Hell is a Very Small Place, If the SHU Fits, and Other Voices from Solitary Confinement

Social Justice Shabbat - Readers’ Theater:
Hell is a Very Small Place, If the SHU Fits, and Other Voices from Solitary Confinement

All are welcome!

Featuring:

Temple Beth El members

Formerly Incarcerated in Solitary:
Jerry Elster: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Healing Justice Coordinator
Bato Talamantez: San Quentin Six

Family Members of Formerly Incarcerated in Solitary:
Cynthia Fuentes: California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC)
Marie Levin: a co-founder of the Prisoner Advocacy Network, member of Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition (PHSS) and CFASC
Randy Levin: author and director of Freedom Outreach and member of PHSS

The UN prohibits over 15 days in solitary, but in California solitary Security Housing Units (SHU's) there “is a systematic use of torture by the state for years and decades.” Up to 100,000 people are in solitary in U.S. prisons, plus 60,000 youth, and untold numbers in jails and detention centers.

Thanks to the sources of material in this Readers' Theater, used with their permission:

• the named persons formerly incarcerated in solitary confinement and family members of formerly incarcerated;
• the book, Hell is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement, edited by Jean Casella and James Ridgeway of Solitary Watch and Sarah Shourd, available in local bookstores and to order from IndieBound and Amazon; and
• IF THE SHU FITS: Voices from Solitary Confinement, Reader's Theatre Compiled by Melvin Ishmael Johnson and Andy Griggs.