US prison labor is cruel and pointless legalized slavery. I know first-hand | Dyjuan Tatro

I was paid 10 cents an hour to do menial work that taught no skills or life lessons. Without a college-in-prison degree, I'd probably be back in prison today

Almost immediately after I was sent to prison, I was assigned to a program", the term American prison officials use for a job. I was to sweep the prison hallways, alongside roughly 30 other men. Together we pushed brooms across gray corridors hour after hour, day after day.

No matter how many hours I worked, I couldn't afford toilet paper, soap or toothpaste. We had to pay for basic hygiene products at exploitative markups, way more than they cost in free society, and I was paid 10 cents an hour. To survive in prison, even with a full-time job, I was forced to rely on family, who struggled to support me financially.