminals who commit crimes and make sure they don't commit them anymore. They simply want to make money off the little people (aka Blacks, Mexicans, Asians and even some of their own...Poor White Trash).


But it doesn't stop there. Now here's some facts & figures I want to share with you: According to the ACLU of Northern California, the cost of a prison inmate for permanent imprisonment (or a life sentence) in California is $11 million per year on taxpayer dollars, compared to those on Death Row at $137 million per year. Now, those kinds of figures with the taxes we pay each year, would make you sick...or quite naturally pissed off. But here's what you should be pissed at....the byproducts of this Prison Industrial Complex. I'm talking the fatherless and motherless children, crack-addicted children, children who grow up eventually and have to bare the brunt of life with no function of a parental structure who suffer at the hands of generational curses that were set before them, probably even before their existence.


I have grown up with people in my generation and age range whom have had parents who were in jail for stupid offenses, or were repeat offenders. They had to be raised by relatives who probably didn't halfway stand them, or grow up in the foster care system to strangers whom took advantage of them or abused them. So just imagine these same people you and I had grown up with, now of adult age. Imagine how their lives have turned out. Some making something of themselves, some still struggling with life, and some following in the same footsteps as their parents by committing offenses and landing themselves in prison. Now, it's all fine and dandy for those that chose the more straight and narrow path of staying out of trouble, but what most of us...no, any of us fail to realize is that in all the hell and high water that person had to experience growing up as a child with a parent in prison, there's still underlying issues that they face. Only thing is they are better at covering up the battle scars. There's one particular person I know that faces this challenge (and in more ways than one they hit close to home with me).


I met this young man back in 1998 at Grambling State University when he was a sophomore and I was a freshman coming in. He and I became friends...among other things. I remember one night I hung out with him in his dorm room and he had a picture of his parents sitting in a frame. I happen to look at the picture and asked him about them. He told me a little bit about them. And of what he did mention, he stated that his father has been in prison just about most of his life, so he didn't get to really experience the type of father-son relationship he should have growing up. I didn't want to pry too much into his personal life, so I left well enough alone. Flash forward some years later, he received a college degree and all that good stuff. Currently he is becoming a "conscious rapper" and of course making one subject aware: THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. Please don't get me misunderstood in what I'm about to say, but I think this is critical. I give him props in bringing up the subject and making it aware among the masses of the "minority" perspective. However, I honestly believe he is a prime example of the trickle-down effect of that problem. Even though he made it out of not being trapped in the system, he still is trapped in the one generational curse that has plagued him most of his life: being a fatherless child. And because of growing up in that kind of environment, it has trickled down in the next generation, whom is also the by-product of being a fatherless child.

Now I know you may ask how does this have to do with it hitting close to home with me...the answer is simple (if you had not already picked up on it): the by-product of that fatherless child is my first born son, whom is also a fatherless child. Ok, now I'm sure you are gonna ask how does all this tie in together? Well, when you have people who choose to live a life filled with criminal activity and it in turn affects your family (wife, children, etc.), the long term ramifications of it can be damaging. Now in the young man's case that I mentioned, even though he is a college graduate, doesn't mean that what has happened in his life (growing up with a father in prison) is not affecting what is currently going on in his present and future (not being a father to his child at all). Sure people make choices to do what it is they need to do or not, but that doesn't mean he isn't the product of his own environment.


Ladies and gents, it's time we start making decisions of keeping ourselves out of this Prison Industrial Complex we now face. It's sad enough that there are 2 million prison inmates (predominately Black & Hispanic). By us choosing to commit everything from petty crimes to serious offenses, we not only set ourselves up for failure, but set up our forthcoming generations as future prison inmate statistics.  I know a whole other discussion would come up as to why I dealt with this person with these kinds of issues, but this ain't the blog for that. This is mainly stating that to keep our children from being caught up in the system, let's start by getting ourselves out of it by transforming our mindset from criminal activity to something more productive and conducive to the betterment of our offspring and our offspring's offspring, etc. When we continue to do stupid stuff to get us locked up, we are only keeping this Prison Industrial Complex alive and well, while our children suffer at just living a normal and productive life.


Until Next Post,
Peace & Blessings,
Untouched Jewel