Being in Jail at the G-8

In the following article, Toby, a local Rochester activist, describes the jail solidarity action he was involved with at the G-8 protests in Brunswick, Georgia. The G-8 (Ruling Class Leaders from US, Great Britian, Japan, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Russia, European Union) met on an Island off the mainland of Georgia at the beginning of June, 15 activists from around the country were arrested after trying to cross a bridge to the summit site.

I am home in Rochester now, but one day in jail I sat down to write what was on my mind. Here's what came out:

Here I am in the Glynn County Detention Center wondering why there are so few of us. The Brunswick 15? Why isn't that the Brunswick 1500? Did everyone all of a sudden decide that the Group of 8 is a good idea? That it's cool to have 8 rich men controlling the lives of 6 billion people? I am sick of having to explain to people why it is that I am here. Is the number of people that understands sacrificing for something you care about that small? I must continue to explain to people that I put myself in a situation where arrest was a possibility because there was no other choice. To allow those 8 men to just go about their business was not an option. Not is it an option to watch the media report nothing, to keep our issues and views out of the news. It became very clear to me that for this small group of protesters to have any lasting statement of why we were here drastic steps needed to be taken (approximately 8 miles of them).

Being here should also help bring to light the continuing policy of criminalizing our Constitutional rights. The government spent $35 million to try and repress those of us fighting against worldwide repression. $35 million spent to scare off anyone who dares believe that 8 men should not control 6 billion lives. $35 million spent to terrorize the residents of these towns to keep them inside and out of the minds of the elite. $35 million spent so that 8 rich and powerful men could talk about how to stay rich and powerful. All of that means $35 million not spent to feed the millions of poor and homeless individuals here or abroad (most of whom are children). $35 million not spent to ensure that everyone in this richest nation on the planet has healthcare. $35 million not spent for housing, clothing or other basic needs. $35 million not spent for education. And $35 million not spent for freedom.

Jail is not a fun place to be, and it isn't a place I want to come back to. At least they have been willing to give us mostly vegan meals so that all of us can eat. Only mostly though since white bread is not vegan, nor are cream filled cookies, or butter, and certainly not the slices of cheese they gave us one night. Though the food may be vegan, the quantity is minuscule, never enough to keep us full for more than a few minutes, and almost always cold. There is plenty of time for reading, and there is even a library here- although we are not allowed to touch or read any of the books in it. I can read the books they choose for us, wonderful romance novels and westerns mostly. Plenty of time to write as well. The only problem is when we got here the person able to give out pencils and paper was on vacation, clearly a job too important for just anyone to take over. Other inmates have given us their old pencils which is great. But since they started out as golf pencils most are barely and inch long. With nothing else to do I can catch up on my sleep. The guards however don't seem to like that idea because when they turn on the t.v. (about 7am until 11pm) the volume is up all the way. For anyone to talk they have to yell- not quite the best situation for sleeping. But no matter how hungry, bored, or sleep deprived I may be I do not regret this decision. Even with this new knowledge of what it is like on the inside, I know I will have to return. In this world we live in where wars of aggression are fought for oil, where there is genocide taking place against the Palestinians with this country's help, where indigenous people are massacred and oppressed, where men women and children starve with food rotting on store shelves, and where the elite class is able to exercise total control over it all, there is no choice but to fight back. They have locked up my body, but never my spirit. I know that one day those 6 billion will rise up against those 8 and create a new world for us all. It is when that day arrives that I will no longer have to go to jail.

Love and Solidarity Forever,

John Doe G-1097