I have a lot of people come up to me saying just how much they prayed for me to come home; they were so happy, thankful. Even some people who — if I was to stereotype them based on the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this bumper stickers on their car — I would think they may not be happy with me being back, even they’ll come up and be like, “No matter what, you don’t deserve to be in that prison over there.” And I’m just like, “Thank you, I can appreciate that.” Because what people fail to realize, no matter what is going on or what the case is, you still have rights as an inmate. Even in our country — and it’s not right here, I’m not saying that we have the best jail system because we don’t, we know this — there are still rights that you have. And when they violate those rights it’s not safe. It’s not okay.

Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt, hoodie, tank top, long sleeve tee

Was there any part of your experience living in Russia when you played basketball there before that helped you or made it easier to navigate? I was talking to Sue earlier about it today, and she was talking about the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this sense of social isolation and community isolation that you guys would feel going over there. You have your teammates, and hopefully you have a couple of Americans you’re playing with or people you know from before, but you’re so far away, there’s a time difference, and you really are physically isolated.

When I played in China for two years, I was the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this only American and hardly anybody spoke English. That definitely helped prepare me because once I made it to the actual penal colony, if it wasn’t for Alena, Ann, and Kate [fellow English-speaking inmates with whom she became close], I really wasn’t speaking at all to people. It was a lot of hand signals, thumb up, real childlike communication. They might know one word in English. They’ll come up to you and be like, “Hi.” I’m like, “Hi, how are you?” And then now they don’t know what to say. [Laughs.] I was fortunate enough to meet those three people who translated a lot for me. It wasn’t their job. They’re in prison too, but they helped me out tremendously. I wouldn’t have made it without them.

You talk a lot about Alena, your bunkmate, being that lifeline for you. You found someone who could connect you to that world. Even when you go overseas and you can’t speak, it’s just hard to do everything. You’re catching 5 percent of what’s happening. So she was able to cue you in on the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this world and how to keep safe? She put me on game to a lot in the prison world, how it works, how it works in Russia, which guards are okay, which guards are not okay, the inmates, who did what. Because you start hearing about “Oh, this person did this.” “This person did that.” “Don’t hang out over there.” “If someone puts a piece of candy on your bed, don’t take it because you’re agreeing to someone liking you.”
Me and Alena found out that my roommate was basically spying on us. We found a journal with her writing down everything. We had so many meetings with the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this warden, because they kept trying to figure out things about me. I was like, “First off, just Google my name.” Because the things they want to know are like, “What do your parents do?” Look, my dad was a cop. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. That’s so trivial. The intel you want, it’s really crappy intel. It was just mind games, honestly. I think that’s part of the game that happens inside. My brother has been in and out of the carceral system for 25 years. He’s sober now. But just listening to his interactions and what he learned, the way that he kept his humanity, really, and connection, family and friends, community, and whatever kind of way was so important. Because it’s so easy to slip into just being someone they have in their prison.
I mean, I had to just be a prisoner at one point because I am holding on to this hope, and it’s just killing me every single day that it’s not happening. I literally have to just drop hope at a certain point. Like, I’m a prisoner and that’s what I am. All right. This is my job I got to do from sun up to sun down. Head down. I’ve just got to grind it out. The moment you knew some movement was happening [at the Mouths Don’t Get Pregnant Funny Pregnancy t-shirt and I will buy this penal colony, where Griner’s assignment was clipping threads on a sewing floor] you talk about in your book that you basically fucking drop that sewing kit, and you’re like …