Road Trip in the American Southwest // #2: Sedona

Leaving Flagstaff in the morning, we head out to spend the day in Sedona, about 45 minutes away. After a few switchbacks to go down the canyon, we first end up in a narrow and verdant valley. Just a few more miles and we arrive in the town of Sedona, where we quickly stop only to buy something to eat for our pic-nic. Then we continue on driving a little bit further south until the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It's a pretty vista point with a tiny modern chapel built in 1957, at the top of a small hill. A very small dirt path starts from the parking lot and leads you away from the crowd of tourists who come up the hill to the chapel. We walk down the path for a few minutes to take advantage of the views. The contrast between the lush vegetation and the red rocks formations that surround you is what makes this place so beautiful in my opinion. It's different from the other typical arid landscapes you can see in this region. 

View of the mesas from the Chapel of the Holy Cross

After this quick stop, we get back on the road to go further south, and stop in the parking lot located just north of the village of Oak Creek. The hiking path (4.5 miles) makes a loop around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, two huge rocks, one of which known to be a "spiritual vortex". A lot of people in pursuit of spiritual harmony come to Bell Rock to revitalize themselves. Sedona is considered a "New Age" capital, and its touristic industry is catering to supporters of this spiritual movement. It is possible to climb up Bell Rock, or you can also simply go  around it. We haven't walked into a lot of people when hiking the 4.5 miles loop, which made the experience even more pleasant. Plus the path is more or less flat all along. 

 

In the end, this was a very good foretaste of the rest of our journey... I highly recommend it.

Rodeo at the Penitentiary!

Matt Mayfield Photography

Welcome to Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum security prison in the United States. Yes... No less. That makes you dream doesn't it? It's also the only prison in Louisiana authorized to apply death penalty. We  are an hour and fifteen minutes north of Baton Rouge, surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi and on the other side by a forest plagued with snakes. 

In the past the site was a plantation where most of the slaves were from Angola, in Africa. Then at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century, the State of Louisiana purchased a number of those plantations to convert them in penitentiaries. Prisoners continued to harvest the same kind of culture, mainly cotton and sugar cane. 

Dreadful fact, Louisiana imprisons more people than any nation in the world... 
In the early 1990's, Louisiane was ordered by the Federal Court to decrease the inmates overcrowding in State prisons. Because the State didn't have money, The Department of Corrections encouraged local Sheriffs and private companies to build new prisons by allowing them to receive part of the profit that will be generated. The whole thing became a business. There are today 160 local prisons (vs 12 State prisons). The State pays Sheriffs about $25 per day and per inmate. Which means that there's not much left after paying for food, lodging and personnel costs. Profit is used to buy patrol cars, fire arms, bulletproof vests, etc... And of course, there is nothing left to finance programs that would be beneficial to prisoners. In short, if the number of inmates decreases, the Sheriff's office makes less money. Lobbies make sure to scuttle any reform that would result in less criminals behind bars. Half of the prisoners in Louisiana are incarcerated in local prisons, when there was only a quarter in the early 1990's. They are often transferred from  a prison to another to fill the gaps and make sure everybody make as much money as possible, and without getting any opportunities for rehabilitation, which you can imagine, doesn't reduce their chance to reoffend. Only State prisons offer programs to learn mechanic, welding, plumbing and other useful trades. But State prisons only receive the worse offenders, who, often, will never be set free. How absurd...  

Louisiana is one of the six States where life sentences are given without parole. Sentences are much heavier than elsewhere. An armed robbery or a trio of drug convictions can be enough to land you at Angola for the rest of your life. A two time car burglar can get 24 years without parole. Local prisons, that have proliferated in rural areas, are full of people who have been sentenced for non violent crimes such as drug possession, theft, or simply writing bad checks. And while prison population doubled, New Orleans still leads the nation in number of homicides. To make it short, this is a revolting clusterfuck!  

With this sad and alarming observation, let's get back to our Angola rodeo... 

AP Photos/Gerald Herbert

At Angola prison, you'll find the worse convicts, murderers, rapists and other people condemned to very long sentences. There are over 5000 prisonners and more than three quarters of them are serving life sentences or heavy sentences that will keep them in there all their life. It's the highest ratio of life sentences in the United States.  

Every sundays in October and the third sunday of April, the prison organizes a rodeo and a craft fair. Prisonners that prove fit enough to compete can participate if they want, and others sell their art to the public. Depending on the level of trust they gained, they sell their stuff either directly behind their booth, mingling freely with visitors, or behind a fence, with their goods laid on a table on your side of the fence. There are a lot of sculptures, wooden furniture and toys, paintings, jewelry, leather objects, etc... Wandering among prisoners feels wierd to me. Nonetheless I ended up buying a very beautiful raw wood vase, signed by the artist. A friend asked me later if I had googled the name of the guy to see why he was incarcerated... That's something you could do... or not...  

AP Photos/Gerald Herbert

During two hours inmates participate to several games. For example, the hula hoop challenge is about being the last man standing in his hula hoop without getting knocked down by the bull. For the Poker game, four prisoners are sitting at a table playing cards, until the bull is released in the arena and takes everything apart. There are also the classic riding competition of bucking horses and bulls. It's a hard enough challenge for rodeo professionals, so I cannot imagine what it's like for people with no training... Lots of them get hurt. Their motivation: small prizes to win: money, a steak dinner, belt buckles, or an article in the prison magazine. 

AP Photos/Gerald Herbert

Here the goal was to catch the red thingy between the bull's horns...

AP Photos/Gerald Herbert

Advocate Photo/Mark H. Hunter

This year, the revenues from the rodeo were estimated to 4 millions dollars. Profits are reinvested in services such as education programs for the inmates. 
Fyi, it is forbidden to bring your camera of phone inside the prison. Everything has to be left in your car. Though I've seen several people using their phones anyway. I'm a little pissed I wasn't able to take photos.

AP Photos/Gerald Herbert