Category Archives: GlobalTel (GTL)

Numbers #

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9-22-16

Dear Brothers and Sisters here at DCJ,

There is always strength in numbers and it’s more of us than them. To start off we must use our mind and pen. We must flood them with paperwork. Like, write a legal complaint and give it to our lawyers or public defenders to make copies and file on our behalves. This way it won’t get lost or misplaced. We need to push those dirty azz trays back out the door. We got to keep it hot on ABL Management new food service company. They may start out great but it’s all about the money and the bottom line. They will do all the right things to keep their foot inside the door. We are going to see, keep eyes open.

We have to stop their money flow. You do the math. It’s simple. $17 or $27 for those phone cards every week to 10 days before you re-up on one. $17 x 3 = $51. $27 x 3 = $81. That’s a 30-day period. And if you get one a week, times that by 4.

Just buy a few stamps and see what you save. Numbers don’t lie.

I heard a C.O. say that she was not concerned about our names, only the body count, only the numbers #. You need a # to use the phone, you need a # to order canteen, you got a # on your wrist, you got a # on your cell door, you got a # on your laundry bag.

I’ll do my part to collective action here because some things are best said unspoken.

Just know that, small pieces makes a big pie. Word will spread so keep your ear to the vent. Help is on the way.

Day 90 (DCJ)

Still in the struggle

Coy AKA Plastic

P.S. Sidebar

We need to get on our knees and pray to God for his help. When God shows up God will show out!!! Prayer is a powerful tool if we apply it collectively every day. At 12:50 to 1:00 as a group. Strength in numbers, and watch things happen for the good. So let’s not play with it. Let’s step out on faith.

‘It pose to be justice system not slavery system’

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Sep 18-16

I’m doing ight. I’m making it. The HRC form—I never got it!

I heard about the march and they locked down the whole jail because of it. This shit is crazy how this system work. But the thing is how the people let them do it. If we gon’ do something, let’s do it right. I heard that there pose to be a new company that’s doing food. When is that supposed to start? Continue reading →

‘That fist bump keeps me going til the next time’

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fencing at DCDF (1)

This photo was taken near the end of June. The fencing is still up.

In front of the jail last week, topics of conversation ranged from the construction all around us (that has been underway since late June with little to show for it), to the jail’s plans for video visitation, to the new contract for food preparation, and much more. The following are snippets of conversation:

M: You look around, and it just seems like things are going to get worse here. This construction, for one. They used to have trees here and benches. Then they took down the trees, and they took out the benches.

Y: Yeah, when we started protesting.

M: But what are they putting in here? It’s not gonna be better. You can only assume it will be worse based on what goes on here. They also seem to be doing some kind of construction on the roof. I saw porta potties up there, and stuff hanging off the edge. What’s going on up there?

S: I don’t know.

M: This whole place is a mess.

S: And then there’s fewer benches to sit on in the lobby, and the recently removed curtain where the locker area was. That’s gonna be for video visitation, right?

M: There’s fewer benches because there will be less waiting for visits maybe? We don’t know because they never say. For video visits, forget it. If it comes to that, I won’t go. I’d rather talk to my dad on the phone. It’s bullshit that they’re doing that. I would rather talk to him on the phone than through a video screen.

_______________________________________________

C: Visits on a video monitor is gonna be worst on children of inmates. And on the inmates themselves. Why would they take away face to face when there’s no reason to? That’s gonna kill people. It’ll make people so much worse off than now even.

T: They’re not doing that, or, if they try it’s not gonna fly. No way. It might be with glass between you, but you’re really seeing them. And the fist bump. I live for a fist bump at that end. You can’t do that on video. If I don’t have that fist bump…It keeps me going til the next time.

S: What do you think they’re doing here (construction)? Do you know?

G: I don’t know. They don’t say. Maybe someone is digging a tunnel out of the place? (Smiles).

S: I like the way you think. (Smile)

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N: We were told they put up this (construction fence) to stop us and others from talking to the inmates at the windows.

S: Really? Someone from the jail told you that?

J: No, other people said it, not anyone who works here, I don’t think.

S: So, I see it hasn’t really stopped you from communicating. Or anyone else.

J: (Laughs). No, not really.

S: Does anyone from the jail ever try to tell you to stop signaling?

N: Hell no. They know it ain’t gon’ stop me.

 

 

‘You need to see what goes on behind closed doors’

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What’s up IOA?

First off, thanks for reaching out to me. I’m just now getting your letter…7 DAYS LATER!!

I can’t stand how this system treats us, it’s like they couldn’t care less about what goes on with us because they wear a badge and can go home at the end of the day. Some of these officers think they can say and do what they want because we wear orange. But we humans, too and we got rights as well. Continue reading →

Baptism Ceremony: Publicity Stunt or Nah?

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Hey

I’d like to thank you for the books and for writing me. As you may not know I’m a preacher by the call of God awaiting my day of release from this pending issue. I noticed you would visit and any – is fine as often as you’d like. I also have your number but I’d prefer calling when it’s something worth calling for because GlobalTel is a total monstrosity. As you may have heard it’s a claim that individuals have been supposedly sending drugs of some sort in the mail embedded in stamps, so we can no longer receive assistance from any outsiders. We are demanded to buy their stamps on commissary (Ridiculous!!) Continue reading →

‘What’s wrong with that picture?’

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I’m doing good, thanks for asking. I’m really glad you all have reached out to me. To tell you a little about myself. My name is Niajel Slad, 24, and I been in the Durham Co. Jail since Aug. 26, 2015. Mind you, when I found out I was a suspect, I turned myself in. Even though the lack of evidence, my bond is 3 million. The media and police said a lot of inaccurate things about me. They treat me like a monster. Continue reading →

‘We get to the point it makes us give up on a lot of things…’

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Hope that we’re being heard!!!

Sorry I wrote back so late. To answer your question, yes I did hear about some of the protests outside of the jail and I do wanna thank you for being an ear to hear some of these voices that needed to be heard, ya feel me…Things for me are going ok, just a little bit, just ready to hit the yard and get this shit over with. As a 16 year old I’m not really going through that much, just made that they’re holding me for something I didn’t do…A lot of us are being held for something they can’t prove at all. And a guy just shot the police down in the intake area about a month ago and was released on pre-trial release…Me personally don’t think that’s fair at all, and feel something needs to be done ASAP #100. How do you get 18 yrs for one robbery you can’t prove, but get out on pre-trial release or 5 or 6 years for shooting an officer. Shit really doesn’t make any sense at all, but it’s fine, the judge and  the DA really don’t give 2 shits about us. Just another black man off the streets is all that matters to them!!! A lot of us get so cold-hearted and stressed out to the point where it makes us give up on a lot of things and so much anger and stress gets built up and makes us do something we would regret.

They also need to give us our 9:00 walk back, or at least give us 15-minute phone calls because 10 minutes aren’t enough when talking to family about something important…It’s so much in here that needs to be changed as quick as possible and I really hope that something will be done.

I just wanna add something that I’ve learned since I been in here…

Attitude—The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill…It will make or break a company, a church, a home…the remarkable thing is we make a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have and this is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And it is with you J We are in charge of our attitude.

Free the guys:

Tazz, Blueeyes, OB, J-rocc, Shy, Sosa, ShoNuff, Myself, RugaBlue, Loca, O-dogg, Messiah, Starrboy, Silk

As y’all know I took my time see yall on the outside world. I’ll be home in 30 months.

God Bless the Strong!!!

-HF

‘This jail needs to be flushed out and reorganized’

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Hello IOA,

My name is Bernard Cheek. I don’t care if anyone see my name. I’m not afraid of any man or woman but Jesus and God. I would like to say the medical screening is a joke here, they don’t have the right size blood pressure cuff for my arm. The commissary is too high for the inmates, GTL is making a killing off of inmate phone calls. The hot tray they sell are very expensive. The c.o.s get wholesome food at very reasonable prices. The inmates pay for the c.o.s food, because Aramark, the jail’s food service provider triples the inmates’ hot tray price. Continue reading →

‘She did that shit on purpose’

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I’ve been going up to visit my fiance with his two kids for two months now every Wednesday. Two weeks ago, all of a sudden, the woman in there, who hadn’t been there on Wednesdays before, she says “Only one kid can go up with you.” I said, “they’ve been going up with me every week.” She points to the sign that says only one per adult. But online when you’re scheduling a visit, it lets you sign up to bring two kids. It won’t let you sign up three kids–that’s too many, but two kids is fine. It doesn’t make any sense. They were going up with me every week. Now all of a sudden they can’t go up and see their dad. I tried to bring one up, and then send him down, and send the other one up, but they wouldn’t let them do that.

So then, last week I go up to see him, this time on a Wednesday with no kids, and I’m waiting there for him, and waiting. Everyone else on his pod is out visiting, but not my fiance. He’s not there. So I go downstairs and ask, ‘did you say he had a visit?’ I go back up, and I’m waiting again. So I go back downstairs. I ended up going up and down 4 different times before I actually saw him, and by that time the visit was just about over. She did that shit on purpose. No doubt in my mind. Cause I had an attitude the week before about the kids not being allowed up. So after wasting my time like that I asked ‘Can I speak to the sergeant?’ But he didn’t do anything. He didn’t get my time back.

And what the hell is going on with the mail? When he first got in there it was 2-3 days for him to get mail. Now, it’s 2-3 weeks for him to get it, and 2-3 weeks for me to get mail from him. I sent him some photos of me (not naked or anything), and he didn’t get it, didn’t get it, and then they came back to me. I went in there and I asked an officer, ‘Is he allowed to get this? Why did it come back?’ He said, ‘that’s fine, he can get those.’ So why didn’t he get them? And why is it taking so long? I’m asking the post office, I’m calling Durham, I’m calling Raleigh, but all signs point to this place being the problem.

Con un hispano, se portan más racistas/With a hispanic person, they act even more racist

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*English translation below*

Hola ________

Soy L.L.L. y quiero dar gracias a dios y a ustedes y a ti que se preocupan por nosotros los presos, no tengo mucho que contar a cerca de Mateo (Matthew McCain), pero para mi crea que fue una negligencia medica su muerte ya quel día anterior el se quejó que ya se sentía mal y no lo atendieron. Tambien estava laqueado porque no salia junto con nosotros.

Referiendonos al trato, para nosotros aqui si no tenemos dinero en nuestra cuenta, no nos atienden rapido, ya que nose cobran 20 dolares. Bueno apenas paso un caso de un hispano que se sentia mal su boca se le estava llendo de lado, y no lo atendian. Ya que por el ingles pero otra persona X le ayudó a excribir en ingles en la computadora la verda no se sabe que escribio la persona X. Porque rapido lo llevaron al medico. Pero lo raro fue que cuando regresó , lo movieron de piso y no se sabe que paso con el. Bueno con respeto a los guardias a veces no nos quieren dar papel hijenico o champu que dan aqui.

Con uno hispano se portan más racistas, y con respeto a la comida, yo desgraciadamente llevo un año aqui y todas las tardes lo unico que nos dan son pan con jamón y bueno ya que uno no tiene familia aqui, que le pongan a uno dinero. A veces los amigos se acuerdan de uno, pero con respeto a la cantina, o a la tienda que vende comidas o articulos que uno necesita, como javon, pasta, sopas’ están demasiado elevados los precios por ejemplo, una tarjeta telefonica e 20 dolares la venden en 27 dolares y cada sopa 89 cent. Bueno, yo para llamar a un amigo en Raleigh, me cobran 8 dolares 10 minutos, es mucho, mucho dinero, espero y le ayude o nos ayude la información gracias y dios los vendiga a ti y al grupo. …. y aqui le pongo 2 anillos de regalo.

L.L.L.

rings for amplify voices

HI _________

I am L.L.L. and I want to thank God and y’all and you for caring about us prisoners, I don’t have much to tell about Mateo (Matthew McCain), but for me I think his death was medical neglect because he already felt bad the day before, and he said that he felt sick y and they did not treat him. Also, he was locked back because he did not leave his cell with us.

In reference to the treatment, for us here, if we don’t have money in our accounts, they do not treat us quickly, it already costs us 20 dollars. Also, there was just a case of a hispanic man who was sick, his mouth was going off to the side, and they did not treat him, could be because of english, but another persona X helped him write in english on the computer and the truth is, I don’t know what person X wrote, because they took him to medical quick.  The weird thing is that when he came back they moved him to a different floor and I don’t know what happened with him. But in regards to the guards, they don’t want to give us toilet paper or the shampoo they give here.

With a hispanic person, they act even more racist. And with respect to the food, unfortunately I have been here for a year and every afternoon the only thing they give us is bread and ham, and if you don’t have family here to put some money on your account, sometimes your friends remember you, but in regards to the canteen or the shop that sells food or things you need like soap, noodles, soup- the prices are too high, for example each 20 dollar telephone card they sell for 27 dollars and each soup is 89 cent. For me, to call a friend in Raleigh it costs me 8 dollars for 10 minutes, that is a lot, a lot of money. I hope this information helps y’all, thank you and god bless you and the group…. and here I put 2 rings as a present.

L.L.L.