Keith ‘Malik’ Washington Reports on Prison Conditions Following Tropical Storm

Keith ‘Malik’ Washington reports on conditions on the inside in the wake of tropical storm Imelda.

As a Nationally known Prison Abolitionist and humyn rights activist, I am very passionate and dedicated to the causes and the people my comrades and I support. However, as a journalist I am duty-bound to put aside my subjective feelings and report the objective facts about the things I personally experience and witness. On September 19th, 2019 Tropical Storm Imelda bombarded the city of Beaumont, Texas and the surrounding areas with a deluge of torrential rain.

Here at USP Beaumont, the Federal Prison where I am currently housed at, we had no electricity what-so-ever. That meant—NO LIGHTS, NO AIR-CONDITIONING. Our toilets could not be flushed. It was really bad. At the time that the storm reached its height we had been locked in our cells since the evening of September 18th. The Federal Correctional Officer working our housing unit (BA-1 Bldg) was a bald-headed white man with a thick goatee who we call “BIG HEATH”. Mr. Heath is a big guy and kind of looks like a Biker dude.

Like many officers working that night shift Mr. Heath was trapped like all of us. The non-stop rain had flooded all the high-ways and local roads leading too and away from USP Beaumont. The Federal Prison is built on a natural Flood Plane and not only was the compound flooded but our emergency generator of Bldg #1 was submerged in water.

‘Big Heath’ may not win any congeniality contests but he didn’t abandon us!! He stayed the course of the Storm. Mr. Heath worked about 30 hours straight and made sure we had food as well as bottled drinking water. Other than that, we were on our own.

The concrete cellls at USP Beaumont were not made to sustain humyn life without the aid of the HVAC System. As the sun-set on September 19th, 2019 we lacked adequate oxygen and fresh air in our cell. My cellmate who we call ‘D’ has Asthma and the lack of proper ventilation in our cell brought on a vicious Asthma Attack!

‘D’ first started coughing profusely. His breaths became labored. As he wheezed and gasped for breath, he staggered to his locker and grabbed his inhalers. It was very dark by then–no lights, no air and the Asthma Attack persisted. I began to worry and think of how to help my cell-mate.

As if on cue and just in the nick of time we heard voices and saw flash-light beams. It was two Lieutenants from the day-shift, a Lieutenant Franks and Lieutenant Feazicus. They were yelling loudly to all of us who were trapped in these cells saying: “Hey Fellas! We are going to pop open your food tray slots so you can get some fresh air!” end of quote

Both ‘D’ and I smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Regardless of any of the situations that I have found myself in I always acknowledge that GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL!

Lt. Feazicus, Lt. Franks as well as Mr. Heath and other Federal Officers provided us with Red Plastic Haz-Mat bags to defecate in!!! Yes, you heard me correctly—this was our reality here. Believe it!!!

These officers also brought large barrels of water so we could manually flush our toilets by pouring water on top of the large amounts of humyn waste which had accumulated in our toilets.

This is a short essay which tells a story of people helping people during a natural disaster. Many people in Amerikan Society are brainwashed in such a manner that many despise incarcerated humyn beings.

Please remember that Eighty Five Percent of all current prisoners in the United States will eventually be released. Are not all humyn beings deserving to be treated with dignity, respected, and housed in humane settings??”

One Observation that I must highlight is this: Two years after Hurricane Harvey and the Federal Bureau of Prisons still has not crafted a realistic Emergency Evacuation Plan for USP Beaumont. Locking humyn beings down in concrete cages and then sitting on your hands until the Natural Disaster takes its course, is not an effective Plan! As I said before, USP Beaumont is built on top of a Flood Plane!! Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in this Geographical Location are only going to get more severe and intense.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL!
PRISONERS LIVES MATTER!
WE MUST CONTINUE ABOLISH ALL PRISONS!
ESPECIALLY THE TOXIC ONES!

Sisters and Brothers and Comrades from all corners of the Globe if you support the work that my comrades and I do then please by all means necessary—-Share this piece and all information on Social Media. Demand today that the New Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons—-Mrs. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer take a long hard look at the conditions here at USP Beaumont. Ask her to visit us down here and when she does, ask her to interview me!! Your Soldier for Change Comrade Malik!!!! As I always say: ” The best Anti-Septic for Injustice is Sunlight!!” Let’s Shine a Bright Light on USP Beaumont.

Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win, All Power to the People!