[Pnews] Activist Cecily McMillan Released from Prison, Reads Statement From Women of Rikers Island

[Prisoner News]

  Activist Cecily McMillan Released from Prison, Reads Statement From
  Women of Rikers Island

By: Kevin Gosztola <http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/author/kgosztola/> 
Wednesday July 2, 2014 1:55 pm

*http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/07/02/activist-cecily-mcmillan-released-from-prison-reads-statement-from-women-of-rikers-island/*
<http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/07/02/activist-cecily-mcmillan-released-from-prison-reads-statement-from-women-of-rikers-island/>

Cecily McMillan, a New York activist, who was sentenced to ninety days 
in prison for "felony assault of a police officer" after an incident at 
an Occupy Wall Street event, was released from prison. She delivered a 
statement to the press and took the opportunity to read a statement that 
she and the women of Rikers Island drafted together.

"Incarceration is meant to prevent crime," McMillan asserted 
<http://www.sparrowmedia.net/2014/07/cecily-mcmillan-released/>. "Its 
purpose is to penalize and then return us to the outside world ready to 
start anew. The world I saw at Rikers isn't concerned with that. Many of 
the tactics employed are aimed at simple dehumanization.

"In the interests of returning the facility to its mission and restoring 
dignity to its inmates, we, the women of Rikers, have several demands 
that will make this system more functional. These were collectively 
drafted for me to read before you today."

She said that the women of Rikers demand "adequate, safe and timely 
healthcare at all times," including mental health care services. They 
also would like to not have to wait "up to 12 hours a day for a simple 
clinic visit" as well as the ability to request a female doctor "if 
desired."

According to the women still imprisoned, there is a "special sense of 
urgency" to this demand:

    ...About a week ago, our friend Judith died as a result of
    inadequate medical care. Judith had been in RSMC for a while, but
    was transferred to our dorm 4 East A, where I was housed, only a few
    days before her death. She had recently been in the infirmary for a
    back problem, and had been prescribed methadone pills for the pain
    for quite a while. A few days before she died, they decided to
    change the medicine to liquid despite her dissent. They gave her a
    dosage of 190mg, which any doctor will tell you is a dangerous
    dosage, far higher than what anyone should be taking unless it is a
    serious emergency. Judith was not allowed to turn down the medicine
    or visit the clinic to get the dosage adjusted.

    After three days on that dosage, Judith could no longer remember who
    or where she was and had begun coughing up blood, accompanied with
    what we believe were chunks of her liver. We attempted
    unsuccessfully to get her medical treatment for the entire day, at
    one point being told that this was "not an emergency," despite the
    fact that Judith was covered in blood. That night they finally
    removed her to the hospital, where she remained in critical
    condition before passing away a few days later.

"This was a clear case of medical malpractice, both with the 
ridiculously high dosage of methadone and the refusal of adequate 
treatment. Stories like this are far too common in Rikers Island, and we 
demand that no more of our sisters be lost to sickness and disease as a 
result of inadequate medical care," the women added.

They also demand that corrections officers be required to follow 
protocols and that the process for filing grievances be improved so any 
grievances filed will be taken seriously.

"Recently my friend Alejandra went to file a grievance about being 
denied access to medical treatment for a concussion until she awoke one 
morning unable to move. When she met with the captain after filing the 
grievance, she was presented with a different sheet and a different 
complaint than the one she had provided and was forced to sign it," 
McMillan shared.

The women also demanded "rehabilitative and educational services" for 
healing addictions and gaining news skills, which could make it easier 
to achieve employment after release from prison. They noted that this 
might lower "re-incarceration rates."

"Many women who come through here are addicts, and many women are 
imprisoned here because they are addicts," the women explained. "That's 
the area in which reentry rates seems to be the highest. This is likely 
a direct result of the failure of the meager programs that we are given. 
Thus, it seems only logical that serious and effective drug 
rehabilitation programs be provided to those who need them, assuming 
that the Department of Corrections would like to help work to achieve a 
better, healthier society and keep as many people as possible out of jail."

McMillan informed the press that working with her sisters to organize 
for change "in the confines of jail" had strengthened her "belief in 
participatory democracy and collective action."

"I am inspired by the resilient community I have encountered in a system 
that is stacked against us. The only difference between people we call 
'law-abiding' citizens and the women I served time with is the unequal 
access to resources."

Her activism before prison had been about fighting for freedom and 
rights. Within the walls of Rikers Island, she said "words like freedom 
and rights don't even exist in the first place."

She also stated, "Crossing the bridge I am compelled to reach back and 
recognize the two worlds as undivided. The court sent me here to 
frighten me and others into silencing our dissent, but I am proud to 
walk out saying that the 99% is, in fact, stronger than ever. We will 
continue to fight until we gain all the rights we deserve as citizens of 
this earth."

The incident that ultimately ended with her incarceration involved an 
NYPD officer named Grantley Bovell grabbing her right breast and leaving 
a bruise in the shape of a hand print. Officers joined Bovell and 
forcefully restrained her leaving more markings on her. The rough 
treatment led to McMillan having seizures while she was being arrested. 
The police took their time getting her medical attention.

Though it is a travesty of justice that McMillan served time in prison, 
like a number of politically-minded people who experience the prison 
system in this country, she seems to have walked out a much stronger and 
much more enlightened activist.

Incarceration exposed her to a new struggle that she can fight and help 
vulnerable people in Rikers Island wage. And, potentially, groups that 
previously organized under the banner of Occupy will be convinced to 
join in being a part of this struggle too.

*

*Watch Cecily McMillan read her full statement in this video recorded by 
Jeff Durkin [at the 6:00 mark] <http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/49479328>:

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20140703/9b2e5b05/attachment.htm>