Prison Lives Matter

Poem and art by Kevin Rashid Johnson 

Prison lives matter

lives shattered 

living the Amerikan nightmare,

We need support

against the courts

how they warehouse us here.

Razor wire plantations

their inspiration

slave pens of old,

Killing fields

riot armor and shields

if the truth be told...

These places 

are not spaces

meant to reform or repair,

A trillion dollar industry

that sentenced me

by methods unjust and unfair.

No jury of peers

lawyers who play on our fears

to pressure pleas of guilt,

With concentrations of cops and guns

we will come

the reasons these places are built.

With political education

our inspiration

to raise awareness and senses of hope,

Outside of communities

whose disunity

is predicated on cops flooding them with dope.

Yes they create the problems

then pretend to solve them

with warehouses under key and lock,

We're living commodities

it's no oddity

to call us live stock.

Violence and coercion

is their version

of so-called security and control,

In a matter of decades

they made

the prison population multiply eight-fold.

Mass incarceration

the world's largest prison population

in an empire that boasts justice and freedom,

It's all a lie

the reason why

they capture our bodies and feed 'em...

Into the warehouses

separated from spouses

communities, loved ones and friends,

Lack of medical care

treated unfair

for many our lives prematurely end.

Our communities reduced

we can't reproduce

separating the sexes,

Destroying our homes

spouses left alone

in need of companions become our exes.

Join our cause

without you we're all lost

unity is our only hope,

And did I mention

it's worse than lynching

without due process millions hang by a rope.