Who are the real experts on prisons?

by Uhuru Rowe

Usually, when people talk about the carceral system, they look to “experts” with degrees — professors, criminologists and policy analysts who often view prisons through the lens of data and text. But there is a massive difference between studying prisons and living inside one.

If you want to know what a prison is, don’t ask an academic who has spent years studying and teaching about prisons inside of the comfort of a classroom or a study hall. Ask the person who watched their youth wither away behind a steel door or the person who survived the carceral state’s attempt to completely erase their humanity.

I spent almost my entire life in prison and some of those years were spent in solitary confinement. You cannot and will not find a peer-reviewed study that captures the psychological damage that I experienced from being trapped inside a tiny concrete cell for 23 hours a day. On more than one occasion, I came close to hanging myself from the sprinkler inside my cell in order to escape that hell. The “experts” talk about topics like the history of prisons and their behavior modification programs, but those of us who have lived that reality know the truth: It is state-sanctioned torture designed to break the human spirit so thoroughly that there is nothing left to resist.

I survived 31 years of systemic abuse and brutality that the general public chooses to ignore. I have seen people on the inside drop dead from medical neglect. I have seen prison guards plant drugs in cells and beat people while they were handcuffed and defenseless. I, too, was beaten while I was handcuffed. I have seen stiff, dead bodies being dragged out of cells at 3 a.m. because of a drug overdose. I have seen young men fresh into the prison system get raped by predators who had already been in prison for 30 and 40 years. I have seen childhood friends get beaten and stabbed to death over petty and minor conflicts. I have seen prison officials intentionally place rival gang members into the same cell and dorm together so that the ensuing violence can be used as a justification for locking down the prison and taking away “privileges.” I have seen prison officials retaliate against people for simply speaking up and speaking out about these issues. My eyes have seen so many other horrors.

On the Left, we know that the carceral state is not broken. It is working exactly as designed and as intended. It is a tool of class warfare and social/racial control and dominance. But even within the abolitionist movement and within the Left in general, there is a tendency to speak for us rather to us. Real expertise on prisons isn’t found and will never be found in a thesis, academic text or an academic lecture — unless it is authored by a person directly impacted by the PIC. It is etched into the scars on our backs and the grief we carry for those who may never make it out.

If we are real about dismantling this thing we call the prison industrial complex, we must stop pretending that objective observation about the PIC is superior to lived experience. The only people who understand the true nature of prisons are those who have been chewed up by them and had the audacity to survive. I say all that to say, the revolution will not be led by those who study the fire; it will be led by those who walked through it.

All Power to the People who don’t fear freedom! After nearly 31 consecutive years in prison, Uhuru Rowe was finally released last year. A couple of weeks later, he wrote the Bay View, remembering how he “met” us: “I received my first issue I believe in 2012 and it was the first radical political newspaper I ever received and read. Thus, I was politicized from the stories and writings I read and analyzed in its pages. The Bay View also helped to raise awareness about my freedom campaign by publishing an article I wrote seeking help and support. So basically, the Bay View played a role in me being granted a pardon in 2022 and then me walking out of prison on October 18, 2025.” Now that Uhuru is finally free, connect with him on Patreon, at https://www.patreon.com/c/ConsciousPrisoner/home or email him at uhururowe76@gmail.com. 

The post Who are the real experts on prisons? appeared first on San Francisco Bay View.