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THREAD // As protests raged in response to George Floyd’s murder, Michael Thompson was no different from many Americans: He wanted to gather with others to demand respect for Black personhood and pay tribute Floyd’s too-short life. /1 https://thecounter.org/george-floyd-michael-thompson-michigan-prison-black-lives-matter/
But he wasn’t allowed to protest. Nor could his fellow inmates at Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan. “We can’t even congregate,” he said. /2
So he dreamed up a way to mark Floyd’s death that would be permitted on the inside: A meal for 50 men, prepared by and for the inmates, offered in tribute to Black lives. /3
He enlisted the prison’s two best cooks. Parker Sineora conjured up the signature dish: Fried rice on a bagel—an extravagance inspired by the limitations of incarceration. /4
Thompson purchased ingredients at the commissary. A longtime supporter bought the rest: enough sausage, rice, soup, chili, onions + peppers, cheese, bagels, chips, and soda for 50.
They had only flimsy plastic knives, a single microwave, and empty popcorn bags to cook with. /5
They had only flimsy plastic knives, a single microwave, and empty popcorn bags to cook with. /5
Sineora woke at 4:15 a.m. on June 22. He used empty popcorn bags to “fry” the rice in the microwave, carefully rotating them “so everything cooks evenly,” his recipe reads. “Do not burn the rice!” /6
He prepared cup-container soup, chili with refried beans, and mixed the ingredients together in a large bag.
He heated 53 bagels, added cheese, spread the soup and chili mixture on top, and finished with a sprinkling of crushed Doritos. /7
He heated 53 bagels, added cheese, spread the soup and chili mixture on top, and finished with a sprinkling of crushed Doritos. /7
The process took 4 hours.
Each attendee was served one celebration bagel, a bag of chips, and a soda. “Most of the guys, all this time, never drank a cold pop,” Thompson said—$1.75 at the commissary for a can of Mountain Dew is too steep. /8
Each attendee was served one celebration bagel, a bag of chips, and a soda. “Most of the guys, all this time, never drank a cold pop,” Thompson said—$1.75 at the commissary for a can of Mountain Dew is too steep. /8
Then, they went back to their cells to eat alone.
But the attendees found a way to be together, despite their physical separation: Each man sat in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds before he began to eat. /9
But the attendees found a way to be together, despite their physical separation: Each man sat in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds before he began to eat. /9
Afterward, Thompson wanted the attendees to write down their reflections—about Floyd’s death, about the meal.
It wasn’t easy to get them to share their feelings, especially those about police violence and the systematic racism and abuse they themselves had experienced. /10
It wasn’t easy to get them to share their feelings, especially those about police violence and the systematic racism and abuse they themselves had experienced. /10
But, in the end, most of them wrote. They included their full names and prison numbers. /11
William L. Hunt, Jr.— /12
Juan Johnson—
“We are not allowed to protest. However, “Food” has a way of bringing about three words, “Love, Peace, and Happiness. Well, we all feel we accomplished that on June 22, 2020 at 1:00pm,” wrote Thompson. /14
Years from now, many hundreds of forkfuls from today, it won’t be the chili or the bagel or the crushed Dorito garnish that remain in the minds of these men.
Ingredients, flavors: those are the most ephemeral aspects of any meal, when you get right down to it. /15
Ingredients, flavors: those are the most ephemeral aspects of any meal, when you get right down to it. /15
Eating is the ultimate act of personhood. It is a declaration that you are here, now. This meal made a movement on the outside real for men who’ve spent much of their lives on the inside.
As Thompson said, simply: “It made them feel human again.” /16 https://thecounter.org/george-floyd-michael-thompson-michigan-prison-black-lives-matter/
As Thompson said, simply: “It made them feel human again.” /16 https://thecounter.org/george-floyd-michael-thompson-michigan-prison-black-lives-matter/
Words: @TanaGaneva
Art: Jaye Elizabeth Elijah
/end https://thecounter.org/george-floyd-michael-thompson-michigan-prison-black-lives-matter/
Art: Jaye Elizabeth Elijah
/end https://thecounter.org/george-floyd-michael-thompson-michigan-prison-black-lives-matter/
