Strange Fruit

"We call it a prison within a prison." That's how advocates describe the lives of incarcerated Deaf and hard of hearing people. The vast majority of correctional facilities have no ASL interpreters, and it's not unusual for inmates who rely on hearing aids to be denied the devices—or denied batteries to make them work. Talila Lewis is the founder of HEARD (Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf), and joins us this week to talk about the work they're doing to try to improve the lives and ensure the rights of incarcerated folks with disabilities. Lewis says the ableism in mainstream society is magnified in the prison setting. "If you don't respond to an auditory command, you get shot or beaten or put into solitary confinement," Lewis explains. "Everything around you is based on sound. So if you miss the bell at 4am to get up and go eat, you miss chow. That's it." Being Deaf or hard of hearing in prison essentially means being unable to communicate with anyone around you.