FeedA Day in the Life of Inmate # 98005-111 AKA Josh Wolf
Note:This piece was originally published on the SF Bay Guardian Web Site with an introduction by Sarah Phelan–len
by Josh Wolf
At 5:30 AM each morning, I awake to the sound of the morning guard walking down the corridor and unlocking each cell. Breakfast is available for the next few minutes, if one manages to swiftly wake up and wander into the dayroom. More often than not, I elect to stay in bed—I’m eating too much in here anyhow, and lunch is usually served before noon. On the days that I do get up in time, we are usually served what amounts to a deluxe continental breakfast featuring some combination of the following: cold cereal, some sort of cake, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and a piece of fruit.
By 6 AM, I am almost fully awake and listening to Democracy Now! on KPFA. At 6:30 AM, the guard once again locks down our cell while the orderlies clean the unit; these prisoners mop the floors, wash the windows and clean the showers five days a week. After Democracy Now! , I usually listen to KPFA Morning Show and it is these two programs which allow me to stay current with the news. I do have a subscription to the Chronicle, but by the time the paper arrives it borders on being a historic document.
Sometime between 8 and 9 AM, the guard unlocks the door to our cell again and the counselor performs his inspection to make sure that all our personal property is stowed away in our footlockers and our beds are made. If our room fails to pass the inspection then we are liable to remain locked in our rooms until lunch.
On weekdays, we are usually taken out for Rec at some point in the morning. The Rec yard us a small slag of concrete with a basketball court and a pull-up bar; there is also a volleyball net. Only half the unit is taken out each day and we alternate between playing basketball and volleyball. Some of the guys work out and others walk or jog around the yard. Rec lasts for one hour and is our only real opportunity to breathe fresh air.
We are usually served lunch sometime shortly after Rec. Lunch consists of a green salad, the occasional potato salad, some sort of hot sandwich on most days, and cookies are frequently part of the meal as well.
After lunch, we are permitted to hang out in the day room or our cells until 2:45 PM, when we are locked down for count. During this time, I usually find myself conversing with friends or watching television, Sometimes we get a game of Scrabble going and at other times I choose to spend most of my time sitting on my bed reading.
The count is usually cleared shortly after 3 PM at which time we are released from our cells and mail is delivered. I spend some time musing over my mail and by 4 O’clock we are frequently being served dinner.
At 5 PM, I meet up with my work out crew and we generally exercise for about 45 minutes to an hour. Although there are no weights available in the detention center, we are able to exercise most of the major muscle groups through a combination of improvisation and the use of our own body weight. After working out, I generally prepare some sort of high-protein snack and shower.
Although I occasionally watch a bit of television during the evening, I try to devote the last hour or two before lockdown to responding to the correspondence I have received. Just before 8:45 PM, I go into the guard’s office and deliver whatever letters I have finished writing, and then fill up my mug with water from the drinking fountain. By that time, the guard has usually announced lockdown and we all scamper back to our cells where we wait out the rest of the night.
After being locked down at 8:45 PM, I usually talk to my cellie for a bit, get ready for bed and often time s respond to another letter or two. It is during this time that I usually write my daily entry in my journal.
At 10 PM, the station I listen to while I write switched to a talk-format and I usually start reading one of my books, The library in the detention center is pretty abysmal: three book carts stuffed with the stale paperbacks-but fortunately I’ve had a plethora of books sent in to me from dozens of supporters. The entire time I’ve been here, I’ve always had an enticing book to dive into and the opportunity to loan out books to many of my fellow prisoners.
After reading for a couple of hours, I find myself falling sleep sometime around midnight. A few hours alter, I find myself awake and living out the same story again and again.
Josh… Thanks. From all of us bloggers whom you’re standing up for, thanks. I’ve contributed to your legal fund once so far, and plan to again in the New Year. I applaud your efforts, and your seemingly unflagging dedication to your principles.
I have to ask, because I can’t find anything on the Wiki.. is the end of this insanity in sight?
- Aaron
Sound like easy life. Is no soviet gulag. No sympathy. Give nice judge video and be home to Christmas. Oops. New year. Oops. Valentine Day…
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Josh,
Thank you. Stay strong. I continue to keep you in mind and remind others of your strength and your plight.
Peace – t.g.
Hey Josh –
There are really no words to describe the Kafka-esque horrors that come along with imprisonment, or the sad, failed state that America has become. If you haven’t noticed, we are not living in the utopian dream society we were promised as kids. I’ve followed your story on and off now, from my cube in New Jersey, and I CANNOT BELIEVE that you are still being held. This is unacceptable to the extreme. But like you, and others, I refuse to submit to the corrupt power whores of the New World Order. Unlike Judy Miller, whose connections to the Bush administration are legend, and whose loyalties seemed to fall more in line with the New World Order’s plan to rule the world than the New York Time’s so-called commitment to being the “paper of record”. Sometimes, being polite isn’t good enough. There really are hardcore Judge Dred-like rightwing judges who rule from the book. There really are information-controlling government agencies that don’t care if Josh Wolf ever sees daylight again, so long as that damned hippie has them videotapes of anarchists and commies and pinkos and whatever else. Don’t give them nothing – unless you just can’t take it anymore. I don’t think anyone would hold that against you. There are people in cubes out there, like me, who read about what’s going on, everyday, and CANNOT BELIEVE the absurdity of the American situation. Americans have no understanding of the level of control they are under, and until they do, peace warriors such as yourself are going to continue to face tyranny. Keep fighting Josh! Who knows, at the rate things are going we might ALL end up behind barbed wire.
Your friend,
Jason Jensen
jason… who promised you a utopian dream society when you were a kid? the only promise that i ever knew of was the one that i personally achieved, rather than having one handed to me. you are ignorant. go live somewhere really messed up and come back to the states and you will find your utopian dream society. i like it here just fine.