The following letters came to us late last week.
Here is Genapher’s note of explanation: The one letter was mailed out on 11/9 and returned to me 12/22. The other letter was mailed out on 11/25 and was returned back to me 12/22. They say the address was wrong when I know it was right. Hope y’all had a good Christmas. Please don’t give up protesting. Continue reading
by Cynthia Fox
8-25-15
As-Salaam-Alaikum (Peace Be Unto You)
Hi, I’m the parent of an inmate in the Durham Co. Jail, who has been incarcerated for over two and a half years.
I am so very disgusted with the so-called policies and protocols implemented at the Durham Co. Jail. People (inmates) are still sick and hungry! The $20 fee to see a doctor is a big joke since they only administer aspirin for everything! Continue reading
Hello,
I hope that upon receiving this letter you are doing well and your loved ones as well. My name is F. W. I have been in Durham County Jail going on six months now. Since I have been here I have been through a lot as well as having seen a lot. For starters, the food mostly always sucks, we get a very small portion for breakfast at about 6:00 a.m. Continue reading
Ryan: 11 months without seeing my lawyer or going to court.
Jose: Coleman refused to feed me my lunch tray
Demon: Lock me back for taking my time to eat.
FLAME: C.O. Coleman tried to fight me because of my facial expression.
Joe: Cold water in the hole and unjust bonds.
Reinhardt: The jail has failed to provide any FRUIT! No apples, no pears, no bananas, no grapes, no berries, no melons, no oranges–in 3 years and 7 months.
Tito: I was locked because beef n greed in the free world, because I could be locked back.
Bull City: The officers beat you down in the hole.
Redsz: Food was not all the way done/ need more food.
Ronnie: they don’t want to provide hygiene products and are constantly out of supply. Have to go days without toilet paper.
Quadarius: Said my bond was too high to attend my grandmother’s funeral.
The MAN: ants on tray.
Gary: My lawyer Lisa Williams has not done anything for me in 6 months.
Ramirez: denied medical care because I’m ‘illegal.’
Butch: TVs blast all night, we are deprived of sleep, each officer turns pods their way–no order to anything.
Alex: No charges in North Carolina but being held here.
Abdullah: There is corruption from the police department to the jail house. How do you sell the food that we are supposed to receive. It’s not fair that palms are being greased at inmates’ expense.
To who it concerns,
Let me introduce myself. My name is not important but they know me as Demon. The reasons I’m here are also not important. This letter only has one purpose. 
Let me begin by telling you a little of Durham County Jail. There are 5 floors and each floor has 4 pods. A pod really contains 48 doors/dorms with #s. 16 of those dorms are double-bunked, meaning having two beds in it. The rest of the 48 are single-bunked. There is only one t.v. that the whole pod shares.
I’m 17 years old, and a Hispanic male. Durham County Jail (DCJ) offers only 1 hour of Hispanic television and only the news channel. I think that Hispanics should be able to watch more than 1 hour of TV throughout a whole day. Personally I don’t complain since I’m bilingual, yet there are others who think that and I just thought this would be an opportunity to tell others of this.
I think that some of the c.o.’s here are ‘undercoveredly’ racist. One example is the one of a c.o. name Cole, white male, looking fat, about 250-270 pounds and only 5’5″ or 5’6″. The incident that occurred was early in the morning when I happen to be watching TV. The channel was on the sports channel and everyone was tired of it. I got up and went to C.O. Mr. Cole to try and get the channel changed. When I asked “can you change it to 71” (and I quote everything verbatim) and he responded “change what” with a sarcastic voice. Common sense that the only thing someone can “change” there is the t.v. Someone else overhearing us came and said “Can you just change it to channel 71, damn, why you have to be like that?” Soon as he was done he walked off and Cole said “you can’t say please so I’m not changing it.” I responded “Yo, just change it, please.” He asked “Where are you from?” I said “Honduras” (yet I was born here). He said, “If you’re gonna come to this country and speak English speak it right.” I got irritated and said “Man, why you have to be racist?” He said “I’m not, I’m just saying you need to learn proper grammar to ask me to change the channel.” I was so pissed off I walked away since I couldn’t do anything about it. My boy J. P. was witness to this.
We Inmates treated like Animals? Are we still Humans? DO OUR TEARS STILL EXIST?
Time doing me
I’m a young hispanic 18 year old struggling here in Durham County Jail and over the time being here, I’ve seen and experienced a lot of depression, not only about my situation but the way we’re treated…Do they even remember we’re still humans? I’ve seen what they did to a fellow inmate; he asked to be put in solitary confinement. They refused him; so to get where he felt best he did what they wanted him to do, which was act out, and they went in his cell with 5 grown men and beat him severely. The kid wasn’t any older than I was, probably younger.
4-20-14
Para: I.O.A.
Primero que nada. Les quisiera dar las gracias por tomarce su tiempo para leer estas letras. Yo se que tiene. Yo entiendo que tiene muchas cosas muchomas importantes que hacer, y que al tomarce su tiempo y leer estas estan asiendo muchomas de lo que piensan. Continue reading
What’s up, —, it’s me D—. You said you just sent me some books recently, not that I know of. I haven’t had any yet. I’ve been in prison since January 16 and let me tell you this place is much better than (Durham) county. Canteen is cheaper, the food is better. The only thing I really don’t like is that the C.O.s are very, and I repeat, very racist. People get sent to SEG for hardly nothing. Continue reading
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