• Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • *January 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
  • Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • *January 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
AriseandShine.org

September 2021

Attica

9/1/2021

 
Time has a way of playing tricks on me... 
It seems as if it happened maybe ten years ago, but it's really been forty. Attica Correctional Facility, more commonly known simply as "Attica," has an awful reputation. The 1971 riot left forty-two prisoners and guards dead. 

When I arrived there in 1978 the atmosphere was still tense. Time did not diminish the memories of this tragic event. Prisons located in rural areas are known for having a number of members of the same family working in them. Attica was no exception. Fathers and sons, uncles, and cousins, were all employees. Everybody knew one another. Their kids all went to the same schools and everyone shopped at the same supermarket in town.

Thus there was a lot of hostility and festering anger among the staff towards the inmates. When I got there some seven years later the atmosphere was rife with rage. Nothing had changed. Being it was my first time in prison, I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.

Here I was, a "new jack" with multiple life sentences, thrust into one of the most dangerous places in the nation. I had to learn fast. A few guys who took a liking to me tried to school me. One gave me a prison made knife known amongst us as a "shiv" or a "shank." He told me never to let my weapon be out of quick reach. 

I had my share of challenges. I had several out of sight minor fights which escaped the notice of the staff. It was not uncommon to see a man sporting a black eye. When a guard would ask, "What happened to your eye?" the standard reply was, "I fell off my bunk." No further questions. No one cared. Only the more serious fights got the attention of the staff. A stabbing or a head split open with blood gushing everywhere got a quick medical response, but that was it.

I cannot say I was a fast learner. I wasn't. But I stood my ground. I was just a twenty-five-year-old Jewish guy from the Bronx when I arrived at Attica. Even though I grew up in a not so nice neighborhood - Soundview – what did I know of doing "hard" time? Not much!

Because my case was still a hot item, I would sometimes receive requests from the media for an interview. I innocently thought that if I could say the right words, and I wasn't even sure what the right words were, they would eventually leave me alone. Boy was I wrong! I ended up making some unwise decisions.

New to the prison system and thinking I had to play the tough guy role to earn respect, I ended up saying some stupid things during those interviews. I was just trying to please and impress them and win their approval as well. Looking back, I think I feared their rejection. I also thought that if I simply explained my side of the story as to what led up to the crimes I was charged with, the public would understand. Not so.

Unfortunately, the reporters from those early interviews got it wrong. Naive, trusting, and just plain dumb, I allowed them to lead me along. This was decades ago, and I don't even remember what I said. But I do recall being upset that each one put his own twist on things. I remember feeling betrayed and used.

Today I could say it was a learning experience, albeit a hard one. And I'm still learning.

D. B.

Linda Begley
9/27/2021 06:01:14

as I always, I enjoy your insights


Comments are closed.

    Author

    David Berkowitz
    Copyright © AriseandShine.Org

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly