THE WILDEST SHOW IN THE SOUTH: Images from the Angola Prison Rodeo

The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, lovingly dubbed “Alcatraz of the South,” is the largest maximum security prison in the United States. Its 18,000 acres of bucolic farmland at the end of a 20-mile, two-lane back road are home to roughly 5,200 inmates, about 86 percent of whom are violent offenders, and 52 percent of whom are serving life sentences. Every Sunday during the months of April and October, the Penitentiary is also home to the world-famous Angola Prison Rodeo.Part inmate management tool, part public carnival, and part uncommon – and uncommonly triumphant – exhibit of the dichotomy of human nature, this “Wildest Show in the South” draws thousands to witness a professionally staged rodeo featuring about 100 inmate participants, who admittedly live for the event. The sum of its parts are best explained by one participant, Trevor: “At first it was like, ‘Just hang on, just hang on…’ but I’ve been learning there’s a lot more to it than that. Hanging on is a big part, but you got to ride.”

Tags: angola prison, prison, rodeo

This entry was posted on June 30, 2010 at 6:39 pm and is filed under JULY ISSUE, NONFICTION, PORTFOLIO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.