Earlier today I was hanging around my house. I put on "Supermax" which was a program about the people in prison. It explored how Pelican Bay works, the different gangs in there, and different incidents they've had there in the past. It was really interesting. Especially when they had a few series on the annual prison weight lifting competition. It showcased the prisoners doing 1RM on the bench, squat, and deadlift. It was F***ing amazing. Guys were putting up massive numbers all across the board. One of the guys was around 200 and when it came up to the deadlift comp he put out the best record in the state...615 lbs. More than 3x his body weight they said. One of the prison guards/judges said "this is just off of prison food. Imagine the numbers they could put up if they had the right gear and right supplements." The 200lb guy was black. A lot of the program was about the race gangs in prison, including the Latin Kings, KKK, Aryian Brotherhood, and other black/hispanic/white gangs. The funny thing is, there were blacks and whites in the weight room. The judges were white, and alot of the weight lifters were in race gangs. Only 1 lift was going on at a time, so everybody was focused on 1 guy and his lift. When the guy was mentally prepping, everyone, not just whites for the white guy or blacks for the black guy, EVERYONE was trying to pump them up and get him going. After, when the guy completed his lift they would all be around him congratulating him. It was like it should be - about power lifting instead of about race. Everyone seemed happy and such, it really didn't seem like prison at all.
30 big, tough guys of different color, age, and religion in prison. Guys that were in race gangs and pledged to hate others that were different from them. Yet when they entered the weight room, race no longer applied. They cheered the other guys on, congratulated them, and helped them out. I just thought it was funny how power lifting binded them all in a common goal and made them forget about their hate and everyone's race.
30 big, tough guys of different color, age, and religion in prison. Guys that were in race gangs and pledged to hate others that were different from them. Yet when they entered the weight room, race no longer applied. They cheered the other guys on, congratulated them, and helped them out. I just thought it was funny how power lifting binded them all in a common goal and made them forget about their hate and everyone's race.
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