Daily routines, conversations, triumphs, failures—even grief—become visible to others. Yet the paradox remains: while individual lives are exposed, the institutions themselves often remain hidden from public view.
Perhaps transparency should begin with systems before it begins with people.
William Eric Waters is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, essayist, educator, criminal-justice scholar, and nonprofit executive. Writing as William E. Waters, he is the author of the epic poem Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass and three poetry collections: Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Black Feminine Mystique, and The Black Blood of Poetry. Under the pen name Easy Waters, he is the author of the novel Streets of Rage and the short-story collection Conundrums: Stories of Law & Justice. His work explores Black history, race, law, punishment, institutional power, accountability, redemption, and resilience.
So very true! This quote and your commentary made me think of the brutal deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in New York State prisons. In the Brooks case, the thugish officers took him to the infirmary because they knew there were no careras there to record their savagery. But unbeknownst to them, a few officers had their body cameras on, and the lynching of Brooks was recorded! It seems the officers in the Nantwi death learned from this, and made sure their body carema were either turned off or positioned in a way that did not capture the beating. But thank God, body camera footage did capture the officers celebrating the vicious beating, which did help to secure convictions. And while the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill Gov. Hochul signed in December 2025 offers some improvements, it does not go far enough in ensuring the type of transparency your post calls for. You are absolutely right, “Who is truly being watched?”
William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters 
So very true! This quote and your commentary made me think of the brutal deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in New York State prisons. In the Brooks case, the thugish officers took him to the infirmary because they knew there were no careras there to record their savagery. But unbeknownst to them, a few officers had their body cameras on, and the lynching of Brooks was recorded! It seems the officers in the Nantwi death learned from this, and made sure their body carema were either turned off or positioned in a way that did not capture the beating. But thank God, body camera footage did capture the officers celebrating the vicious beating, which did help to secure convictions. And while the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill Gov. Hochul signed in December 2025 offers some improvements, it does not go far enough in ensuring the type of transparency your post calls for. You are absolutely right, “Who is truly being watched?”
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