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By Emma Schwartz You can’t escape the toxins in the water at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution Fayette. When I interviewed BP, who was incarcerated at SCI Fayette for 10 years, he spoke of how you feel it every time you take a sip, when you brush your teeth, when you try to get clean in the shower. Almost everyone inside reports signs of water pollution such as discoloration and tasting and smelling of sulfur. The guards avoid it at all costs, drinking from bottled water, which is considered contraband for the people incarcerated there. Report after report from people on the inside describe pervasive black dust everywhere you go, collecting in the prison yard, on window sills, on freshly fallen snow, building up around the vents inside cells. One incarcerated person wrote, “You clean it, and about an hour later the dust is back,” Coal defines the landscape of SCI Fayette and the nearby town of Labelle. SCI Fayette was built in 2003 on top of what was once one of the largest coal preparation plants in the world. An estimated 40 million tons of coal refuse were dumped between the 1950s and mid-1990s, at which point the plant was purchased by Matt Canestrale Contracting, which began operating the site as a coal ash dump. In 2014, The Citizens Coal Council (CCC), a non-profit, collected water samples at streams, wells, and drainage pipes at the Labelle site revealing the presence of high levels of toxic metals associated with coal ash in the surface and groundwater. The samples they collected contained levels of dissolved iron over 60 times greater than the Pennsylvania standard, sulfate levels 10 times the standard, and manganese levels five times the standard. Manganese in particular can cause permanent brain damage through long term exposure, irritate the nose, throat, and lungs, and may cause harm to the liver and decrease fertility in males. Further testing by CCC also found levels exceeding state or federal standards for thallium, arsenic, cobalt, boron, aluminum, total dissolved solids, and excessively high and low pH levels. This is all very dangerous. Thallium is the main ingredient in rat poison and can cause nervous system damage and lung, heart, liver, and kidney problems. Arsenic can cause nervous system damage, cardiovascular harm, urinary tract cancers, lung cancer, and skin cancer. Boron can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, cause damage to the testes, intestines, liver, kidneys, and brain, and eventually lead to death if ingested in large quantities. Aluminum can cause scarring of lungs with symptoms of cough and shortness of breath through long-term exposure to its dust, and may be linked to dementia. An aerial photograph of SCI Fayette The most commonly reported health problems are respiratory, throat, and sinus-related conditions. One incarcerated person wrote in to the Toxic Prisons and Environmental Justice Committee of the Human Rights Coalition (HRC), a grass-roots non profit organization in Philadelphia, saying that since being transferred from SCI Houtzdale to SCI Fayette in 2016, he has experienced throat irritation so bad that he has to clear his throat at least 50 times an hour, as well as discoloration of certain areas of his skin. Another prisoner, Marcus Santos, experienced swelling on his face, arms, and legs after being transferred to SCI Fayette which was so severe that a doctor confirmed it was life-threatening. “I suffered almost everyday of the 15 months I was at that prison” he wrote . “I almost died due to throat swelling several times. Given Tums for throat swelling and told that if I start choking there is nothing that he can do for me. At that point it became clear to me that I am being left for dead. With no other course to take or relief in sight I called my brother and told him that I don’t believe I’m going to make it through the rest of my time and to please take care of my son.” Other commonly reported medical issues at SCI Fayette include skin irritation, diarrhea, burning eyes, stomach pain, nausea, rashes, extreme itchiness, and frequent headaches. One incarcerated person wrote to the HRC saying, “My whole entire body has broken out. The water is getting worse everyday. I have hives. I scratch all day. I have soares [sic] around my body. My face have so many bumps on it. My skin is irritated 24/7 throughout my sleep. I have stomach pains, diarrhea, painful rashes, etc. I literally itch while taking a shower. It’s sad because I’m locked up on this life threatening conditioning. […] I have big black spot on my back that looks like moles. […] I’m itching as I write this letter. I feel as though this jail itself is committing a crime. Attempted murder. This area is not for human consumption.” When it comes to cancer and other illnesses that require a diagnosis, it is extremely difficult to get a true sense of the numbers. Several people at SCI Fayette have reported that medical staff will delay diagnostic testing until it seems that patients will not survive without emergency medical care, and carry an attitude of hostility toward inmates. One incarcerated person reported to the HRC that he has “seen guys literally vomiting, and nursing staff will say, ‘oh he’s just faking it.’” Another, who suffered from brain cancer, wrote in a letter to the HRC, “I’ve been asking medical for some type of CT scan for years because I was having headaches everyday. They keep telling me it was my sinus but I knew it was more than that. They sent me out for a CT scan and when I return, the medical staff here told me nothing was on my CT scan and they did not see anything. The day after that I passed out and was rush to Allegheny Hospital. They took another CT scan and found the cancer, it was at stage four and went to my skull.” The state of medical care at SCI Fayette care makes it more difficult to determine the cause of the illnesses that prisoners face at the institution, as the effects of medical negligence are combined with possible reactions to coal ash. The fact that this prison is built on coal dumping grounds, paralleled with the treatment the prisoners there receive, reflects the societal belief that incarcerated people don’t matter. In a book chapter titled “ Environmental Racism: Contaminated Water in Indigenous and Minority Communities ,” Linda M. Robyn writes, “Environmental quality and inequality depend on one’s place in the world.” Those in society with fewer resources, who aren’t granted the freedom to choose the space they will live in—whether that is because of poverty, deportation, colonialism, or incarceration—can’t escape the environmentally unsafe conditions that people in positions of power have created. In her book Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California , geographer and abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore defines racism as “the state-sanctioned and extralegal exposure of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death.” Given the disproportionate number of Black and Brown people incarcerated in the United States, locking people up in toxic prisons and putting them at risk of death is a clear form of environmental racism, and should be of utmost concern to anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist. Western capitalist ideologies have long looked upon colonized land and people as “waste” that they can put to use. BP spoke of how people have been enculturated to believe that incarcerated people should be rejected, ignored, and thrown away: “the prison in America is the trash can—it is where they send people that they no longer wish to be bothered with.” The voices of incarcerated people are silenced in every way—it is part of the isolation of prison—and have therefore been left out of social movements relating to issues that they are most affected by, such as the environment. According to professor Elizabeth A Bradshaw in her article “ Tombstone Towns and Toxic Prisons ,” people in prison are not considered in any of the EPA’s policies. Incarcerated people are dehumanized and ignored, making environmental issues in prisons a niche issue that many remain unaware of. BP says, “the incarcerated people’s voices being stifled is the continual residue of what this nation was founded on from the very beginning: separation, segregation, classism, one-upmanship, superiority, inferiority, identity conflicts, and tussles of worth and value.” When the voices of incarcerated people are ignored, it perpetuates further ignorance. “There is a lack of value of the strength, courage, insights that certain incarcerated people can bring to any table,” he continues. “Once the voices of the incarcerated are heard, it will allow those who are functional in movements like the environmental movements, to broaden their view.” Image credit: Herald Standard

On September 19th, we will gather outside the Eastern State Penitentiary to #ShutDownFayette ! We are calling on you to support our efforts to close a prison south of Pittsburgh that currently provides toxic water to incarcerated souls. While guards are able to drink bottled water, those incarcerated must bathe, cook, and drink water riddled with cancer causing contaminants from fracking close by. Please join us from 1-3 pm to hear stories from those previously inside SCI-Fayette’s walls and to demand human rights for all!

By: Tricka Parasimo AKA Sonny Hello Freedom Fighters, We’ve been working hard to raise awareness about the toxic environment at SCI-Fayette and other Pennsylvania state prisons. Recently, B. Preston and I attended Climate Week in New York City to debut the trailer for our documentary, I Can’t Breathe. The full film will be screened on October 11th in West Philly at Cedar Works Community Center. Our campaign is also continuing to work with representatives and legislators on House Resolution 280 (HR280), which would require the Department of Corrections to conduct environmental studies in state prisons. In addition, we’re partnering with the Emerald Cities Collaborative to develop a curriculum for folks on the inside, focused on Energy Democracy. Photos by: Jeff Weiner During Climate Week (September 22nd), activists, scholars, and community members came together to address the impacts of climate change. The Toxic Prisons Campaign was invited to join a panel hosted by Counterstream Media, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental justice storytelling. B.P. spoke on behalf of HRC at a Story Salon alongside filmmaker Alexandria Norris and Native American activist Chantel Comardelle. Thanks to the support of Frontline Resource Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund, we were able to share your stories. After the trailer screening, the audience engaged in a powerful discussion about conditions behind prison walls and the fight for basic human rights. It was inspiring to be surrounded by predominantly people of color who deeply understood the intersections of environmental racism and incarceration. We left with new connections, energy, and a shared vision of building toward collective liberation. Our October 11th screening will feature a panel discussion with B.P., Shakaboona (co-founder of HRC), and Caine Pelz (a recently released HRC member). We are building a community to face the trauma caused by incarceration and to support one another in challenging a system that cages and tortures human beings—regardless of guilt or innocence. Through this documentary, we hope to reach all audiences with a clear message: no one deserves to be dehumanized. On the legislative front, we are working closely with Representative Emily Kinkead to move forward HR280, a resolution directing the Department of Corrections to conduct environmental studies at every state correctional facility. The goal is to ensure that people inside are not being exposed to harmful, hazardous, or unsanitary conditions, and that they receive clean air and pure water. We are proud to have met with co-sponsors Rep. Tarik Khan, Rep. Ben Waxman, Rep. Benjamin Sanchez, Rep. Perry Warren, Rep. Darisha Parker, and Rep. Carol Hill-Evans. In each meeting, we lifted up the stories you’ve shared with us. If you or someone you love has been impacted by the coal ash at SCI-Fayette, please send your testimony to the Toxic Prisons Campaign. Finally, we’re excited to share progress on our Energy Democracy curriculum. Energy Democracy is a movement to shift from centralized, corporate-controlled energy systems to decentralized, community-owned systems that prioritize equity, sustainability, and public benefit over private profit. It demands that energy be recognized as a right, not a commodity, and that communities have real power in shaping a just, low-carbon future. We are developing this curriculum through a carceral lens—including a scorecard that invites participants to imagine a world without prisons and without an extractive economy. This is about building the skills and vision we need to dismantle harmful systems and create new ones rooted in justice. We want to hear from you. Write to the Toxic Prisons Campaign at the HRC address and tell your story: ●      How have the environmental conditions in prison affected you? ●      What do you want people on the outside to understand? ●      What would you like to see politicians advocating for?   Keep On Fightin, Soldiers, Sonny

Watch our exclusive new interview between human rights activist Shakaboona Marshall and Keir Bradford-Grey, poised to be the next Pennsylvania state Attorney General:

On January 15, the Human Rights Coalition, along with the Emergency Response Foundation, Right to Be Free, and Free the Ballot, is sponsoring a banquet for formerly incarcerated people and their families. The event will run from 3-7pm at Turner Motivation HS at 5900 Baltimore Ave, Phila, PA, 19143. There will be free food, beverages, and music! BYOD. RSVP at: bit.ly/TrueFaces

October 5th, 2022 To the Human Rights Coalition Family, Friends, and Supporters: Hello everyone. The Human Rights Coalition (HRC) sadly announces the transition of HRC member Carrington Keys. Donations can be made here. Carrington Keys was part of the Dallas 6, who were six men falsely criminally charged with rioting while inside their solitary confinement cells at SCI-Dallas, and later won their court battle with the support of the HRC, Global Womens’ Strike, and other groups. Carrington Keys was eventually released from state prison where he returned home to reside in Pittsburgh with his mother Shandre Delaney. Carrington Keys and Mama Shandre Delaney are a true inspiration to us all, were active members of the HRC, and were instrumental in the struggle to abolish the for-profit Criminal Justice system. Mama Shandre Delaney headed the Human Right Coalition-FedUp! Pittsburgh chapter and has remained active in the movement to end mass incarceration. We give our heartfelt condolences to longstanding HRC member Mama Shandre Delaney, mother of Carrington Keys, and we ask EVERYONE to make a DONATION to assist with Carrington’s funeral expenses. Again, donations can be made here. May peace and blessings be upon you and your son Carrington Keys. With Love, Yours Truly, The Human Rights Coalition family.

Photos can be downloaded for your personal use.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Shakaboona and everyone who came out to celebrate his homecoming! From within the confines of a prison cell, Shakaboona co-founded HRC’s The Movement magazine and the Coalition to Abolish Death by Incarceration (CADBI). He’s held numerous leadership positions: VP of the PA Lifers Association at CI-Huntingdon, Committee Chairperson of the NAACP Graterford Branch, President of the Paraprofessional Law Clinic at SCI-Graterford, and Secretary of the Regents Betterment Organization at SCI-Mahanoy. To date, Shakaboona has published over 120 commentaries on Prison Radio and was also a lead plaintiff (alongside Saleem and Mumia Abu Jamal) in ALC’s 2015 lawsuit that successfully overturned a state statute that would’ve silenced prisoner free speech and censored publications of incarcerated peoples’ writings. Now Shakaboona is free, and he is the Executive Director of the Human Rights Coalition. He will continue to organize and advocate for the human rights of all oppressed people and our communities. Our movement has gained an invaluably powerful leader outside of prison walls, who unapologetically speaks truth to power. While the state continues to silence our friends, family, and comrades on the inside, our collective power is stronger than ever and we will never stop fighting for liberation.

by Sergio Hyland "You say that you're ready to learn. Well, if that's the case, you must be ready to accept the fact that everything you learned from the 'heroes' you mentioned in your letter, was wrong! I'll have my daughter send you some books, and then your education can really begin." Those were some of the words that Maroon wrote to me in response to the first letter I ever wrote to him. I was 30 years old, and had already developed a deep admiration for the man. I never imagined that he - and the things he taught me - would go on to change my life. I didn't know what to expect from him, and once I'd read his letter, I wondered if I'd made a mistake by reaching out to him. I mean, the "heroes" whom he criticized and claimed were wrong, were men who my generation grew up idolizing - Malcolm X, George Jackson, Huey Newton, and more. So when he said that everything I'd learned from them was wrong, I was distressed. And I didn't hide my feelings when I responded to his letter. See, at that time, Maroon and I were both being held in solitary confinement at SCI Greene, which, back then, was the most restrictive and oppressive "hole" in the state of Pennsylvania. And though we were on the same block (G-Block), we were on different pods (I was on G-A and Maroon was on G-C). Sometimes we'd be in the yard together, whenever the weather was rough, and the guards decided to combine the pods. That's when we'd get to talk to each other. And all I did was listen. The brother was so intelligent, and I couldn't believe that a man like him was in prison. The way he spoke, the manner in which he carried himself, and the way that others - including prison guards - respected him, made me want to learn as much as I could from him. When he talked, WE ALL listened. Fortunately, Saleem Holbrook and I were already friends by then, so I was pretty much primed to learn as much as possible from "the Old Man". But what I learned from Maroon, was something nobody else had ever tried to teach me. This tribute isn't the place to explain those lessons, because it gets too deep. But what I will say is that I loved Maroon. And in a letter to his son, I explained something that I'd never explained to anybody before: I grew up with my father in my life. I loved my father dearly, and even up until this day, my father is the greatest man I have ever known. But Maroon is the only other man who I have ever looked at in a similar way. The world suffered a tremendous loss when Maroon transitioned. My generation, and countless young men in prison, will all be touched by this loss. I have always vowed to carry on his teachings. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, some of which I had the pleasure of speaking with after Maroon was granted a compassionate release. I got to speak with him a couple of times, before he passed. It was difficult. I wasn't used to hearing him sound the way he did. But I made sure to remind him of the impact he continues to have on me and numerous others. Honestly, I'm finding it difficult to express the way I'm feeling in this moment. Maybe it has to set in. But I'm grateful for having the privilege of knowing Russell Maroon Shoatz. And I'm grateful that he wasn't like many other elders who have a disdain for the younger generations. He knew how to correct us without making us feel stupid. And he showed us what the real meanings of community, love, freedom, responsibility, and revolution were. I will miss him every day of my life - the same way that I miss my own father. And I will continue their legacies as best as I know how. Sergio Hyland @uptownserg

The Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University announced HRC as one of the recipients of the 2021-22 Turning Points in History Grant Program. The program includes a $5000 grant to support public-facing historical projects related to the theme of “Turning Points” in history. The “Prison Abolition Archive” is a collaborative project between local archivists, including Simon Ragovin (Drexel University) and Beaudry Allen (Villanova University) and activists Reggie West (Human Rights Coalition), Jackson Kusiack (Human Rights Coalition) and B. Preston Lyle (Human Rights Coalition). Funds will be used to create the "Prison Abolition Archive" (PAA) to document and preserve the administrative records, surveys, legal documents, 10,000+ letters from incarcerated people, and other archival materials collected by HRC over the last 20 years.

By Juliette Rando It was a sweltering Sunday afternoon in mid-September, but that didn’t stop dozens from gathering outside Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary to demand the closure of a toxic prison - SCI Fayette. In stark contrast to the tourists lining up for the “museum” like prisons are a historical artifact, the speakers emphasized the immediate and dire situation of individuals being poisoned by environmental hazards at SCI Fayette. “Can’t breathe, can’t eat, can’t smell. For a significant period of time. And then denied medical attention” — that’s how Dana Lomax-Williams summarized the situation for our kinmates incarcerated at Fayette. She explained how an investigation by the Abolitionist Law Center uncovered 17 deaths at Fayette between 2010-2013, 64% of which were due to cancer. This sad reality is a direct result of the fact that SCI Fayette was built on a coal ash dumping site that contaminates the surrounding air and water. The DOC is well aware of this fact - in fact, the drinking water at the prison is so polluted that prison staff sued for access to bottled water for themselves - and their dogs - and won. But they still force those incarcerated there to drink, bathe in, and cook with this poison water. Dana’s message resounded throughout the crowd, “The only option is for us to fight for them or they die.” Throughout the event, B. Preston Lyles, an organizer with HRC’s #ShutDownFayette campaign who was formerly incarcerated at SCI Fayette, seamlessly wove together the issues of mass incarceration and environmental racism, as he introduced the lineup of speakers including prison abolitionists, labor organizers, and environmental justice advocates. HRC’s Jackson Kusiak walked the crowd through the environmental history of Pennsylvania - from coal mining to fracking - and explained how that legacy of extracting the earth for profit has interfaced with the legacy of extracting human souls for profit through the prison industrial complex. Toxic corporations suck every last resource from the earth, and when there’s nothing left, they turn to warehousing people on that land so they can still turn a profit. That’s why SCI Fayette was built. And that’s why people incarcerated there are forced to drink the water- because they are treated as just another resource that can be extracted and then thrown away. Yet the crowd’s energy was that of determination, not despair. As BP elucidated, “We have been working to accomplish a mission that requires as many voices and as many votes and as loud of a scream as we can muster. This needs to be amplified all across the commonwealth, and the nation.”

Join the Human Rights Coalition, Abolitionist Law Center, and the Solidarity Not Solitary PA-CAIC campaign on June 1 for a rally and public call to End Solitary Confinement in PA! Survivors of solitary will share why the practice is so damaging and why it stands as one of the central and most oppressive aspects of the state’s prison system of warehousing and control. We will also honor and stand in solidarity with those currently in the Hole as they undergo the dehumanizing isolation of solitary, and call on ourselves as a community to stand with them. There will be a replica of a solitary cell and the chance to write to and connect with people in solitary, and to donate to the solidarity fund for people inside prison. The following day on June 2 at 10am there will be a press conference to announce new legislation that would limit solitary to 15 days--in keeping with the UN’s international standards--and also prevent people under 21, LGBTQ people, and aging people from being held in solitary. PA House Reps Tina Davis and Donna Bullock and others will introduce the legislation, as will Senators John Kane and Katie Muth, and survivors of solitary will speak about how people inside prisons are the center and source for this work. Please join us! Check out the facebook event here.