Each day we hear statistics regarding the number of COVID 19 cases and deaths occurring. We hear local, state, national and global figures. Our reactions vary depending on our own experiences with the pandemic. Unfortunately, we can become indifferent to the barrage of numbers unless it has affected us personally.
Numbers we don’t often hear are relative to how many cases and deaths take place in prisons. The incidence of COVID among prisoners is one in five. There have been over two thousand deaths which is 51% more than the general population. Each person who dies in prison leaves behind family who care about them. These loved ones need the same support and care that any grieving person needs, but it is difficult to receive due to the stigma of imprisonment.
A group of family members and other survivors have gone together to prepare a crowd sourced memorial for those who die in prison. Please review these obituaries, read about those who have died while locked away and look at their faces. They are our fellow human beings. Let’s spend some time honoring these lives lost. https://www.mourningourlosses.org
Amen.
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Sue, This was a good thing to include and I forwarded it on. Our papers didn’t report on it, but I believe at Luther Luckett in LaGrange over 900 of the inmates out of about 1100 had coved. Don’t quote me on the numbers but it’s close. It’s been terrible, I think, how quiet all this has been kept. I still enjoy your blog. Thanks. Gaye Holman Author, Decades Behind Bars:A Twenty-Year Conversation with Men in America’s Prisons
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Unfortunately, Gaye, not enough people care. When I start reading those obituaries I can’t stop. It is so sad. Thank you for all you do and have done for those who are imprisoned. Your class meant so much to me.
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This is a very important blog entry. I haven’t heard enough about it. Thank you for bringing attention to it.
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Thank you.
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