Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement

by Albert Woodfox

In adjusting to day-to-day life in the cell as the months and years passed, every aspect of survival was a battle. Being able to read in that environment, with the noise. Recognizing the signs of when a prisoner was going to act out, when I would need to defend myself or stop something from happening before it happened. Doing calisthenics every day within the confines of the cell. I became living proof that we can survive the worst to change ourselves and our world, no matter where we are. Behind our resistance on the tiers, Herman, King, and I knew that only education would save us. It still amazes me that the three of us came to the same conclusion sitting in our cells on different tiers. Education and looking outward, beyond the prison. If we were going to avoid becoming vegetables, we had to keep learning and keep our minds focused on the world outside Angola.