Incarcerated Nation Network INC Media

Faced Brutal Jailhouse Program, Fought Back

Rikers: An American Jail is built around the personal testimonies of formerly incarcerated men and women who survived Rikers. Rather than using footage from inside the jail, the film relies on their first-hand stories — giving voice to the people who experienced its violence, corruption, and dehumanizing conditions. Produced and conceptualized in collaboration with Five Mualimm-ak, a survivor of solitary confinement and a prominent human rights activist, the film offers a rare inside view of the trauma that incarceration causes — not only to the people locked up, but to their families and communities. Bill Moyers, a veteran journalist known for his public affairs programs on PBS, partnered with Mualimm-ak to amplify these voices through national distribution. The film has been screened in universities, city halls, and grassroots gatherings, often followed by discussions about criminal justice reform and the movement to close Rikers Island Rikers Island is a massive jail complex in New York City, located between Queens and the Bronx. It holds mostly people awaiting trial who cannot afford bail, not convicted prisoners. Despite that, Hundreds of preventable deaths, suicides, and medical neglect cases Over the past decade, activists, formerly incarcerated leaders, and community groups — including the Incarcerated Nation Network (INN) founded by Five Mualimm-ak, the Jails Action Coalition (JAC), and the Close Rikers campaign — have worked relentlessly to expose these abuses and push for closure. 🎙️ What Makes the Film Unique Unlike traditional documentaries, Rikers: An American Jail: ⭐ 1. Uses ONLY formerly incarcerated voices There is no reporter, narrator, or analysis. Every frame comes from people who lived the experience — men, women, LGBTQ detainees, people jailed as children, and those with mental-health struggles. ⭐ 2. Presents Rikers as a “machine” of trauma The film shows how: Violence is routine. Solitary confinement is used as punishment and control Medical care is delayed or denied People suffer psychological harm that lasts long after release Corrections officers contribute to a culture of brutality ⭐ 3. Emphasizes the human cost Instead of abstract policy details, the movie shows the emotional and physical scars carried by survivors. 📚 Key Themes in the Documentary 1. Abuse and brutality Former detainees describe beatings, officer assaults, inmate-on-inmate violence, and the constant threat of harm. 2. Solitary confinement People explain how days in isolation stretched into months or years, damaging their mental health. Activist Five Mualimm-ak co-founded the HALT solitary Confinement Act that ended solitary in NYS 3. Mental illness and neglect how people with psychiatric disabilities were punished instead of treated. 4. Children and teenagers in jail Several survivors, jailed as minors, recount traumatic experiences — including being placed in solitary or housed with adults. 5. Racism and poverty how nearly everyone incarcerated at Rikers is Black or Latino and held pretrial because they cannot afford bail. 6. Lasting trauma film make cslear that Rikers’ damage doesn’t end when release comes — survivors live with PTSD, anxiety, and long-term harm. 🗽 Impact of the Documentary Rikers: An American Jail became: a core educational tool in universities, law schools, and community programs a central piece of the #CloseRikers movement evidence in discussions about bail reform, youth justice, and solitary confinement a public awareness breakthrough that brought Rikers’ crisis to national attention The documentary helped shift public understanding of Rikers from “just a jail” to a human-rights emergency. Why Rikers Is Known as a Human-Rights Crisis 1. Extreme violence Rikers is infamous for brutal assaults by correction officers, gang-organized violence, and staff-instigated fights. Multiple federal investigations documented a “culture of violence,” especially against teenagers and mentally ill detainees. 2. Deaths & medical neglect Dozens of people have died in recent years from suicide, medical neglect, lack of supervision, withdrawal, or failure to deliver emergency medical care. Lack of medical staffing and long delays for care are persistent problems. 3. Abuse of adolescents Until reforms forced changes, children — some as young as 14 — were held in adult jails on Rikers.The U.S. Department of Justice sued NYC over the treatment of youth, citing routine beatings and isolation. 4. Solitary confinement Rikers used solitary confinement heavily, even on minors, the mentally ill, and people held for low-level charges. Excessive isolation led to psychological trauma, suicides, and long-term harm. Oversight failures continue even under a federal monitor. www.incarceratednationnetwork.com Help Our Network by Donating To The Black Panther Party Legacy Center Here www.naabpp.org