We cannot talk about dismantling oppressive systems without addressing the financial underpinnings of these very systems that were rooted in the slave labor of stolen Africans and indigenous inhabitant of settler-colonizer territories across this globe. We continue to see this trend of forced peonage and rebranded slavey through the prison system -which continues to perpetuate inhumane labor wages and coercive tactics to support the prison-industrial-complex.
Even as we acknowledge this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I must reiterate, sexual violence can happen irrespective of one’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, religion or even socioeconomic status. These abuses of power are about control over another’s ability to provide consent or exercise bodily autonomy. Speaking of consent, coercion, and the vicious system that is the prison-industrial complex, the uncomfortable reality is that U.S. corrections facilities are not exempt from this violence. A staggering 200,000 adults and children are sexually abused behind bars each year. LGBTQIA+ people are especially vulnerable and prone to this abuse behind bars.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) noted that roughly one in eight LGBTQIA+ prisoners were preyed upon by fellow inmates in a 12-month period, and dismissive sentiments from staff only worsened these situations. Therefore, we must also remember our brothers and sisters persevering in these vile conditions in the name of “rehabilitation.”
BE intentional, real change does not occur by happenstance; it is strategic and directed. Support those who are doing the work. Inevitably, the poetic justice of it all remains the ace up Karma’s proverbial sleeve -awaiting a most opportune timing.
