Here is a view of the prison entrance, with its guard tower–a fairly old photograph, I think, but within my time. I am always amazed to actually arrive.
Initially it was because this place is so famous (here is a picture of Leadbelly there in 1934), and also because it was so hidden the first time I went (the road was the worst I have ever been on). To have the gate appear in the flesh (as it were) was impressive. Now what shocks me is its familiarity.
I have realized, though, that I always remember the entrance as made of iron, a 1930s style gate like this. In fact I could swear they still had the old front gate when I first went, before the road was rebuilt. I do not trust this memory, but here is reporting on Angola as it was in the 1930s and 1940s.
It was an extermination camp, basically, with people dying in the fields. Now Louisiana’s incarceration rate is five times Iran’s and thirteen times China’s, and it has increased 285% in the past twenty years. I so want to be working more on this.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
