This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Kern Valley.
Dear: PrisonPandemic
May 11, 2021
Greetings. This instant communication is acknowledging receipt of and thanking you for your letter, which introduced the “UCI-PrisonPandemic Project (PPP),” and the UCI-PPP desire to collect stories from prisoners that report their perspective experiences, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I humbly assert, as an individual, I actually have much to share that would require a personal interview in order for the vast information to be recorded.
In your introduction letter, you mentioned that the UCI-PPP cannot offer legal aid; I fully understand. However, as a person wrongfully convicted, and actually innocent of the crime that I was accused of, the COVID-19 pandemic, while incarcerated in the cdcr-system, confined at KVSP, indeed imposed significant hardship, oppression, and physical/psychological suffering, that no human being ought to be compelled to endure.
The higher that the COVID-19 (death-rate) continued to climb, day by day, I suffered deep pain and agony as a I worried about my family, each and every day, especially my new born son, who is only ten months old.
As a direct result of the grossly incompetent operations of KVSP, with respect to the deadliness of the COVID-19 pandemic, I worried about suffering death, each and every day. I am diagnosed with epilepsy (a seizure disorder),” which during a severe stage of COVID-19, I was deprived medication, in order to treat my medical condition.
My worry was compounded and aggravated as a direct result of the KVSP leadership, willfully, unlawfully, and maliciously violating Governor Newsom’s executive orders with respect to mandatory face-covering, physical/social-distancing, adequate sanitation; soap and hand sanitizers act.
Shocking to this day the KVSP administration has utterly failed to provide the prisoner population with any adequate or any amount of disinfectants; hand sanitizers and germ killing soaps. And the pattern of racial discriminations, retaliation, intimidation, and abuse openly promoted at KVSP indeed is out-of-control. The classification “c-status program,” is nothing but a state sanction New Jim Crow system, designed to target, terrorize, torture, and abuse the African American prisoner population.
This racist environment, during the COVID-19 pandemic communicated the very “strong and clear message,” that “black lives” does not, will not, and shall not ever matter in the cdcr prison system.
The Calif. Fugitive Slave Act of 1852, has fully been incorporated into the “cdcr c-status program.” During the COVID-19 pandemic KVSP did and continue to do all within its “corrupt power” to shut down the education program, law library program, self-help groups, etc.
With evil motive and malicious intent, purpose, and objective to deeply plant nothing, but “negative thoughts” of a “slow death” into the minds of the prisoners; and that there is absolutely nothing positive in the world for them to look forward to, but the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, and a deeply structured system that hate them and forever shall hate them.
KVSP continues to obstruct its visiting program (whether physical and/or video), the ability to strengthen family love, relationship, and communication, is under constant attack. Although, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” I have suffered “irreparable mental-harm, pain, torture, and injury,” while confined at KVSP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regretfully I, “walk through the valley of death,” however I shall continue to “fight for my freedom,” and be forever joined to my family again.
I greatly thank UCI-PPP for allowing me the opportunity to share my story, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 11, 2021
Sincerely.
