Voices from behind the walls

The following are a small sample of the letters Workers World newspaper receives from brothers, sisters and siblings enslaved by the U.S. carceral system. You can help Workers World provide them monthly print issues of our newspaper for free with your donation through Patreon. 

Dear Workers World,

I have recently been introduced to the Workers World newspaper by a couple of inmates here, and I really love reading the columns and cover stories in your paper. I hope to someday be able to join the Workers World Party and add to some of the stories/columns in your paper with some of my experiences from behind these walls. 

I do not have much money at this time to be able to afford a subscription of the Workers World newspaper, but I would like to know if you could please donate a subscription to me at this time until I am able to purchase one from your organization. Please continue your great work, and I thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Respectfully addressed, Edmund C., SCI Frackville, Pennsylvania

I submit this correspondence to your office in an effort to “check-in” with your organization to let you know that I have been periodically receiving your newspaper.

I want to thank you for keeping me abreast of what is happening internationally as well as here at home. I greatly appreciate your service, and I always look forward to receiving your newspaper. Especially during the COVID-19 quarantine phase of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections where correctional staff fail to social distance and wear their masks.

The correctional staff continue to not wear masks, and many refuse to get vaccinated, so a booster would be imperative to at the very least ensure that I am not hospitalized for their negligence and/or ignorance.

In solidarity from a modern day slave, Louie V., SCI Benner Township, Pennsylvania

Dear WW:

Thank you for over a decade of the Workers World. The publication was invaluable to my personal growth, my academic career at SUNY Ulster; and, I am sure, it will remain equally important in obtaining my bachelor’s degree in social science. I, however, request to have the subscription terminated as I regain my liberty in July 2022.

Again, thank you. Curtis Farrow, Shawangunk Correctional Facility, New York