The Survivors Manual for Control-Unit Prisoners

October 1, 2001

The Survivors Manual is a book written for and by control unit prisoners and published by the American Friends Service Committee. The following excerpt was written by California prisoner, Paul Redd, and published with permission of AFSC. "I have now been in prison 20 years and 18 of them have been spent in various SHU's…

The Survivors Manual is a book written for and by control unit prisoners and published by the American Friends Service Committee.

The following excerpt was written by California prisoner, Paul Redd, and published with permission of AFSC.

“I have now been in prison 20 years and 18 of them have been spent in various SHU’s…I have many years of experience in these hell holes and have witnessed a great deal in terms of seeing individuals giving up their inner strength and beliefs because in their minds they  could no longer deal with the mental torture, isolation, the materialistic restrictions, etc…

I have been asked over the years: ‘How have you been able to survive all this and still be mentally intact?’ My answers are very simple: I know who I am and where I am going; I don’t let time do me, I do the time; and my mind and thinking are far from prison walls.

Now I would like to share with those who are new to this or/and those who have not yet developed the inner consciousness that give them the power to survive, my pointers on how to survive and use isolation to your advantage:

  • Regrowth: begin with studying your history, culture and yourself.
  • Make a real commitment to your inner consciousness.
  • Think of ways you can make positive contributions to our peoples in the communities.
  • Write letters with your ideas and input to unify yourselves with the young and old. Send your letters to family, friends, churches, publications, progressive newspapers, radio deejays, artists, college students, lawyers, etc., etc. Keep writing, don’t stop. You may not get responses from every one you write to, but you will get some…Constantly writing these letters reinforces your inner consciousness to solidify your internal change beyond mere words. Your focus is no longer your immediate isolation, therefore your thinking is not controlled.

The pointers I have shared with those reading this document have worked for me well, have kept me focused and, most importantly, they have kept me real and above prison.”

You can download the complete Survivors Manual at the afsc site.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2001 issue of Justice Matters.