Prison

Abstract

The large “STOP” sign on the iron gates of Richmond Hill prison halts me in my tracks. The first time I go there, the guard forbids me to enter, and warns me I must put away my camera. The stop sign reminds me that the methods I have developed to think about the Grenada Revolution and its memory will not work here. I am able to gain entry to the prison on a subsequent day through the facilitation of a released member of the Grenada 17 who is going back to visit his still-incarcerated comrades.1 Having read accounts of the abuse and torture of the Grenada 17, some written by them and others by Amnesty International, I am struck when my guide embraces the security officers and exchanges warm greetings with the guards. I am not searched.