By Kisha Brown, Esq.
There’s a reason prisons are built long before they’re filled. The decision to reopen Alcatraz, floated recently by President Donald Trump and amplified on social media, isn’t just another campaign soundbite—it’s a dog whistle. It’s a chilling signal to Black communities across America that the same old playbook of fear, incarceration and racial targeting is on the table.
Alcatraz is more than a symbol of America’s most notorious criminals. It’s an island fortress used to make an example out of people—isolated, unreachable and designed to dehumanize. The idea that our government would invest in resurrecting a site like this, instead of in healthcare, housing or mental health services, speaks to their true mission.
We’ve seen this before. When you build a prison, you create an economic and political incentive to fill it. And in this country, that pipeline overwhelmingly targets Black bodies. From traffic stops to cash bail, from over-policing to over-sentencing, we know how the story goes. The system doesn’t need a reason—it just needs a facility.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about the “most violent criminals.” That language has always been used to justify policies that inevitably capture nonviolent offenders as well, disproportionately Black. It’s how mass incarceration thrives.
But here’s the good news: it’s not a done deal. Experts across the board have already pointed out how expensive and impractical this idea is. And more importantly, we are not powerless. The more we know, the more we can actively challenge these ideas before they ever come to fruition.
We must also protect ourselves. That means knowing your rights, securing culturally competent legal counsel, and ensuring your family is legally prepared for whatever comes. Legal protection is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.
Alcatraz may remain closed for now, but the mindset behind it is alive and well. Let this be another reminder that the fight for justice isn’t just about what happens in courtrooms—it’s about what we allow to be built on our watch.