Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 March 2000 — Page 4

The Miancie Times, March 2, 2000, page 4

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Inmate laments prison as corrupt

This letter is from a prisoner who has been confined for 15 years in February, that gives me some authority about the following statements. Prisons are the number one problem in America today. If the system of captive/slavery was bad, I want you to know that, you can not measure the evils of prisons in today’s society. Truly its the selling of human beings all over again. It does not require Sherlock Holmes to see these facts. The mere increase in prisons nationwide is the “smoking gun!” Prisons and prisoners have increased 500% or better; that is , I am not counting the private industry of prisons; this increase was based on profit motive. Laws have been fashioned specifically to fill these profit camps. Towns are fighting over the construction of prisons in their area; not that they don’t want them there but because its a huge job provider and uplifts the economy of these communities. Its a booming business in America. The threat is of major concern to all Black people; not just black men because in the state of

California, there are more black women in prison than are white men! Run that around in your head! Not only do they (the racist element in this society) profit from our imprisonment but the people they destroy in these camps are returned to our communities and will contaminate all they touch in passing. This is as a result of years of torture, not just physical torture but torture that make men save waste for weeks in their cells to throw on prison guards for the cruel bad treatment received at their hands. No! don’t pass judgement; the tortured, are the only ones who can measure this state of mind. Threat of prisons to black people in America, ain’t just to poor black folks, I know you know the story well. Prisons are far more dangerous than drugs or guns; we must view prisons in a new mind set. Things are going on that the public must know. Prisons are also the most corrupt entities in America, the courts work hand and

glove with this scheme; the courts (both federal and state) has merely replaced the auction blocks. In Indiana, the prison system is the most extreme; corruption has influence and support in every area and walk of life. Its like a giant cloud of fear hovering over Indiana. In this prison, system, we are forced to pay $11.96 for a case of soft drinks that sells in the stores for $4 to $5; $9 for a thermal top and $9 for the bottom; we have paid as high as $252.99 for a 13’ color T. V. without the speaker or remote. We pay $3.35 for a local $.35 call. The Department of Correction and the major telecommunications networks (GTE, AT&T, SPRINT-UNITED and AMERITECH) are making untold millions from prisoner’s families through this illegal phone scam, we have the case in court: KEEBY VS. STATE OF INDIANA Cause No. 3:99-CV-0277RM in the United State District-Court in South Bend, Indiana. We (prisoners) are asking the communities to ask w 7 hy we have

to pay these extorted prices. We (our families) even pay for our medical care; we pay $5 to attend sick call or see the doctor; we pay $5 for medicine and each time we change it. What happens to the money the tax-payers pay for our health care? That must be a huge share of that half a billion dollar budget for DOC. The Indiana State Prison budget is $31,658,309; the State makes about $25,000 to $30,000 a head for prisoners per year! That means if a single prisoner spends 10 years incarcerated, the State gains $300,000!! There are a little over 1600 prisoners at the Indiana State Prison and there are approximately 800 employees, that almost an employee for every two prisoners; as we say: “ain’t that much watching in the world!” The selling of human beings is happening big time in America! Robert Earl Keeby P. O. Box 41 Michigan City, Ind. 46360

Brochure shows Underground Railroad sites in OHIO

SANDUSKY, Ohio—Cities on the coast of Lake Erie were the last step to freedom for many slaves in the 1800s. Sandusky, Ohio, was among last U. S. stepping-stones for slaves searching for freedom in Canada. The Erie County Visitors and Convention Bureau offers the perfect guide to answering questions about Sandusky’s link with the Underground Railroad. A new Underground Railroad brochure answers questions such as: what is Sandusky, Ohio’s link to Uncle Tom’s Cabin? Who received a silver-headed-cane for his contributions to the Underground Railroad? What a town in northern Ohio was known by the code name, “Sunrise?”

Answers to these and dozens of other questions pertaining to the Underground Railroad in Erie County, Ohio, can be found in a driving tour and accompanying brochure developed for the tourist and motor coach markets, a perfect learning opportunity during Black History Month and beyond. Several “stations” throughout the county and other relevant sites have been identified. This brochure, created by the Sandusky/Erie County Visitors & Convention Bureau, is available for group tour operators, museums, schools and individuals. Funded in part by a grant from the National Trust for Historic

Preservation’s Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation, the brochure is part of an Underground Railroad program and includes various stops. One stop visitors on the tour may take is a one-act play, “Rise at Sunrise, Rest by Midnight” performed at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Vermilion, Ohio. Another is the Follett House Museum, which features a collection of archival material chronicling the history of Sandusky’s and Erie County’s link to the Underground Railroad. Finally another stop visitors may consider is Affordable Treasures, a store at the outlet mall, which sells books and

related information about the Underground Railroad. Because of its location on Lake Erie, its nearness to Canada and the numerous ports and railroad lines available, the Erie County area was a major terminal on the Underground Railroad, earning it a place in the famous abolitionist novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. To receive a copy of the brochure, “The Underground Railroad in Erie County,” or any information about Erie County, Cedar Point and the Lake Erie Islands please contact the Sandusky/Erie County Visitors & Convention Bureau at 1-800-225-ERIE or request the information online at www.buckeyenorth.com.