The first time I crossed into Arizona in 1972 I was shocked. I guess I expected the Old West. Cowboys and ghost towns. Cactus and sagebrush growing along the Gadsden Purchase territory. Even Apache and Navaho, and a mix of Anglo-Mex families and culture.
What I didn’t expect was to relive part of my experiences in Alabama and Mississippi in the summer of ’63.
This weblog is devoted to the prison experience connection. It would be disingenuous to fail to address Arizona and its relationship to jails and prisons, along with the criminalization of its Hispanic citizens and culture (documented and otherwise), one of the prime causes for mass imprisonment today.
The current alien population in the federal Bureau of Prisons is at 27% (mostly Hispanic). Look for that number to rise. more…
