Serving a purpose, or just serving time?

By Robert Howard, Prisoner of the Drug War

It has been almost four years since I entered the federal prison system. I was sentenced to 151 months (over 12 years) plus ten years probation for my first-time nonviolent drug offense involving nine ounces of methamphetamine. As one of the million prisoners of the drug war, I'm asking my fellow prisoners for your help in a very worthwhile cause. I believe we are in a unique position to initiate some positive changes in America's most serious social and political epidemic: the return of failed prohibition now called the drug war.

After spending a couple of years at the federal correctional institution in Lompoc, California, I was allowed to transfer to the federal prison camp in Sheridan, Oregon, which is considerably closer to my home in Seattle. Upon arriving, I was surprised to learn that one of the inmates was a Catholic priest. This kind and caring person, Father Bixel, was here in prison because he had broken federal law while protesting the School of America (SOA) in Georgia.

This special Fort Benning military academy has trained nice folks like Manuel Noriega and many other military officers who have been implicated in South American death squads and numerous atrocities. Father Bixel and others were arrested and sentenced to prison for trespassing on federal property during a large, public demonstration against the SOA in 1997. After seeing the many letters of support they received, then reading articles from the press about their cause and plight, I began realizing there can be more to being in prison than simply 'doing time'. By coming to prison these men were able to galvanize support for their political cause, and their voices multiplied a hundredfold.

Brothers and sisters, as prisoners, I know how easy it is to believe we have been reduced to insignificance. Like so much dust swept under a rug, we have been assigned numbers and warehoused away, out of sight and out of mind. But, as it turns out, being in prison can be politically expedient. Think about it!

If only two men can help generate a significant amount of action and support for a cause by coming to prison, what do you suppose we can do with a million nonviolent drug war prisoners behind bars calling on their friends and family and with their own voice as well. That would be one LOUD voice calling for an end to the drug war. Most of the world has a distinct notion that something is seriously wrong in America thanks, in part, to our presence on these compounds.

Something must come from all of this suffering. We must take our part in informing the world about what is happening. And I don't mean we should complain about the lousy food or the wonderful treatment we get - the people who care about us personally are worried enough as it is. What the world needs to know is how all of this is affecting him or her personally. The good citizens better believe that this is an issue for them because our imprisonment is merely an indicator of the greater damage being done by the policies that put us here.

Prohibition, the drug war, is nothing short of a national disaster, an international disaster to be sure. It has been directly responsible for the decline of inner city neighborhoods, simply guaranteeing that more and more children will be exposed to drugs and prohibition related violence.

Like me, you may have come to regret your prior involvement in drugs, or your contribution to the "drug problem," and I also realize that our imprisonment is part of a much larger problem that is making the drug problem worse. We owe ourselves, our country, and those who will be in the new prisons being built at this very moment, to speak up and help stop the insanity.

Consider this: Because we have come to prison, everyone in our family and many friends have become very aware of at least one tragic aspect of the drug war. Folks who might otherwise have paid little, if any, attention to this issue were forced to sit helplessly by as we were ripped out of their lives and shipped off to prison. Of those people, how many do you think would hesitate to write a letter, in their own words, asking for an end to the drug war? Would they send copies to all of our elected officials, those seeking election? Even at this basic level, with a simple request by you for a simple and straightforward action, can you imagine how many times your message could be multiplied?

I think it is a grave error for any of us to underestimate our significance in this. As individuals, you or I alone would probably be unable to take on the whole grinding system which has swallowed us, but that is not our job. It is our job to enlighten our own little part of the world as best we can and ask for a little action on our behalf. The more the better, surely, but as we have seen in Father Bixel and his friends, significant things can be done with a little time and effort.

Remember, there are millions of us now, every action is significant, and I would venture to say that The November Coalition could probably suggest effective actions for any level of commitment. Doing our time in silence is a lot like winking in the dark. Nothing is seen. So what are we going to do, simply serve our time, or serve a purpose?