Solitary

Woodfox opens Chapter 27 with a description of life in a concrete prison, which was always noisy because of the constant din of people conversing through the pipes, breaking down in their cells, or arguing. Despite the noise, Woodfox was alone, and locked in a cell for 23 hours a day. While Woodfox had strategies to deal with the isolation—including keeping his cell clean and exercising as much as possible—he notes that the experience was sometimes unbearable for other prisoners, who had come into solitary confinement already burdened by their life experiences and the overall violence of prison.

While the monotony of solitary confinement was part of the challenge, Woodfox writes that any disruption to the routine was also destabilizing, as something as small as breakfast being delivered 15 minutes late served to remind inmates how little control they had over their lives.

Meanwhile, Woodfox writes, he, Wallace and King had been forgotten by the outside world, including the Black Panther Party, which stopped operations in the 1980s.

He and other inmates were also dealing with the indifference of medical professionals. For the most part, medical issues at Angola were treated with aspirin, Woodfox says. After prisoners filed lawsuits claiming the lack of care constituted a violation of constitutional rights, the prison allowed inmates to see doctors, but many avoided going, because doing so meant they could be written up by prison officials for “malingering.