"Then, when they were taking us out to be
arraigned, one of Brent Miller's brothers came tearing up the road in a
truck, skidded to a stop near the van we were in and jumped out with a
pump shotgun, screaming, 'Where are those niggers? Let me at 'em! I'm
gonna kill those sons o' bitches!' Suddenly, it was serious. In that moment, the realization that our lives were at stake and the law might not protect us flooded over me.
"Now, all these years later, the hearing on the civil case related to our long-term solitary confinement is approaching. So they sent this psychiatrist to question me. What he was doing, of course, was to try to get me to say that forty years in solitary confinement hasn't really been all that bad. 'You seem quite well adjusted,' he said.
"I told him that unless he sits in a cell 23 hours a day for forty years, he has no idea what he's talking about. I said, you want to know what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid I'm going to start screaming and not be able to stop. I'm afraid I'm going to turn into a baby and curl up in a fetal position and lay there like that every day for the rest of my life. I'm afraid I'm going to attack my own body, maybe cut off my balls and throw them through the bars the way I've seen others do when they couldn't take any more.
"No television or hobby craft or magazines or any of the other toys you call yourself allowing can ever lessen the nightmare of this hell you help to create and maintain.
"I have been sustained in my struggle by
three men. Nelson Mandela taught me that if you have a noble cause, you
can bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. Malcolm X taught me
that it doesn't matter where you start out; what matters is where you
end up. And George Jackson taught me that if you're not willing to die
for what you believe in, you don't believe in anything.
"I know you're only doing your job, Doc. You have your job and I have mine. I am a teacher. And I am living proof that we can survive the worst to change ourselves and our world no matter where we are. I do not want to die in a cell, but if I must to make the lesson clear, then I am willing to do just that."
(PHOTOS: A billboard and twitter campaign to mark the 42-year commemoration launched in New Orleans on April 17, 2014.)
Write to Albert:
Albert Woodfox #72148
David Wade Correctional Center
670 Bell Hill Road
Homer, LA 71040
"Now, all these years later, the hearing on the civil case related to our long-term solitary confinement is approaching. So they sent this psychiatrist to question me. What he was doing, of course, was to try to get me to say that forty years in solitary confinement hasn't really been all that bad. 'You seem quite well adjusted,' he said.
"I told him that unless he sits in a cell 23 hours a day for forty years, he has no idea what he's talking about. I said, you want to know what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid I'm going to start screaming and not be able to stop. I'm afraid I'm going to turn into a baby and curl up in a fetal position and lay there like that every day for the rest of my life. I'm afraid I'm going to attack my own body, maybe cut off my balls and throw them through the bars the way I've seen others do when they couldn't take any more.
"No television or hobby craft or magazines or any of the other toys you call yourself allowing can ever lessen the nightmare of this hell you help to create and maintain.
"I know you're only doing your job, Doc. You have your job and I have mine. I am a teacher. And I am living proof that we can survive the worst to change ourselves and our world no matter where we are. I do not want to die in a cell, but if I must to make the lesson clear, then I am willing to do just that."
(PHOTOS: A billboard and twitter campaign to mark the 42-year commemoration launched in New Orleans on April 17, 2014.)
Write to Albert:
Albert Woodfox #72148
David Wade Correctional Center
670 Bell Hill Road
Homer, LA 71040
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