“Prosperino’s stepdad, a coal miner, was out of work, and Prosperino’s father was in jail. “We exchanged bad jobs for worse,” said Ada Smith, whose cousin works at U.S. Penitentiary Big Sandy in Martin County. The prison wasn’t underground, but it might as well have been. Both jobs were dangerous. Generations of miners sacrificed their lungs and limbs to King Coal. But prison work wasn’t just hard on the body; it was bad for the human soul to be responsible for another person’s unfreedom.“
The New Republic
November 25, 2019