A young man spoke with me today about the two months that he served in the SHU (also known as the Special Housing Unit). Prisoners locked in the SHU—a prison within the prison—are confined in closet-sized rooms for between 23 and 24 hours every day. The young man spoke tough, as if to impress me with his ability to serve SHU time. I’m much more impressed with people who behave in ways that not only avoid SHU time, but result in meaningful progress toward success upon release.
That is not to say time in SHU necessarily blemishes a man’s character. As prisoners, we’re always subject to investigation or disciplinary infractions that can result in placement in the SHU. During the 23 years I’ve served, I’ve spent about three months in the SHU. The most recent time was in 2007, when I served 65 days in the SHU at Lompoc. Guards had charged me with several disciplinary infractions related to my writing. In time saner minds prevailed at the BOP regional level and all disciplinary charges against me were dropped and expunged.
Serving time in SHU should never endow one with a sense of pride or honor, as the young man with whom I spoke tried to convey. I talked with him for longer than one hour. Although it was an hour that I could have used more effectively on my writing projects, I feel a responsibility as a long-term prisoner to mentor the men around me who will listen. I don’t know whether my message always connects, but I always try to inspire them and to serve as a positive role model. The answer to personal growth through confinement lies in discipline. It is not so different, I don’t think, from achieving success in society.
My young friend agreed to join me in a few positive programs. He signed up for Toastmasters, our public speaking group at Taft Camp. I think that he will benefit from more exposure to other people involved in positive, self-empowering projects. The young man’s biggest problem, I think, is his lack of hope. He has eight more years to serve—he cannot bring himself to envision walking out of prison and into a career upon release. I will work with him some more, and I hope to expand his horizons.
This morning I ran 10 miles and followed with 700 pushups.
[consecutive running log: 4,242 miles over the past 479 days]
[pushups in 2010: 34,000]
Sunday, 4 April 2010
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