Prison Industrial Complex - Trans Views

Powerful documentary - Transgender women from TGI Justice speak out about their experience with the Prison Industrial Complex. http://www.tgijp.org

During the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) training series, members learned about the politics of prisons in the U.S., honed their public speaking and leadership skills, and shared their own personal thoughts and experiences about the Prison Industrial Complex. Additionally, as a key part of the training, members wrote, directed, and filmed a mini-documentary in which they interviewed each other as first hand experts on the effects of the Prison Industrial Complex on trans women and their communities.

Well i think, in this time, more trans women are being incarcerated

more than ever is because

even though there are a lot of resources available today,

we still face a lot of discrimination,

and a lot of us lose hope,

that leads to prostitution, and more than likely you'll end up going to jail.

And people are in prison,

not because they've committed crimes,

but because they're poor

and they dont have money for good attorneys

and public defenders are over worked, under payed,

and they sort of dont know the plight of the under served and the under privileged

and they also come with a whole nother,

with their own set of values.

Years ago, back in the '80's,

when trannies were growin' up and coming of age,

there was no place for us in society,

and we were kind of put out on the fringes of society.

We were allowed by society to be the hookers late at night,

do little petty crimes,

be little petty drug dealers,

but we were never allowed to be in somebody's business,

to represent their business standing at the counter,

and the real safe place for us was out there on the streets,

in the little underworld or whatever you wanna call it,

being petty criminals and coming in and out of jails and stuff.

And um, i did, i've done a 9 year term, and a 13 year term,

back to back in prison,

behind growing up out there on the street.

ive had maybe 100 prostitution cases,

um, drug and other offenses,

so when you go to court, they shackle you to each other,

and, um, when you go inside courtroom, a public defender's appointed to you,

but you dont get to say anything,

they do all the talking,

so, the public defender does talk to you,

asks you about your case,

but you never get to talk the case in court.

he just gets to talk for you,

and so whatever sentence the judge gives you, you have to do.

They called me a thing.

You know, i had to sleep on the floor for a week,

they had no transgender cells.

My first day, i had to suck 65 guys off,

yes, or get my ass kicked,

and i was sexually assaulted by the guards, and then the guards tried to charge me

for, by saying i was a homosexual, and charged me for indecent exposure.

And i basically had to fight every day.

We have no justice in here,

um, we have to do, basically, what either a guard tells us or one of the inmates,

so there_ our lives can be spared, and not be shamed.

All i want to say is that prison is like the worst experience anybody can go through.

People get sent here becuase they're poor,

because they cant get jobs,

because they dont have anything else going for them,

because they're different,

because they dont have an education,

because people in the mainstream society dont want to deal with them.

Thats why they're growing, by leaps and bounds,

and theyre gonna continue to grow until things change.

The criminal system

is really set in place to have people come and to be in a revolving door,

to come in, and to go out, to come in, and to go out.

And so it becomes this sort of vicious circle,

cuz once youve been to prison you cant get a job,

and if you cant get a job you do have to eat,

and so people are gonna eat and stay off the street,

and so you commit a crime because you couldnt get a job because youre an ex con,

and then youre back in prison...

And you know, before you know it,

your life's over, and thats what your life has been.

Constant in and out of prison.

Well both my tranny friends, when they go to prison, and they get out, they do the shelters.

Well, when i left, and got my housing, and then i lost my housing,

i went back to the shelter, and all my friends were back in jail.

So i dont know __a parole violation, or probation violation,

but it just, its real scary not to see em anymore.

i know that if i ever went to prison

i would be torn because i would be very scared that

i wouldnt be able to get my hormones and my medications that i need,

you know, that keep me healthy, and keep me growing as a woman.

Where i was from,

they had a half a hose like from the fire department,

and they would hose you down,

and they would strip your clothes off of you,

they would check your rectum, to make sure there was nothing in your rectum,

and also lift up your balls.

They would rape, call you names, beat you with a billyclub,

and i was arrested twice.

And they made me like the "house wife" of the cell,

so i had to do the cores, i had to clean up, i had to wash uniforms,

ihad to be the "house lady",

and it was real intimidating.

They perpetrate stereotypes, and report only negative news.

Very rarely do you see positive stories from inner cities,

for example various people rising up from their beginnings.

They always report on gangs, and murders, and various crimes that go on,

very rarely do you ever see a positive report

because it's all this negative news,

because negative news sells

Prison is just part of a larger endemic problem,

it's corporate, we gotta keep people employed,

we've gotta keep prison guards employed,

and sherrifs employed, and cooks in prison, and medical help in prison,

and people that build prisons and construction companies,

theyre all part of this whole industrial complex,

that perpetuates that.

Um, prisons are a big business, people are making billions of dollars off of prisons.

It takes millions to build them and theyre making billions of dollars off of prisons.

I think its deplorable.

Once upon a time when i was younger,

schools used to be the thing,

but you know, times went on and people started debunking schools,

and doing what they want to do,

getting in trouble,

and now they say that jail is the thing.

but i dont think that jail is the answer.

What we need is good psychological help for people,

so we wont have as many prison systems,

therefore, we can fund more schools.

Because im sick and tired of seeing so many of my trans sisters being incarcerated

over something that couldve been prevented,

and i would like to make a change.

thats why im in school,

im taking care of my business, and im doing what i can do in this society.

So i just felt that i had a response to her answer to the question,

and i think the transformation of the individual level that way

really has such a powerful rippling effect,

because i think energetically,

you know, theres a really big impact on the community,

all around her,

it just redirects that negative energy, you know, from stressful conditions,

and you know, the disparities,

you know, in another direction thats productive,

thats positive, thats not not contributing to the prison system.

i dont think that people in general are safer with more prisons.

i think the status quo is safer with more prisons

because they create scare tactics

in which they say that "oh theres an epidemic of black people running amok

or people of colour running amok",

so they scare the nation, the united states of america,

on television, saying that uh we cant stand it no more,

we're gonna start lootin', and, as if thats our thats our M.O., our stereotype, you know?

Hi! My name is Miss Billie Cooper,

and im a proud member of TGIJustice,

and i oppose prisons.

My names Patti, im a proud member of TGIJustice,

and i oppose prisons.

Hi, my name is Bo-Derek and im a part of TGIJustice,

it stands for Transgender, Intersex Justice Project,

and we oppose prisons.

My name is Broderick, im a proud member of TGIJustice,

and i oppose prisons.

Hi, my name is Kiki Robinson, and i am a proud member of TGIJustice project,

and i oppose prisons.

Hi, my name is Lyn Johnson Rawles,

and i am proud to be a member of TGIJustice,

and im opposed to prisons.

Hi, im Trisha, and i am a proud member of TGIJustice project,

and im very opposed to prisons.