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The Basic
Training In Federal Prison - Page 3
Over 40% of
the women had children, one of them nine. The training took
place in the "Children's Center," the place where
children are brought on weekends to visit their mothers. There
were little potty chairs in the restrooms.
The most striking difference
between the men at Ft. Grant and the women inmates was that
the men, once they had broken through the barrier of their
belief that strong men don't cry or show their emotions, made
free use of the word "love." Most of them got up
and said "You are my brothers!" and I saw that to
them the word "love" was synonymous with "hurt."
They had been
hurt so deeply where they gave their love that they now regarded
this tender emotion with fear. They had built a protective
shells of mistrust around their inner core to prevent being
hurt again. Some told me they were in prison because they
had allowed themselves to be used by their men as accessories,
and so they felt bitter.
Instead of "love,"
the women said things like, "I want everyone to like
me!" or "I want your support and friendship!"
or "I want a husband, a home, children, respect, kindness,
consideration, and I want to make my family happy." But
they dared not say "love!"
A Lifespring
photographer and I were having lunch one day in the prison
dining hall when Velma, a young bank robber, joined us. Velma
said she had robbed some 22 banks for a total take of $80,000.
Not much in view of the risks but quite a lot for someone
from the poverty level. She never did get caught, she said.
Some snitch, maybe her ex-husband, turned her in for the $50,000
reward the banks offered for her conviction. I found myself
unwittingly regarding her with admiration for her bold courage
and skill in spite of my disapproval of crime in general.
On the previous
day, Velma had taken the mic to say how much the training
had done for her, thanking a few specific persons for their
"support" and asking for more "support"
from the group. They had given her a standing demonstration
of their "support!"
At lunch I asked her why she
had asked for "support" instead of "love,"
which I felt was what she really wanted. She didn't know why,
but that afternoon she rose and again asked for the mic. She
said, "Yesterday I asked you for support and you gave
it to me. Today I want to retract that request. Instead I
want your love!" She got it in an outburst of applause.
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