Why this man is fighting for access to books while incarcerated

Story Transcript

For so many people, books open a door to the world. They entertain, enlighten, educate and, for some incarcerated individuals, they represent a lifeline and an opportunity to redirect their future.  

For Christopher Blackwell, who is serving a 45-year sentence in a Washington state facility for robbery and murder, reading behind bars took him from high school dropout at age 14 to college graduate and award-winning writer. 

"I had never read a book until I came to prison," he told As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner.

"Having that ability to open up my mind, to critically think, to learn and see how certain things were instilled in my mind that could have been toxic or damaging… I mean, education completely changed my life." 

But Blackwell, who's been incarcerated since 2003, says accessing books behind bars is not always easy. 

Thousands of books banned from U.S. prisons

A recent report by PEN America found that books can be banned from state and federal penitentiaries for what it calls "vague" reasons. 

"State and federal prison authorities censor content with little oversight or public scrutiny. Often the ultimate decision-maker about a person's right to read is housed in the prison mailroom," it states. 

Among its findings: Texas has a list of more than 10,000 banned books; Florida has banned more than 20,000 books; and Kansas has a list of more than 7,000 banned books, including Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Books that are banned, it says, frequently discuss civil rights, historical abuses within America's prisons, or criticisms of the prison system itself. 

Correctional Service Canada did not have similar statistics available about the numbers of books that are banned from Canadian prisons. It told As It Happens that it "promote[s] reading and ongoing learning," but added that not all books are accessible to inmates.

In an email, it said that "policy prohibits inmate access to certain materials, for instance those involving the construction of weapons, or sexually-explicit materials involving violence or children."

Correctional Service Canada also said that a book may be limited on an individual basis if it "contributes to an unhealthy living environment, presents a risk to the safety and security of the institution or is inconsistent with an inmate's correctional plan."

Books by Obama, Alice Walker, among those banned

Blackwell, who co-founded the grassroots organization Look 2 Justice, doesn't believe all books should be accessible in prison. 

"I wouldn't expect to get The Anarchist Cookbook," he said, "or anything that could cause serious harm or … hate, fear mongering speeches, or anything like that."

But he questions the process that has led to the banning of books by Alice Walker, Pablo Neruda, former U.S. president Barack Obama and former senator Bob Dole.

Blackwell recently wrote a guest essay for the New York Times questioning why books are being banned and how they are evaluated by prison officials.   

"The guidelines are the safety and security of the prison," he said. "So with that kind of guideline, we really basically have this ambiguous standard that is whatever an individual working in a prison mailroom decides."

Toxic masculinity

In Blackwell's case, the book he wanted to read that was banned was Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era by Michael Kimmel. 

Kimmel sent it to him after reading a piece Blackwell wrote for the Boston Globe about how toxic masculinity has affected his life. 

"He had had a strong passion for the topic and wanted to share that with me and enlighten some of the areas where we could both fight, grow and develop," Blackwell said. But the book didn't make it past the mailroom.

"I felt like it was a blow to have something like that not be able to be afforded [to me] when those are the kind of things that can actually help people grow and develop."

In an emailed statement, the Washington State Department of Corrections said that "material is not censored." In the case of the Kimmel book, it said Blackwell was told, "This book is being rejected for penological objectives. The content could reasonably be thought to lead or add to tensions between groups specifically in a prison setting."

Blackwell appealed the decision — not a simple process, he said.

"The process took about four months of going back and forth and explaining that the book was actually about toxic masculinity and something that could help me change the ways that I had been living my life in previous times." 

He eventually won and the book was delivered to him. But he says not all incarcerated individuals are in a position to fight back. 

"I think there's some individuals that just will struggle with the process because the process is really flawed," he said. "It's set up in a way to make sure that it's not simple to get through it or simple to understand the process of it." 

'Element of entitlement'

Blackwell said he thinks there is an "element of entitlement" behind what he sees as arbitrary decisions by people who may feel it is their job to "punish" the prisoners — with little accountability

He argues that with the majority of incarcerated people in the U.S. being released back into society, it would benefit everyone if they came out as better people.

"Anybody that would want to limit us to be educated, to be more well-rounded and have a better chance at being a productive member of society, would actually be putting society at risk," he said. 

The U.S. federal Bureau of Prisons declined an interview for this article, but in a statement said it doesn't have a list of banned books. Instead, prison officials may restrict an inmate's access to a book "if it poses a risk to the safety and security of the facility, e.g., a book is used to smuggle in contraband, including drugs."

The statement continues by saying when an inmate is deprived of a particular publication, " the decision is only made following an individual determination that the specific publication at issue was detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution, or might facilitate criminal activity." 

Blackwell says the access he's had to books has given him "a voice and ability to speak for others in areas where things are not equitable" and helped him see that the way he thought he had to live his life was false. 

"They've really opened up the door for me to live in a better way."

Written by Stephanie Hogan. Produced by Morgan Passi.