bored but not broken

unit two is a maximum security section of Vanier Centre for Women, where everyone starts out but many don't stay for long. it's the only section of which i have any experience. there are six different wings, or ranges, on the unit: 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F. A, B, F wings are General population. inmates can be bounced from one to the other because for all intents and purposes they are interchangeable, aside from the fact that 2B is bigger and has single cells which means that one person has to sleep on a mattress on the floor. because of the overcrowding 2B tends to be on lockdown more often than A or F wing. I also hear that each Gen Pop range has a distinct culture – for example Leah (2A) is generally considered to be rowdier than mine (2F) and 2B is said to be dirtier.

i am slowly learning about the other three wings by piecing together information from inmates who have spent time in them. unit 2C is segregation – the hole. 2E is Intensive Management And Treatment (IMAT) and Protective Custody (PC). i don't know what 2D is called, but it's where inmates are taken for psychiatric analysis and it's much more restrictive than 2E.

i've been excited for may day for weeks now, which is funny because i won't be able to go to any marches or actions or events this year. still, just knowing that around the world friends, allies, people i love, people i respect and a whole lot of people i don't know will be standing up against capitalism and austerity measures, for workers and migrants and the poor. . .it all makes me so happy. and i feel like because you're all hitting the streets i am too, even though i'm in jail. it's hard to explain this amazing feeling, and these words certainly aren't doing it justice. maybe this is what being “there in spirit” really means. all i can say is that lately it's been seeming like the world and fences and locked doors that separate us don't mean much of anything. so happy may day! the state has failed once again :)

it's been quite the celebratory month here on Unit 2F at Vanier Institute for Women. 

first was easter, which we observed by eating huge hot breakfasts on friday and sunday.  some guards were perhaps a little too into in: i counted three of them wearing pink bunny ears. that's right, bunny ears.  this got mixed reviews from the inmates but my favourite comment came from a woman sitting at my table who said “they'd better be shitting out chocolate eggs or they can take those fucking things off.” indeed. 

on april 13th i marked the passing of my third month in this place. at lunch i handed out jellybeans to all the tables, and i drank hot chocolate instead of tea (wild, i know. . .but we have limited options in here) at dinner my table split a caramilk bar and in the evening i ate a bag of lays barbeque chips.  as you can see, my celebrations are all about food.