Other Lands Have Dreams: Letters From Pekin Prison

by Kathy Kelly

In the spring of 2004, human rights activist Kathy Kelly, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was sent to Pekin Federal Prison for leading a protest at the School of the Americas. While in prison, Kelly’s organization, Voices in the Wilderness, was targeted by a US State Department lawsuit charging that Kelly violated US-imposed sanctions when she took humanitarian aid to Iraq during numerous visits over the last five years. In this fiercely eloquent book, Kelly recounts such trips to Iraq, tells the largely unknown story of the School of the Americas and describes daily life inside a federal prison, where America’s poor are warehoused. Like Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail , Kelly’s powerful narrative gives voice to the unheard millions suffering at home and abroad.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

175 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Kathy Kelly grew up on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, and became a school teacher. In 1995 she helped found "Voices in the Wilderness," a Chicago-based group dedicated to circumventing the sanctions imposed upon Iraq. Made many trips to Iraq to deliver medicines and humanitarian aid, in violation of the sanctions. A war tax refuser, she has been arrested and jailed many times for non-violent acts of protest against U.S. policies. Arrested five times for the crime of planting corn on nuclear missile silos! Twice nominated for Nobel peace prizes.

Reviews

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good antidote to the mainstream media. This is the American assault on Iraq without the spin, as witnessed by an unembedded American who was there voluntarily, in solidarity with the local people. It is a cry of protest against what Americans are doing to the rest of the world, specifically to Iraq. The sanctions against Iraq were “child abuse” and “child sacrifice.” The United Nations is a “battered woman” bullied by the U.S. rogue superpower, the “world’s greatest killing machine,” which has an “unfortunate addiction” to war making. The suffering the author relates is horrendous, and it is real. Americans need to know about it. This book is important because it exposes ongoing crimes that depend upon secrecy.

Warfare is “cruel stupidity,” says the author. It is little children grinding their teeth in fear while surveying adult faces for reassurance. It is “gut-wrenching explosions,” mud, filth, exposure, sleep deprivation, uncertainty, despair and death. And the victims don’t even know why they are being attacked! This book is authentic, written from inside the belly of the beast, an active war zone.

From our “abysmally failed foreign policies” she proceeds to our “abysmally failed” prison system, as seen from the inside. She complains of “absurdly long sentences,” dehumanizing and cruel treatment, and disrespect for the family ties of inmates. Nonviolent lawbreakers are being scapegoated while lethal crimes in high places are ignored. She asks, are prisons necessary? And suggests alternatives, at least for nonviolent criminals.

Not a comfortable read, but important. Although the sanctions are now history and the focus of American imperialism has shifted from Iraq, this book is by no means out-of-date. Would that it were!

[Annhett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible. Every person living in the US should read this book. I found myself crying several times.

[Stormkpr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very tough book to read. Kelly is a peace activist. She has been jailed for refusing to pay taxes and for participating in peaceful demonstrations, and she has traveled to Iraq, delivering medical and humanitarian supplies during the US's sanctions in the 90's and during the war. She's held malnourished children as they died from bomb wounds, she's visited Iraq hospitals which are bereft of basic equipment and can't help a struggling population, she's seen American troops in Iraq guard oil fields while doing nothing to protect supplies or food or hospitals, she's talked to fellow prisoners in jails to learn their stories. 500,000 Iraqi children died of preventable causes during the sanctions on the country. Part of me wanted Kelly to include more details on her own life. What is it like waking up inside a jail cell? Saying goodbye to friends and family so she can travel to Iraq during the US invasion and experience life the way Iraq's citizens have to? Does she ever have fears or regrets? Kelly's goal, though, is not to tell her life story but rather to shine the spotlight on those who many of us would rather forget. I could only read her book and be once again shocked at the actions of my government, and humbled at the actions of someone like Kelly who continually puts her life on the line to help others.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting--I usually read novels, but bought it for my son who is a politics student. I decided to read it first. I knew the people of Iraq suffered and still do suffer great hardships. I was however shocked to read how people are treated in prisons in the US.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful human being.

[Bruce Fogerty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book serves as a good reminder how economic sanctions and warfare hurt a large percentage of the besieged country's most vulnerable while hardly touching those in power. Serves as a haunting reminder that war and siege accomplish little except to destroy the lives of the poor, the elderly, and children. The writing is a bit tedious though. Probably because it is a collection of letters and newspaper columns rather than a coherent treatise on the subject matter. It also offers absolutely no options - its basic suggestion for international relations is "be nice" with few alternatives offered to deal with rogue states and leaders. Thinking of Machiavelli, who observed a good man finds himself at an immediate disadvantage when surrounded by bad men.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't really know what I can say about this book other than that you should read it. Every American should read it.

Kathy Kelly is amazing, and I wish I had 1/100th of her courage to nonviolently resist war and fight for human rights. I suppose, if I met her or other people who have gone to Iraq with her over the years, that they would probably say that it is ordinary people like me who have these convictions but don't act on them, that we are the ones who need to step up and do something.

[Therese Brink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathy Kelly embodies the ideal of concern and compassion for others. Kelly has served time in prison for her peacemaking including a stint in Pekin Federal Prison Camp for crossing the line at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. If you ever wondered why some people do civil disobedience, this book is a good place to start. Kathy Kelly is one of my heroes. I do know her, so I my review may be biased.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this. Gets extremely intense & heartbreaking while still having an energy of hope throughout. Kathy Kelly is more than a role model, she’s worthy of endless praise for her work.